15 November 2020
CAFM (Computer-Aided Facility Management) and CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) software are specialised technologies that are used for the purpose of management. Both these terms are often used interchangeably in the facility management industry. But the question is – are we correct in doing so? Although CAFM and CMMS share many similarities, there are also many differences between the two. Both of them are used for special situations even while they are advantageous for facilities management on the whole.
It is important to know that each of CAFM and CMMS software possess different capabilities.
CAFM software supports automated facility and real estate management. The software can be integrated with different platforms and can aid facility managers in a way that they are able to plan and track how the facilities are used. FMs use this software to monitor work orders, adhere to compliance standards, schedule repairs, etc.
The purpose of software like CAFM is to perform analytics which can help recognise patterns and trends, helping facility managers operate as well as make decisions for their business locations by:
⦁ Providing cost clarity: By showing maintenance, repair, and upkeep service records for all facility locations, CAFM software provides FMs visibility on where the funds are getting spent and in recognising areas where spends can be reduced.
⦁ Keeping a tab on asset conditions: CAFM is able to show FMs the conditions of assets, which can include the work scheduled to be carried out on particular pieces of equipment, warranties, value depreciation, and work histories. FMs require CAFM to completely understand their equipment so that they can then plan maintenance and repair work, assign money, and compute facility value.
A CAFM offers various other advantages as well.
Being a component of the CAFM software, CMMS is completely focused on maintenance and uses a single platform. This software has a database of the maintenance operations of an organisation to offer visibility into maintenance decisions as well as work orders.
CMMS is used to internally monitor facility maintenance work by:
⦁ Offering visibility: CMMS keeps a detailed record of the history of the equipment and tracks work costs.
⦁ Offering access to data: Because of CMMS insights, maintenance workers are armed with the information they require to finish their jobs and management has the information required for making productive maintenance decisions.
⦁ Managing contractors: Monitoring maintenance work is both expensive and time-consuming. CMMShelps save the time of facility managers in contractor management because it allows for the placement of work order request as well as virtual work oversight.
Although CMMS and CAFM software have slightly different competencies and goals, they work in the most effective manner when they are integrated in tandem. CAFM software along with the capabilities of the CMMS offers visibility into the processes of facility management while helping save both time and money. They work together for the optimisation of business functions.
CMMS can be of great help to facility managers. But while CMMS deals with tracking as well as maintenance, it doesn’t offer crucial performance and spend analytics to help make business decisions, recognise trends, etc. To tackle this, the addition of the CAFM software can be beneficial. With the incorporation of CAFM software capabilities, facilities managers are able to control every aspect of facility responsibilities.
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