27 September 2022

What is CMMS? Everything You Need to Know

Proper asset maintenance is crucial for optimum operational efficiency and reduced downtimes that may be caused by breakdowns, repair requirements, etc. It is also a great way to optimise costs. However, for asset intensive organisations with huge inventories of machinery, equipment, vehicles etc., staying on top of the maintenance schedules of all assets can become quite difficult, especially without suitable technology to support proper asset management. CMMS or Computerised Maintenance Management Systems may just be the solution you need to streamline asset maintenance processes for your organisation.

The Role of CMMS Software in Asset Management

Using the CMMS software for asset management allows for the centralisation of all maintenance information that is necessary for streamlining procedures for enhanced efficiency. The CMMS software can be used for performing preventive maintenance on equipment and other assets and offers a number of useful features like tracking task assignments and completion, status report creation, and much more, facilitating informed decision making across all maintenance related activities, while also optimising asset availability and utilisation.

Functions of asset management offered by CMMS software include:

• Predictive maintenance
• Preventive maintenance
• Work order management
• Equipment and labour management
• Asset utilisation scheduling and planning
• Inventory management
• Optimised budgeting and purchasing of assets

Benefits of Using CMMS Software for the Management of Asset Maintenance

CMMS offers a number of advantages, automating and streamlining maintenance processes for the organisation. These include:

• Enhanced Reliability: With a CMMS for the management of asset maintenance, there is no need to manually keep track of preventive maintenance schedules. Maintenance is scheduled by the software regularly, which helps ensure the availability of resources whenever the need arises.

• Work Order Management: CMMS can facilitate an easy-to-access request portal where the maintenance team can receive and process maintenance requests, prioritise jobs, create work orders, and more, which helps streamline the entire process.

• Hassle-Free Record Keeping: Using a CMMS for inventory management allows for easy tracking of spare parts that are used in maintenance. The software solution can also generate relevant reports that can help with further analysis of this data. These functionalities help with the optimisation of ordering and utilisation processes for parts. The ability to track maintenance and repairs also helps with the simplification of record keeping, storing them in a single, easily accessible place, which can prove to be quite useful for compliance audits.

• Data Collection to Facilitate Predictive Maintenance: The CMMS software keeps collecting information and data about repairs, maintenance, and inventory utilisation. Over time, the collected data can also be used to predict when maintenance undertakings should be scheduled. This feature proves to be extremely helpful for manufacturers as it alerts their maintenance teams about impending issues before they even occur, which further helps reduce downtime.

• Optimise Costs: All the benefits and features for asset management that CMMS software offers can enable the implementation of a more efficient and effective maintenance framework with lesser breakdowns, optimised operations, reduced risks of malfunctions, and longer asset lifecycles. All of this result in a significant reduction in overall costs.

• Reduced Downtime: Ensuring that all assets receive maintenance on time and utilising data to improve maintenance planning and scheduling. The increased reliability that CMMS brings into operations can help reduce unexpected downtimes. This, in turn, has a direct and significant impact on the company’s bottom line. In terms of business operations, the ability to avoid unexpected equipment failures or being able to plan downtimes for low-impact times is a crucial concern for all.

So, why wait? Get the right CMMS solution for your organisation for increased reliability, operational efficiency, and improved productivity across the board.