Buying MPulse CMMS: Your Roadmap To Success
Congratulations! You’ve made the excellent choice to buy CMMS software from MPulse. What happens next? Let’s outline the steps to a successful CMMS implementation. Step 1: Sign Your Sales Contract Your MPulse sales rep will finalize your order, which outlines the MPulse tier (Professional, Advanced, or Enterprise) and any services you’ve chosen. These services also may include implementation consulting, training, hosting, etc. (See all MPulse’s available services on our website.) Once your order has been submitted, things start moving quickly. Step 2: Schedule Your Customer Kickoff Meeting The MPulse Customer Care team will reach out to you shortly after your purchase. You’ll receive an invitation to schedule a Customer Development Team (CDT) Introduction meeting at a time that’s convenient for you. Note that this conversation is specific to your organization. On that phone call, we will … Provide details on who the Customer Development Team is and how we can help with your CMMS success Confirm information about your company, and make sure we have all of the right contact people Review the products and services you’ve purchased, and how MPulse will deliver them Discover all the great training, services, and support resources provided by your MPulse Maintenance & Support Program (MSP) and how to access them Review priorities, timeline, and how you’ll measure success Get answers to any questions you might have. Step 3: Receive Meeting Summary After your kickoff call, you’ll receive an email summary with helpful links, scheduled activities, and contact information. Step 4: Schedule Services with MPulse Teams CDT personnel will contact you to schedule your services. These may include… CMMS Implementation Services Onsite or virtual consulting Data migration Custom projects Integrations Software deployment Application Hosting Service setup Runs on Microsoft’s .NET technology Safe and secure Free to MSP subscribers Application Installation Service for customers choosing to run MPulse on their local servers Maintenance & Support Program (MSP) Latest software updates Access to online knowledgebase, usability video library, and premium online training courses Phone and email support 8am-8pm ET, Monday – Friday All support provided by experienced MPulse employees Access to customer-only webinars and training events CMMS Training Virtual Fundamentals Walk-Through course Customized on-site sessions Access to our “Let’s Learn” video library Webinars and world-class online training. Expert Consulting Services Assigned MPulse Senior Trainer/ Implementation Engineer Planning meeting Data review Follow-up action plan Online instruction or on-site training and implementation, depending on your needs Step 5: Check In During your first year, CDT will check in to see how you’re progressing. They’ll also help resolve any issues impacting your successful implementation. Note that the CDT takes their job to make sure you’re happy with MPulse services very seriously. If you ever have questions, you can contact them directly.
How to Efficiently Access Maintenance Records with Global Search Navigation
The value of CMMS software lies in your data. As a result, we designed MPulse’s Global Search Navigation tool to take you right where you need to go in a flash. This feature enables our users to search their entire database from a single search field, therefore enabling easy access to any record. That includes asset history, service requests, work orders, inventory, parts numbers, employees, vendors, purchase orders, and much more. You can get right to your records by entering simple keywords. Or you can also use the powerful advanced search features of MPulse’s Global Search Navigation tool to get quick access to any record. It also works with our Barcode Scanning feature. These barcode labels can be read by commonly available mobile devices—including smartphones, tablets, and barcode scanners. Just scan the barcode to search your MPulse CMMS database. The MPulse Global Search Navigation box is located on the top navigation menu for easy access. Use it to search for information in any MPulse field, and then simply click on the searched item to go straight to that record. Benefits of Global Search Navigation This feature can be particularly useful for users who are less familiar with database hierarchy. The benefits of MPulse’s Global Search Navigation tool include the ability to… Search for specific terms without needing to know the correct field Bring up related records to that term Narrow the scope of a search query to eliminate irrelevant information Reduce time needed to look through records Find the exact content you need. Features MPulse’s Global Search Navigation tool enables your team to … Use either a word or a phrase for searching Find content without knowing the exact title or name Read barcodes or QR codes Use search operators to identify and locate information Narrow the scope of a search query to eliminate irrelevant information. Have questions? Want to see MPulse in action? Contact us. We’re here for you.
Six CMMS Calendar Management Tips
Calendars are a huge part of the maintenance operations management field—from safety inspections to planned maintenance tasks to staff schedules. Here are seven tips to make the most out of MPulse’s Calendar Management tool. Tip #1: Create Multiple Calendars MPulse lets you create CMMS calendars for anything. Our customers typically create multiple calendars, depending on their needs. Popular ones include… Work order due dates Scheduled maintenance Warranty expiration dates Schedules for employees or vendors Task types Locations Completion dates MPulse makes it easy to find your calendars or create new ones. You can find the Calendar tab at the top of the screen on your Dashboard as soon as you log in. Tip #2: Customize Your Calendars MPulse lets you customize your CMMS calendars. There’s no limit to the number or type of calendar views you can have. You also can view calendars by month, week, or day. You can use these customized and filtered schedules to make sure your team knows what needs to be done, and by when. Customize the fields to reflect what you want your calendar to show. When you’re done, click Save. Then click Preview to view your calendar. Tip #3: Use Color Codes Color coding your calendars helps with visualizing your team’s week or month. Viewing different calendars that are easily identified by color gives you a better perspective on your entire department’s workload. Tip #4: Manage Access You can manage access to your MPulse calendars, giving others permission to edit or view. Or, you can create calendars for your eyes only. Manage access to MPulse calendars by choosing from three options… Public / editable Public / not editable Private Tip #5: Drag and Drop Rescheduling MPulse Calendars work seamlessly with our maintenance work order and preventive maintenance tools. You can drag and drop tasks right from your calendar view to reschedule. No need to go find the work order. You also can set up automated scheduling for tasks or meetings, as well as quickly add tasks and other deadlines on the fly. Tip #6: View Multiple Calendars at Once On the left-hand side of your screen, you’ll see a list of all your calendars in a collapsible window. You can display one calendar or more than one at a time. It’s an easy way to quickly see how to get high priority work done quickly, while making sure lower priority work doesn’t slip through the cracks. You’ll always see what’s coming up in your MPulse calendars, so your team is ready to go when the time is right. How can calendar management in your CMMS software help your maintenance operations? Leave a comment or contact us. [related-content]
Knowing Your Stakeholder: Your Users
At this point, you’ve identified most of your stakeholders in the CMMS purchasing process. However, we saved the most important one for last—your users Users are any staff who will operate the software in their day-to-day jobs. The most frequently stated concern among users is ease of use. Because a system that’s difficult to learn and navigate won’t be adopted quickly by the people who’ll be logging in the most. And software that’s not used will never produce the desired results. Prevent Poor User Adoption Your users need to understand why they need to learn a new system. Consider who on your team might have emotional reasons to oppose CMMS. What could they be? You can prepare by thinking about how maintenance management software will impact each role. Firstly, ask yourself… How is this program likely to affect each person’s daily workload positively or negatively? How might this program threaten each person’s job, work performance, or domain of responsibility? Secondly, to avoid becoming a victim of poor user adoption, you need to… Listen—and develop an understanding of the users’ concerns. Ask some probing questions to understand what users like and don’t like about the programs they currently use. Do your homework. Be sure to vet all potential solutions for usability based on what you learned from your discussions with users. Evangelize the merits of the chosen solution—prior to implementation. Explain to those who’ll be using the software what it does and how it does it. Sometimes establishing the right expectations is half the battle. Train. Be sure to purchase good training and let users know they’ll be getting it. Before go-live day, ensure all key users have been trained. Understand Their Perspective When you’re reviewing CMMS software, consider how the features will impact your users. Study after study shows that software that’s easier to use is used more often—and more effectively. For example, removing the “clutter” will significantly streamline data access for your teams. One such CMMS feature is called role-based access control, where your maintenance personnel will only see the records relevant to their unique workloads. With role-based access control, you can easily adjust settings in your MPulse implementation so the right people have the right access to the right records. So, you can give your employees access to what they need—and only what they need. For example, one MPulse customer employs a variety of maintenance professionals with very specific job duties. With role-based access control, their plumbers only see plumbing work orders. Their electricians only see electrical work orders. Another customer with multiple facilities set up their role-based access control based on location. So the maintenance team at their Phoenix facility only sees work orders for that location, while the Denver facility team only sees the work orders for their location. Create “Super Users” Like many organizations, your maintenance team probably includes technicians of all ages. While younger generations typically view new technology positively, the same might not be true for everyone. However, peer-to-peer mentoring can help. Start by finding the right employees to help their coworkers learn a new system by helping them become what we call “super users.” You probably already know who they are—they are approachable, open to learning, responsible, and knowledgeable about the organization and how to contribute to its success. Their enthusiasm for the software and its capabilities is catching. It’s important to support people who are likely to become super users with time, continuous training, and hands-on experience. In general, maintenance managers should encourage employees who have… A strong understanding (or potentially strong understanding) of workflows A belief in the value of technology and data-driven management An enthusiastic attitude and strong communication skills Good problem-solving capabilities Flexibility and adaptability to change Desire for continued learning and skill development Super users can help you get your whole team on board with the initial implementation. Additionally, it can help the whole organization discover the value of CMMS data—and the decisions it helps make. When it’s time to pitch CMMS software to your team, a little proactive work can go a long way. Follow these steps, and you’ll dampen the fears of even the most skeptical users. Contact us for more tips. [related-content]
When to Use a CMMS App, Part 2
Last time we talked about why many users don’t need a CMMS app. However, sometimes a CMMS app is the best solution. If your job involves working off site or in areas with low connectivity, a CMMS app can make your job a lot easier. With smartphones and tablets, you can capture information on the spot—instead of jotting it down on paper to be input later. Maintenance happens in the field or on the plant floor. If you want to streamline workflows away from the office, a CMMS app works great if your team needs to… Open, access, and complete work orders Send or upload photographs of failed components View available parts inventory Access historical data on assets Get up-to-the minute alerts and reports Update inventory using barcode scanning and online ordering systems Access maintenance and repair manuals Record locations automatically with a GPS-enabled device. What to Look for in a CMMS App A CMMS app should give you everything you need to get the job done, even if you can’t connect to the Internet. That last bit is important, as most maintenance professionals work in environments where connectivity can be an issue. When looking at a CMMS app, consider these key features… Automatic syncing between the app and your CMMS software when online Reporting problems in the field Capturing data when and where it happens Documenting work with pictures and videos Receiving and updating work assigned to you Completing work orders with all required data Tracking hours worked with activity timer Finding and linking inventory using barcodes Working offline with seamless background synchronization Controlling access With any app, security is always a paramount concern. You’ll want to understand the app’s security features to ensure you can confidently control access even when you can’t physically control the location of your devices. Work with your CMMS vendor and IT team to identify the right security tools to keep your data safe. CMMS App Training Mobile device designers have focused heavily on improving ease of use, so it’s likely your employees will need minimal training on a CMMS app. Many will have already used smartphones and tablets in their personal lives, and increasingly standardized application interfaces mean that lessons learned navigating one app are easily transferable to new ones. CMMS apps can offer big benefits for maintenance professionals. Contact us to learn more about how MPulse can help your team get the job done. [related-content]
Why Most Users Don’t Need a CMMS App, Part 1
CMMS and mobile technology offer big benefits for maintainers. The ability to access information and record data on the spot—where maintenance happens, instead of in a plant or campus office—fits nicely into maintenance workflows. However, mobile app fatigue sets in when users feel overwhelmed by the number of apps on a device. But, you don’t need a mobile CMMS app to benefit from mobile technology. An adaptive interface will likely serve users well, no app required. CMMS with Adaptive Interface Software with tablet and smartphone compatibility will work on desktops, laptops, as well as Apple, Android, and other popular smartphones and tablets. Also called adaptive interface, this software works on any size display or device, whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. At MPulse, we call this concept Adaptive “Any Device” Interface. That term means what it says—our CMMS software will work the same way across multiple devices. MPulse’s tablet and smartphone compatibility means your maintenance team will experience the same easy access no matter what device they use, making things easier to find and creating less confusion. Benefits of Adaptive Interface for Maintenance Teams For such an important component, the user interface gets very little thought from the actual users. That’s by design. A good user interface is instinctive, so you don’t need to think about it. When your CMMS software has an intuitive, adaptive interface with tablet and smartphone compatibility, your maintenance team experiences some big benefits… Faster training because your maintenance techs will already know the basics Smoother software implementation with less help from expensive, outside consultants Quicker response and completion times because it’s easy to use Better user compliance the software is seamless and makes their work less complicated Easy access to work orders and the ability to make updates without stopping by the office or needing to find a computer. The strongest user interfaces make using the software more intuitive and seamless, no matter what device you use. So, you don’t always need a mobile app to make CMMS easy to use on the go. Access to real-time data is the best way to save time and help your maintenance staff boost productivity. And an adaptive interface means better acceptance from your workforce and a better way for maintainers to quickly enter data on the job. That helps your team spend less time on the computer and more time doing what you hired them for—maintenance. Have questions? Want to see how MPulse works on your mobile device? Contact us. We can help.
Simplify Maintenance Communication with Graphical CMMS Reporting
Graphical CMMS reporting makes it easy to quickly produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of your team’s maintenance work. As a result, you can communicate with different departments in your organization and show your team’s impact on operations. Simple CMMS Reporting You can create simple, easy-to-read graphic reports with just a few clicks in MPulse Software. Our reporting features enable you to… Select from over 300 pre-configured text and graphical reports Easily build your own reports in the MPulse Report Builder Customize your reports or create graphical views Produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of your team’s maintenance work Create benchmarks for your organization Get quick access to the numbers you need to make important decisions. Start by checking out the Report Widgets in MPulse. Note that you can narrow down the widgets by choosing the type of report you want to create. For example, we’re looking only at the Financial Widgets in the image below. Edit all the parameters on the right side of the screen. For example, you might want a pie chart instead of a bar chart. You also can choose the data you want to build the report on. To save your report, simply click the Save button at the top right corner of the screen. Also check the Add to Dashboard box if you want the report to display on your personal dashboard. That’s it! Couldn’t be easier. Those reports give you a quick visualization of the numbers you need to make important decisions. These reports also help explain the value of maintenance to other departments and managers in your organization. What Questions Can CMMS Reports Answer At a glance, graphical CMMS reports can show how much money each work order type is costing your business in maintenance for a specified timeframe. This data can be applied directly to purchasing or other important organizational decisions. You’ll be able to purchase, operate, maintain, upgrade, or dispose of assets in the most cost-effective manner. Common questions can be quickly answered. What type of maintenance do I spend the most on? How does the cost of preventive maintenance compare to repair costs? If I run this report for a different time period, like last year, are there significant changes by category? Beyond those general questions, you can ask precise questions that’ll lead to a more informed decision-making process. Why are my machining maintenance costs so high? What new equipment needs to be purchased, if any? How much will the new equipment cost compared to the current maintenance expense? Will I save money over time by purchasing new equipment? How much? How to Create Graphical Reports with MPulse MPulse makes answering questions easy with Report Widgets. You can customize these widgets to meet your needs. Start by selecting the closest report under Report Widgets. That gives you a good starting point to build your report. Edit the report to include the data you need and the time period you want. You also can add custom information to the Description field. Next, you have several choices for customizing a facility maintenance report, equipment maintenance report, financial report, etc. in the Data Area section. Select the Graphic Report Type you want. Choose the Record Area and Field you want for the x-axis of your chart. Pick the Display Range and Display Sort. Enter the Calculated Area and Calculated Field you want for the y-axis of your chart. Choose the Summary of Calculated Field #1 for the type of summary data you want. If you want a second calculated field, click on Add Calculated Field (#2) and follow the same steps to set the parameters. Finally, under Options, you can… Click Show data labels, if you want to display labels. Set the Access Type to control who can access or edit the report. What CMMS Reports Do I Need? Having hard numbers not only helps you run your business, it allows you to measure and use a whole host of key performance indicators. KPIs evaluate your success in the areas you care about, giving you a new level of insight on what’s going on in your department. Knowing KPIs for application support and maintenance is crucial to reaching your team’s goals. Related: How to Find the Maintenance Reports You Need Maintenance managers should concentrate on the KPIs that measure their goals. For example, maintenance KPIs that most MPulse customers find handy include… Planned Maintenance Percentage: the percentage of the total hours spent on PM maintenance activities over a specific period Preventative Maintenance Compliance (PMC): the percentage of scheduled PM tasks that get done in a specific time interval Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): the average time to evaluate and repair failed equipment Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): the predicted time between failures of an asset during normal operation Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): the percentage of manufacturing time that is truly productive Maintenance Backlog: the percentage of uncompleted tasks A CMMS report enables you to transform your CMMS data into meaningful insights and make data-driven decisions by analyzing historical costs and trends. That includes the ability to accurately assess how your department is functioning and where you might make changes to improve. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a CMMS report can be worth thousands of dollars. To learn more, contact us.
Knowing Your Stakeholder: Legal & Compliance
Your legal and compliance departments probably won’t use your CMMS. However, they may feel invested in what the software can do. Making a courtesy call to these departments can prevent unexpected hiccups down the road. Both departments want to make sure your organization follows all related laws, policies, and regulations. As a result, their concerns are: Are we abiding by legal/governmental regulations? Are we abiding by internal company policies and guidelines? Often, simply involving these stakeholders in the buying process at the appropriate time can prevent many issues. Will It Help Us Follow the Rules? When explaining your CMMS purchase to legal and compliance departments, focus on the software’s ability to help your team follow the rules. It could be documentation about safety protocols for OHSA, compliance regulations, or simply paperwork to support any liability issues. These departments want to know how CMMS software can help your organization stay on the right side of the law. Documentation lies near and dear to your legal and compliance departments. For example, CMMS software can document and report on… Inspection schedules Warranty documentation Purchasing and vendor information Compliance procedures Quality assurance tasks Regulatory audit support Those all play a role in following legal and compliance guidelines. As a result, understanding what these departments need and how they use that information goes a long way. Legal The law requires any organization to take reasonable actions under the appropriate circumstances. Failing to do so can result in potential liability. Additionally, all organizations want to avoid lawsuits or legal headaches. CMMS software can support your organization with documentation in the case of a complaint or a potential lawsuit. For example, records of safety inspections and completed maintenance tasks can provide evidence for an onsite injury. This also applies when your organization might hold a manufacturer responsible for a failure. For example, if an asset fails, the legal department can use CMMS data to prove the service requirements were completed as required and on the recommended timescale. That also can help if a manufacturer wants to void a warranty. Regulatory Compliance Regulatory agencies have the right to fine, or even shut down, companies that do not comply with their standards. However, maintaining compliance with regulatory guidelines requires increasingly complex recordkeeping. CMMS helps organizations stay compliant with… User-defined permissions, access, and login control that can integrate with your active directory Electronic signature support with limited access to a specific signature field to enter approval Preventive maintenance scheduling and documentation Corrective maintenance tracking and documentation Robust compliance reporting capabilities Automated data collection and archived work history Documentation of processes and procedures Hosting capability for third-party software that creates audit trails Audits One common maintenance challenge preparing for audits. However, CMMS software can keep the necessary audit trail for inspectors. A huge benefit of CMMS is the ability to drastically reduce that prep time. Rather than your team taking extra time to assemble all necessary documents, the software can generate detailed information in seconds. Make sure legal and compliance concerns are heard before you get too far into the buying process. You always want to avoid late-stage show-stoppers that may derail your procurement. The bottom line: Make sure you know your stakeholders in the software buying process and do your best to meet their needs. Do your homework—take the time to know and understand your stakeholders and their motivations. Listen to and understand their needs. Address these needs directly. Like some stakeholders, your legal and/or compliance departments will likely not be affected directly by the daily use of CMMS software. However, they still can benefit from it. Take the time to understand what they need from your department, and then you can answer their questions about how CMMS software can help. Have questions? We can help. Contact us. Get a Free Custom Quote [related-content]
How to Use Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) to Build Efficiencies
Globalization and economic pressures are forcing companies to build efficiencies wherever possible. As a result, the reliability of assets will become even more important than ever. What is Reliability Centered Maintenance? Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) defines maintenance as the means to maintain an asset’s functions in a defined operating context. Therefore, companies can focus resources on equipment that would cause the most disruption if it failed. Learn more: What is Reliability Centered Maintenance? Building efficiency with RCM can result in cost savings and improved reliability of your assets. However, it takes tracking, monitoring, and auditing your maintenance program to reap the benefits of RCM. What Are the Benefits of CMMS Software for RCM? CMMS software offers the best tools to track and monitor your RCM program. Additionally, as CMMS automatically gathers data with every work order, you can see what’s working, and what needs more attention. As a result, you can quickly produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of your team’s maintenance work, like… Who’s doing what and how long it takes them to do it How much that asset really costs, and when it’s more cost-effective to replace it Which parts are overstocked or understocked, and which parts need longer lead times What’s the inventory turn rate How much the department is spending and on what Which assets are pulling their weight, and which ones aren’t How much a breakdown really costs What to do to prevent those breakdowns before they happen Evaluation Criteria for Reliability Centered Maintenance Maintenance teams can set up their CMMS software to evaluate their RCM program. The technical standard SAE JA1011, Evaluation Criteria for RCM Processes outlines the evaluation criteria… What is the item supposed to do and its associated performance standards? In what ways can it fail to provide the required functions? What are the events that cause each failure? What happens when each failure occurs? In what way does each failure matter? What systematic task can be performed proactively to prevent, or to diminish to a satisfactory degree, the consequences of the failure? What must be done if a suitable preventive task cannot be found? Setting Up Audits for RCM Maintenance managers know their operations will change over time. Employees come and go. New equipment arrives. Vendors and suppliers change. Therefore, the auditing process for RCM enables organizations to determine how those changes impact operations. It’s also a chance to identify new areas to improve. An audit should analyze assets individually to identify potential issues. Next, identify the appropriate maintenance strategy to ensure the asset can function at its maximum capacity. Scheduled audits should also offer a chance review those decisions to make changes and updates as necessary. RCM and Condition-Based Maintenance Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is one tool that can augment an RCM program. CBM keeps tabs on the actual state of your critical assets by recording the output of any meters and gauges on that asset. For example, sensors attached to equipment will use methods like vibration, viscosity, ultrasound, thermography, and other technologies to determine any changes to the condition of that asset. In combination with CMMS software, maintenance teams can use that data to identify patterns that could lead to machine failure. When an asset’s condition changes outside of specified ranges, your software lets you know immediately with CBM assessments. As a result, you can react to prevent breakdowns before they happen. You also can use CMMS software to… Monitor multiple meters (e.g., revolutions, psi, hours) on a single asset Specify multiple conditions, triggers, and responses Automatically generate work orders based on specified triggers Use data analysis tools to identify potential problems Set up automatic notifications Produce status reports and documents That data goes a long way to set up an effective RCM. Therefore, you can continue to monitor and audit your program to build efficiencies. Data-Driven Decision Making Organizations can use RCM to reduce maintenance costs, minimize downtime, streamline and increase production, maintain safety standards, and improve profitability. CMMS and RCM also can help organizations by providing data-driven decision-making. Data-driven management simply means making management decisions backed by reliable data. Technological advances continue to make more and more detailed, relevant data available. Additionally, with that increased capability comes the opportunity to improve organizational performance at all levels, and in all departments. This type of maintenance management also helps organizations compete in increasingly complicated and competitive markets. Have questions about setting up an RCM program or improving your current one? Contact us to get started.
How to Calculate Downtime
Calculating asset downtime offers new insights into your maintenance operations, and how you can make improvements. But how do you calculate downtime? And what can you do with that information? Here’s what you need to know. What Is Equipment Downtime? Downtime refers to any period when a system fails to perform its primary function. For your maintenance operations, you’ll want to measure unexpected downtime that occurs any time production stops due to asset failure. You also might track planned downtime, which means equipment remains offline while preventive maintenance or other planned tasks occur. Why You Need to Track Equipment Downtime While your managers likely want to track equipment downtime, it holds benefits for the maintenance team too. Maintenance is on the frontline when things aren’t working, and it directly affects our workload. Tracking equipment downtime helps with… Determining which workflows are working and which ones aren’t Evaluating the effectiveness of PM schedules Identifying areas for improvement Lowering maintenance costs How Much Downtime is OK? You can’t avoid downtime, but you can minimize it. Most enterprise organizations aim for 10% or less for unscheduled downtime, which they calculate on the basis of number of operating hours. How to Calculate Asset Downtime To calculate asset downtime, you need data. You’ll find some of this data in your CMMS software, and your accounting department can help with the rest. This data should include: Employee costs per hour: The average employee salary divided by number of hours worked, multiplied by the number of employees. Average revenue per hour: An estimate of how much revenue your company generates in a given hour. Employees affected by downtime: An estimate of the percent of employees who would be unable to work due to shut down machinery. Revenue affected by downtime: An estimate of the percent of revenue lost due to machine downtime. Number of units produced per hour: An estimate of the number of units produced in one hour. Average profit per unit: The amount of profit earned for each unit produced. Number of hours of downtime: The number of hours of downtime expected. Maintenance managers plug in these estimates and generate an average cost of machine downtime per hour. Simple Downtime Calculation Not everyone needs to calculate downtime at the same level. If you need something a little simpler, try this equation that only takes a few numbers: (Hours of downtime / Total period measured) * 100 = percentage of downtime How to Reduce Downtime Once you have the basic calculations, you can identify ways to reduce downtime. MPulse customers have successfully reduced downtime by… Optimizing their MPulse CMMS software to collect more data Improving preventive or predictive maintenance schedules and completion rates Using condition-based maintenance tools Improving documentation of unscheduled downtime for better insight into what can be improved Using mobile CMMS tools to improve response time and provide better access to data Utilize Smart Maintenance Scheduling to Reduce Downtime Smart maintenance scheduling can help reduce equipment downtime and increase asset efficiency, as well as extending their usable life. With the help of CMMS software, maintenance managers can automate preventive maintenance schedules that contribute to the upkeep of assets, balance workloads, reduce confusion and errors, create benchmarks, and track repair times. Ultimately, these proactive measures help sidestep serious problems that arise as a result of neglect and delays in more expensive maintenance, and can cut down the time to respond to emergency repairs. CMMS Features: Smart Maintenance Scheduling Reduces Downtime MPulse CMMS software makes maintenance scheduling easy by collecting information and turning it into actionable data. These features include… Dashboards are highly configurable “command center consoles” that your most important data front and center, where you don’t have to dig for it. In addition to charts and graphs, you can link videos, photos, documents, and websites to Dashboards as well. Asset Status Board provides a single-screen view of the health of your entire production line, facilities footprint, or fleet of vehicles. Square boxes (“cells”) are color-coded according to criteria you’ve defined. Work requests can be processed directly from the ASB. Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) keeps tabs on the actual state of your critical assets by recording the output of any meters and gauges on that asset. When an asset’s condition changes, MPulse lets you know immediately, so you can react before breakdowns happen. DataLink Integration Adapter enables your MPulse administrator or local IT team to quickly and easily move data in and out of MPulse using a familiar, intuitive interface. It also works with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices—collecting data faster and easier than ever before.