How to get the most out of your CMMS

Experience shows there are three key groups that must buy in on the initial selection of a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and then the ongoing use of the system. Common to each of these groups is an understanding of their culture and the environment in which the system will be used. This is critical to CMMS success.

1) Maintenance: Technicians must see the CMMS as a tool that will help them do a better job, be more efficient and improve work processes. It can't be viewed as a system management is using to "watch them" or give the perception that someone always is peering over their shoulder.

Because technicians will use the CMMS daily, they will grow to depend on it. Early acceptance is important and buy-in during the initial evaluations is critical. Their CMMS will become an integral tool that they learn to rely on and trust in for helping them do their jobs to their best abilities as maintenance professionals every day.

2) Equipment users: Production and engineering personnel must see the value CMMS delivers for prompt and effective maintenance. These are the resources responsible for producing product and generating output; therefore, their lines must operate at their highest levels as much as possible. Preventive maintenance must be coordinated with production and unplanned maintenance must be performed quickly so as not to impact production.

Personnel at the equipment level will be able to recognize the value of a CMMS and understand that proactive maintenance on critical equipment is essential. Having the right CMMS tool that enables maintenance pros to do this work is key.

3) Management: People in management roles should view the CMMS as a means of obtaining metrics regarding maintenance deployment and equipment performance. Through reporting on work performed, planned and in process, management can improve its decision-making process. Having updated information on equipment maintenance history and relative maintenance cost enables management to control resources and costs more effectively. The right CMMS must be able to provide the data management needs for this process.

Bringing these groups together during the selection and implementation planning stages will set the tone for ongoing CMMS success. Such a process will also encourage user input to help determine the type of system that is the best fit for the company. This should take into account the size of organization that will be using the CMMS, functionality required, facility type, budget and return on investment. These components will influence how an organization will achieve the desired results from a CMMS.
IMPLEMENTATION
Software will not "implement itself." Unfortunately, many companies aren't deriving much benefit from their CMMS because the system has been poorly implemented. By taking a systematic approach to the CMMS implementation, organizations will be on a better path for success.

Database building must be planned and checked for effectiveness at predetermined steps. It is essential to have one person actively involved and in charge to ensure proper implementation. Many implementations fail because the database hasn't been built systematically; several people have entered their own data without direction as to what is needed or expected, resulting in a system that only can be used by the implementer. Proper implementation consists of building the database to match the environment (data formats, how data is recorded, manipulated and managed) and developing a systematic use of the CMMS that is consistent on a daily basis.

Training on how to use the CMMS is often a key component of implementation and provides a disciplined approach to best system usage. It also provides a means for educating multiple users across different disciplines on how to use the system for each of their areas.

CONCLUSION
Software alone won't improve how an organization handles maintenance. System users must understand how the CMMS works and how it can be trusted as a tool to improve work processes and effectiveness. Maintenance, equipment users and management all should view a CMMS as a means for controlling costs and increasing capacity. Having this mind-set is a huge step toward getting the most from a system.

Source: www.benchmate.com.

CMMS: Web Based Application for Maintenance

CMMS is short for Computerized Maintenance Management System. Web based CMMS software programs help public and private organizations manage their maintenance from any location, by logging onto the Internet. Most of them provide features such as work orders, tracking and controlling of inventory, maintenance histories, costs and schedules of maintenance by the hour.

A web based CMMS uses a web browser to access the program. A true web based CMMS system does not require any third party or download program. The program is designed to operate from a central server and the database itself, from another. The more powerful systems require specialized hardware and software to function.

A web based CMMS offers the end user many benefits. Low cost, easy to maintain client and server components, and a user-friendly web browser are the salient features of a web based CMMS. It also offers remote system access with open architecture and interfaces. A very important feature is the web browser itself. They include copy and paste features along with e-mail and help systems. Security and history settings are also available.

A wide array of industries have switched over to using web based CMMS programs. Companies have been able to find new ways to deliver applications across their networks in a more efficient and cost effective manner. Web based CMMS can streamline software delivery and offers a centralized data repository for accessing and analyzing real time data. The cost savings involved are enormous and hence justify the initial investment in the package.

Preventive Maintenance As A Clever Cost-Cutting Process

So many managers in factories and hotels treat maintenance as a necessary evil. The cost of engineers and technicians, who look after and repair the equipment, is considered a burden that deprives the entity of extra profit. In these entities, one often finds the maintenance personnel, “fighting fires” all the time. They tend to serve those who either stand high in the hierarchy or those who shout the loudest.

The lack of an organised maintenance effort brings about a lot of wasted time, time that is preciously limited and time that costs a lot of money. Studies taken in such workplaces showed that a maintenance technician only spends around 25 per cent of work-time actually on the job solving problems. The rest of the time (75 per cent) is spent looking for spare parts, going to and from the work-site (several times), getting permits to start work and on other similar non-productive work.

Change is always difficult to make and changing operating procedures and mentality even more so. The change required here is to gradually move from reactive maintenance (fighting fires technique) to proactive maintenance (preventing the fires in the first place). Proactive maintenance is more commonly referred to as Preventive Maintenance. This can be achieved through short- and long-term maintenance planning. Employing the help of software improves the chances of success drastically.

A Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is software dedicated to improving the efficiency, organisation and effectiveness of the maintenance section. A good CMMS is capable of keeping track of repairs done on equipment or machinery, alerts maintenance personnel on when preventive maintenance is due, plans and schedules jobs to personnel who have the skill to do the job in question, makes sure that required parts are ordered in time for maintenance to take place and other similar organising functionalities.

The use of a CMMS can improve maintenance personnel efficiency to 55 per cent or even more. This means that a maintenance person is capable of doing more than twice the amount of work that used to be done before. It often results that as more time is available to the maintenance section, work that used to be outsourced will be handled in-house, further reducing costs, building better in-house skills while affecting maintenance in a shorter time.

A CMMS application also helps reduce the frustration felt by maintenance persons who might feel that the lack of organisation in their department makes them look inefficient in the eyes of their clients. It creates a pride of being professional through planning and efficient handling of maintenance. It improves production, as downtime is reduced. Maintenance can be planned weeks ahead and the necessary arrangements for reassigning production workers to other chores in the factory can be done with ease.

Long-term benefits of using a CMMS is that equipment and machinery lifetime is extended through the proper implementation of preventive maintenance. This in itself reduces the cost of re-investing earned profit into new machines.

Decision taking is also made easier with the data provided by such an application. Data on each and every machine’s repairs and maintenance is recorded. When the question of whether to repair or replace comes up, a more informed decision can be taken.

With all of these benefits, one wonders why so many entities overlook such an application. Reasons vary from the lack of understanding of the benefits such an application provides to the fear that such an application would cost the earth. On the other hand, while it is true that most CMMS software cost too much to be implemented in SMEs, there exist systems aimed at such entity sizes that are more affordable and still offer a good return on investment .

Technology has come a long way and the use for cost cutting and improved bottom line is a clever way towards moving closer to success.

Source: maltabusinessweekly.com | Carmelo Romano