What Data Needs to be Input into My CMMS?
“Focus on what you should do, not what you can do.” It is too easy to open your new software and start entering data. The reason it seems simple is you can enter data into fields; all it takes is a mouse and a keyboard The hard part is knowing what data should be entered into which field and how it should be entered. Implementing a CMMS is analogous to downloading the novel War and Peace and sitting down with our Nook, Kindle, or iPad for a good read. You power it up and find not War and Peace, but a Webster’s Dictionary! When you call the supplier, the service rep tells you the book you purchased has all the words that are contained in War and Peace—you just need to put them in the right order! Entering data into your CMMS is building your dictionary so the CMMS can later put the data into the right order, under a variety of queries, over and over again to provide you with the information you seek. If the words are not in the dictionary, they can’t be in the book! How do you know what data to enter? Where is the instruction book, the YouTube video, the Help system, the webinar, the website, or any of the other tools we use today to learn how to do things? Unfortunately there is no canned answer telling you what data should be include in your CMMS. If you got one, it wouldn’t mean anything to you anyhow. Here is the answer: Only enter data you want to come out of the CMMS later. Only you, and your organization, can determine what to enter in the CMMS. Stated another way, if you don’t want to see it on a print out, the screen, a report, a widget, or graph, don’t enter it. If you can clearly determine what you want out of your CMMS, you can determine what to put into it. Ask the stakeholders, all of them, what they want from the system. Have everyone mock up the reports they want to see or need. They should also indicate the frequency they want to see them, the filter fields and any sort criteria they’ll be using. Careful, it’s not that easy. When I ask this question of the people I work with the most commonly requested report is a “List of Overdue Work Orders.” So I offer them a list that looks like this: 21, 182, 145, 22659,EE-091, 6 They say, “What use is this?” I say, “You asked for a list of overdue work orders, here is the list.” So now comes the hard part; what differentiators do you want on this list? My guess is you want to see at least who is assigned to the work order, when it was due, why it is late, what is the priority, what piece of equipment (or other asset type) is contained on the work order. You may also want to see the work load on the listed employee. Maybe they are overloaded and everything is overdue. Say you say you want to know how much you spend on each piece of equipment. If I give you a spreadsheet with 500 rows, one for each piece of equipment, and two columns, one labeled Equip Number and the other labeled Total Cost of Maintenance, will this give you what you want? What if it has 5000 rows? Don’t you want to know what charges are included in the figure displayed in Total Cost of Maintenance? Do you want to be able to break this list down by any other attributes such as the equipments location, its department, its system or cell, its cost center, its type, or model? You might want to be able to drill down on each asset to the work order level and find out what kind, type, or projects are associated to each work order that built up the total cost. Remember, only put into your CMMS what you want to come out of your CMMS. This means turn off the computer, even though you can enter data. Now you should start a discussion with everyone from the top person in charge and the maintenance repair technician as well as the customers of the maintenance department and find out what they want to see from the CMMS. Then, you’ll know what source data you need to put in. Now that’s your answer.
What is (a) CMMS?
I was reading a discussion group dialog from an EAM/CMMS sub-group on LinkedIn today. The question of the day was, “What is your definition of a CMMS?” There were many responses and the question seemed to be drawing quite a few diverse comments. I thought I’d weigh in on the topic in my blog. Many of the respondents defined the acronym CMMS to represent “Computerized Maintenance Management System.” Others claimed the acronym represents “Computerized Maintenance Management Software.” As you can see, in either case, the acronym is still CMMS. I cannot argue as to which definition is correct. The acronym has been around for many years. Marketing slants, usage, and other claims tend to change the meaning and origin of acronyms over time. It is really not important which is correct. Some even imply these definitions mean one in the same. I disagree. These two definitions are not synonymous. Break it down. Use a simple if/then statement to show the folly in assuming that the two definitions are the same. “If Computerized Maintenance Management System = Computerized Maintenance Management Software then System = Software.” Most would agree this is definitely NOT a true statement. (And you thought you’d never use algebra!) Systems define process. Software supports process. Systems are dynamic, and software is static. Bad things happen when software is confused with system. Worse things happen when software defines process. I have seen too many organizations purchase a CMMS software package thinking it will fix, or define, their broken or non-existent maintenance management system. A company wouldn’t think of buying a set of tools to fix a broken compressor if they didn’t have a mechanic on staff with the knowledge and skills to use them. You don’t need the tools if you don’t have the knowledge and skills. In fact, purchasing tools and giving them to someone without the knowledge and skills to use them could cause someone to get hurt! CMMS software packages schedule, track, and report on how well a maintenance management system is performing. It is amazing how many companies buy software without defining what they want the software to schedule, track, and report on. A maintenance management system defines the goals and the processes used to attain those goals. A CMMS software package reports on the progress towards the goals, helps administer the process, and validates the attainment of the goals. Be sure you have the correct expectation for a CMMS software system.
10 Steps to a Successful CMMS Implementation
Avoid a rocky CMMS rollout with this checklist. CMMS has proven its ability to enhance business performance time and time again. However, the path to effective implementation is not always easy — complexities often arise as a result of trying to align an entire company behind the concept. You can find the success that comes from leveraging customer knowledge to the fullest measure by following these 10 steps: Calculate the value. Exactly how will CMMS benefit your business? Strive to answer this question in terms of measurable ROI (return on investment). Don’t focus too much on how the software will help customers — what will really improve your bottom line is how CMMS helps your employees use maintenance data more effectively. Work closely with key departments. Good planning is critical to your success. Use members of the production, planning, purchasing, operations and IT departments as parts of your CMMS planning team, because these departments can be affected to the greatest extent by a new solution. Let them tell you the business processes that need improvement. Then hammer out agreeable objectives mapped to new business processes. It’s often a good strategy to place some easy ones on top of the list so you can celebrate some victories early on. Budget realistically. Be a bit pessimistic when it comes to the budget to avoid the painful process of increasing cost estimates. CMMS customization and integration with existing software present two big expenses. It can cost two to three times the price of software for implementation and ongoing maintenance. Make sure you factor in all of these expenses from the early stages of your CMMS deployment. Organize maintenance data. The underlying maintenance data is the backbone of a CMMS solution. Most companies store duplicate and outdated data in multiple locations. Putting this data in a unified database, scrubbing it and making it available to the entire organization before implementation will make for a smooth rollout. If necessary, get help from vendors who offer data-cleansing services. Lead the project from the top down. Experts agree that the No. 1 reason implementations don’t work is that senior executives fail to lead. After all, if managers don’t work hard to ensure CMMS success, why should employees? It’s not just about signing paperwork and attending meetings. Executives must adopt CMMS as a corporate-level initiative, dedicate significant time and energy, motivate stakeholders and keep everyone on track. Find a reliable vendor and select functionality conservatively. Shop for a financially secure vendor with proven ability to expand the solution as your company grows. Beware of providers that rely heavily on partners for key functionality. When considering industry-specific software, make sure to find out if it really delivers on its promise. Talk to other corporate users in your field, try out the software and choose enough functionality to meet your business needs without sending your IT department on endless quests for the Holy Grail. Implement gradually. Change is never easy, especially for employees who may fear the accountability that comes with posting data that can expose their true performance. Start your CMMS initiative in a single department that stands to benefit the most in the short term; then follow with a zealous, company-wide CMMS proponent. When others witness the initial success of that department, bringing them on board will be much easier. Market CMMS to employees and deliver ongoing training. It may sound obvious, but it’s important to remember that employees have to use the solution in order for it to work. Clearly communicate how it will help them succeed, and start CMMS training early on. This way, you’ll chip away faster at the 18 to 24 months it typically takes employees to adopt new business processes. Actively manage the implementation. Technical difficulties, management turnover, employee resistance and adjustments in company direction will happen. Managers need to stay on their toes and quickly address changes to maintain momentum. Develop a culture of continuous improvement. CMMS solutions should be adjusted to deliver a sharper competitive edge as a company and its business evolve. Be sure to keep employees in the communication loop, and they will help supply the information needed to continuously improve the way the system leverages customer information. [related-content] Not all companies will achieve CMMS success because many fail to take into account the items listed above. Then again, for the ones who do succeed, the rewards are great. Stick to these steps, and you will rig the game in your favor. Content adapted from an original article on CRM implementation from Focus Research. The implementation of any data driven management information systems is very similar and adaptable across multiple system types.