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.
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Scheduling Software
Service scheduling software always tops the list of essential maintenance management tools. Every major asset has a recommended maintenance schedule. CMMS makes it simple to schedule services based on time or usage, so the maintenance team knows what needs to happen and when. Benefits of Scheduling Software The biggest benefit of service scheduling software is automating preventive maintenance scheduling and work order management. However, you can use it for much more, including… Tracking work orders Viewing progress Automating communication Creating reports Handling service requests Managing inventory/supplies Documenting asset repair history Service scheduling is the first step towards improving productivity for your entire maintenance operations. Here’s how to get the most out of your software. Set Up Scheduled Maintenance Maintenance managers have been scheduling maintenance for decades. Technological advances, however, have automated the service scheduling process, making it more efficient and sustainable. Start by setting up scheduled or preventive maintenance tasks. Your software will generate a schedule of PM tasks, making it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. As a result, these schedules and inspections help spot issues before they occur. CMMS software enables you to schedule maintenance intervals based on time, operating hours, or part condition—triggering a work order just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. (See our previous blog post for more information on how to do that in MPulse.) Convert Scheduled Task to a Work Order When a task is due, you’ll want the software to convert it to a work order. Luckily MPulse makes this easy. Go to Scheduled Maintenance in the main menu. Click on Open Scheduled Maintenance. Choose the date range you want: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, This Week, This Month, Next Week, Next Month, or Custom Range. Select the records to convert and click on Convert to Work Order Click Yes to confirm Now you have an open work order ready for your technician. Automate This Process While that process is simple, you can make it even easier by automating it. When a scheduled task is due, MPulse will automatically convert it to a work order. From the main menu, choose Workflow / Scheduled Maintenance Options Click Enable Scheduled Maintenance conversion Note that you can choose to convert scheduled tasks automatically on the due date or any number of days before the due date. These changes will impact all scheduled maintenance records. Print Work Orders If your team members still receive printed copies of work orders, you can also make this process more efficient in MPulse. From the main menu, choose Workflow / Scheduled Maintenance Options Click the box for Enable Automatic Print after Conversion Black Out Dates Most companies close on specific days or major holidays. MPulse makes it easy to set blackout dates that will adjust due dates and work order conversion accordingly. From the main menu, choose Workflow / Scheduled Maintenance Options / Blackout Dates Click the Add icon Enter your preferred date ranges The blackout date has been added to the list. MPulse will use blackout dates to push any scheduled maintenance record that comes due on those days to the next available date. Properly maintained assets perform more efficiently, use less energy, and fail less often, which also extends their usable life. When a maintenance team establishes and regularly performs tasks that contribute to the upkeep of assets, an organization may be able to sidestep serious problems that arise as a result of neglect as well as delay more expensive maintenance. Contact us to learn more.
How Important is Your CMMS Support Team?
MPulse customers have a secret weapon in their journey to CMMS success—our customer support team. These professionals help new users successfully implement their new CMMS software, as well as continue to use it effectively. We’re proud of our MPulse Support Team and their accomplishments. Here’s what we think you should know about them. Three Ways to Contact MPulse Support Team Our MPulse Support Team is there for you when you need them. We want to keep the customers whose business we’ve worked so hard to earn—so expert MPulse employees are available from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time every workday to support you. They love helping you succeed. Just ask them! Additionally, the MPulse Support Portal provides a searchable knowledge base of helpful articles, a how-to video library, access to software downloads, and forms to submit support requests when you don’t have time for a phone call. As one customer said, “Always a pleasure to talk to the folks at MPulse. All of the MPulse team members that I have communicated with over the course of the last 2 years have been outstanding.” You can reach out to MPulse Support by… Emailing [email protected] Calling Support at (800) 944-1796 Creating or updating a case in the MPulse Support Portal at Support.MPulseSoftware.com Support Team Members The MPulse Support Team helps you keep your MPulse Software optimized, and your organization on track to reach its CMMS goals. One MPulse customer shared why they appreciate MPulse’s software support for their facility maintenance management team: “They are very knowledgeable, very friendly and always ready to help and most important is that they answer all my questions and teach me how to use some of the features.” Here’s more detail about the people on the other end of the phone or the support portal. Evan Newsome, MPulse and TeamWORKS Technical Support Engineer Evan came over to MPulse with TeamWORKs and has been with MPulse since 2020. Our customers say: “Evan has been extremely helpful to me as I navigate using this new program. I am new at my position with the school district. Evan is a great resource!” Matt Miller, MPulse and EPAC Support Service Engineer Matt has been with MPulse since 2021. Our customers say: “Very knowledgeable and fixed our issue quickly. Matt was a great help.” Isac Pederson, MPulse and TeamWORKS Support Service Engineer Isac has been with MPulse since 2021. Our customers say: “Isac was very knowledgeable and was able to walk me right through my issue within about a minute. Highly recommended for a great job.” Wayne Cifelli, MPulse and EPAC Support Service Engineer Wayne came over to MPulse with EPAC and has been with MPulse since 2019. He also provides services with MPulse and EPAC. Our customers say: “Wayne Cifelli is wonderful to work with. Professional and responds quickly.” Elijah Thornton, MPulse Support Service Engineer Elijah has been with MPulse since 2024. Our customers say: “Elijah was super helpful and got me the answer I was looking for!.” Christina Thomas, Director of Support Services Christina joined MPulse in 2017. Our customers say: “Christina was so knowledgeable and courteous in helping me with my MPulse issue. She’s great! Kudos to her for her positive attitude and excellent support!” We’re proud that 9 out of 10 MPulse customers renew their support or SaaS subscription every year. Our employees love working here so much, they almost never leave. Our 5-year employee retention rate is above 95%. That’s why our customers say: “You guys are my BEST VENDOR!!!!!!” Contact us to learn more. Get a Free Custom Quote
Knowing Your Stakeholder: Finance Department
Maintenance professionals usually have the Finance department on speed dial. These two departments work together on everything from purchase orders to capital investments. Similarly, a good relationship with Finance is helpful when it’s time to purchase CMMS software. Finance is the department responsible for the budget, typically headed by a Controller or CFO. As a result, their goal is to ensure the financial integrity of your organization. Including Finance early in your process can prevent show-stopping holdups down the line. What Finance Needs from You We recommend connecting with your Finance department early on in the process. You also want to make sure you have a thorough understanding of what they’ll need from you. That can include… Management approval Budget details Vendor information Internal financial codes or accounts Purchase order information Other paperwork as requested However, there’s another area where Finance can help. They can provide details that will help you justify the CMMS software in the first place. How Finance Can Help You Your finance department has a lot of experience and data that can help maintenance managers. Additionally, they’re very familiar with return on investment (ROI). That will also come up in your conversations with senior management. ROI measures the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to the amount of money invested. ROI is expressed as a percentage to compare the efficiency of the investment. The formula is: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100 Now, let’s see how Finance would calculate the ROI of a CMMS software purchase. Based on research by Gartner, 98% of organizations say a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000. Let’s very conservatively estimate that your organization experiences 20 hours/year of preventable downtime due to unexpected asset breakdowns. If you invest $35,000 in CMMS software, implementation services, and training, and you reduce that downtime by just 5%—one single hour—then, you’ve already paid for your CMMS software. Even better, when you calculate the ROI: ($100,000 / 35,000) x 100 = 285.7% That looks pretty impressive to your decision makers, particularly when you point out the savings compounds year after year after year. Calculating ROI While the numbers will vary, you can see how saving that kind of money is going to look good. Therefore, you should get your finance department’s help with financial data on… Labor costs Parts and inventory management Equipment downtime and emergency repairs Equipment life cycle and replacement forecasting Manufacturing scrap and rework Additionally, ROI is part of the bigger picture—data-driven management. That simply means making management decisions backed by reliable data. Technological advances continue to make more and more detailed, relevant data available to maintenance managers. And, with that increased capability comes increased opportunity to improve organizational performance. It’s also a great way to justify your expenditures on new technology and tools. As a result, data-driven management makes it easy for upper management to see the value and efficiency of your CMMS software project when they can see the data—and the dollars—right in front of their eyes. Have questions? Answers are just a phone call away. Contact us. Get a Free Demo!
Six Things Your Plant Maintenance Software Needs
The ability to reduce maintenance expenses, minimize downtime, extend equipment life, and boost productivity sounds like a dream come true for manufacturing organizations. Plant maintenance software helps manufacturers with reliable scheduling, tracking, and reporting tools for equipment and facilities maintenance. Together, these features can reduce risk and improve safety. But, how can plant maintenance software help your organization? You need six key components. Asset Management Asset management in plant maintenance software tracks your assets over their entire life cycle to maximize value. You can keep tabs on all asset types, including equipment, buildings, grounds, rooms, and vehicles. The software also helps you document each asset’s purchase date, purchase price, startup date, and warranty expiration date. Plus, you create a historical record with every work order by calculating the labor costs and linking the cost of the parts and inventory used for the job. Plant management software can help your team gather the right data, as well as enable your organization to get the most out of its investments. You’ll also know which assets most directly impact production capacity, and which ones would take a significant investment to replace. With asset management features, you can purchase, operate, maintain, upgrade, or dispose of assets in the most cost-effective manner. Work Order Management Work order features enable plant maintenance managers and technicians to create, update, and manage service requests. That helps improve response times and completion rates, as well as provides your team with better access to historical data and other important details. You also eliminate lost information between shifts, reducing confusion and errors. So, you get the highest priority work done, while making sure lower priority work doesn’t slip through the cracks. Your plant maintenance software should easily receive work orders from an unlimited number of requesters, allow manual addition of requests, or automate tasks via preventive maintenance schedules. Also, look for features that automate the approval and assignment of work order requests, as well as automated confirmations for requesters, managers, and technicians. Data Collection and Reporting Plant maintenance software should enable you to create, update, and report on maintenance data. Reporting functions can help you keep a close eye on the key indicators you choose. These reports give you the ability to accurately assess how your department is functioning and where you might make changes to improve. It can help reduce operational costs by using detailed tracking tools for financial and business metrics. Having hard numbers not only helps you run your plant, but it also allows you to measure and use a whole host of key performance indicators. You’ll have easy access to the numbers you need to make important decisions. Additionally, the software should quickly produce status reports and documents that give details or summaries of your team’s maintenance work. With solid data and easy-to-read reports, your organization can make good decisions based on hard evidence, which will improve its ability to compete effectively and efficiently. Parts & Supplies Inventory Management Parts and supplies inventory management helps your facility save time and money by improving tracking, stocking, ordering, and inventory processes. That helps you prevent time- and money-wasting problems like running out of parts, searching for lost parts, or duplicating inventory you didn’t know you had. Look for software that includes stocking levels, reorder points, storage locations, and supplier information. You want the ability to track various units of measure for a single inventory item. For example, you might purchase oil by the barrel but use it by the quart. With parts and supplies inventory management features, you can control your cost of maintenance. You also get your fastest return on investment (ROI) for plant maintenance software by implementing inventory management because, for most organizations, a large portion of capital sits in the stockroom. Asset Status Board One feature that many plants find invaluable is an asset status board. With this feature you can see the status of your entire asset inventory on one screen. It’s an easy way to monitor the health of your assets and get rapid access to business-critical information. That enables your team to respond faster when assets need attention or repair. MPulse Asset Status Board will quickly show you the status of your entire asset inventory, on one screen. A cell can represent a single production asset or grouping of assets. The color of the cells changes as asset status changes. Click into any cell to view maintenance requests or current work orders for that cell. Work requests can be processed directly from the Asset Status Board. Preventive Management Preventive maintenance features will generate a schedule of PM tasks, making it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. These schedules and inspections help spot issues before they occur. Schedule maintenance intervals based on time, operating hours, or part condition—triggering a work order just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Preventive maintenance features also ensure equipment is properly calibrated and lubricated when it needs to be. When a maintenance team establishes and regularly performs PM tasks that contribute to the upkeep of assets, an organization can sidestep serious problems that arise as a result of neglect, as well as delay more expensive maintenance. When your organization’s equipment hasn’t been maintained properly, you’re going to experience more breakdowns. That translates into lost dollars and intense pressure on the maintenance team to get production running again. MPulse work order features can help you juggle an ever-increasing workload and a seemingly unending stream of plant maintenance information data. Contact us to learn more.
Knowing Your Stakeholder: Senior Managers
Senior managers, like your boss and their bosses, are some of the first stakeholders to consider when it’s time for new CMMS software. Their support can speed up the approval process. However, their refusal can bring it to a screeching halt. Remember, your expectations and management’s expectations may not align. They’ll be looking for different information and outcomes, so you’ll also need to take that into consideration early on in the process. Count on your company’s senior managers to care how CMMS will affect the organization’s numbers—especially the ones important to them. You need to show them how new software will impact performance in a positive direction. Help Them Hit Their Numbers Senior managers are responsible for coordinating resources (assets and personnel) toward the achievement of quantifiable goals. If your senior managers are doing their jobs well, they’ll primarily be concerned with “hitting their numbers.” Depending on their level or their title, those numbers could include any of the following: Units produced Savings generated Revenue generated Net gain in productivity Quality (measured in various ways) Cycle time Luckily for you, CMMS software offers benefits in all of these areas. What you need to do is show them how. Start by Asking But, how can you satisfy their specific demands—without having to earn an MBA—before you search for software? Simply ask. Sometimes just making the effort to find out what’s most important to them will be enough. Additionally, you’ll likely come away from the discussion with a much clearer idea of the reports they’ll want from a maintenance software solution. A few good questions to start with: What key business metrics do you watch most closely? What top three things would you want to achieve with a new CMMS? How would you like to improve company performance? Does the product need to include certain reports? Once you have an idea about what your senior managers need, consider how your new maintenance software can help them. Prep Your Pitch When it’s time for your pitch, be prepared to answer questions, like… How much will it cost? Provide some estimates and options from vendors that provide a ballpark figure. Don’t forget to also include training and support options. Your answer to this question will set up your ability to show the financial benefits. What are the benefits? Focus on the benefits to senior management. Outline how CMMS software can provide quantifiable advantages to solve organizational issues. Directly address their needs, per your earlier conversation with them. Who will be in charge? Explain who will take the lead on this project, and any other stakeholders required. Be up front about the input you’ll need from internal departments—from accounting to IT to legal. Have a plan in place to consult with each one. How long will it take? Start with a basic schedule. Outline the benefits of using implementation services, where CMMS experts guide your organization through the process. The time savings often pay off, resulting in a faster and more thorough implementation with fewer disruptions. Are there other options? There are always options, including simply not doing anything at all. Explain why those other options aren’t better or come with significant drawbacks. Relate the disadvantages of those other options back to the problems they need to solve. How will it affect other stakeholders? Identify all the stakeholders who might be impacted by this purchasing decision. Develop a plan for getting everyone on board. Show how you will appraise, document, and address each stakeholder’s needs. What problems will it solve? Point to real-life examples of how a CMMS solves specific problems, both in maintenance and in other business processes. They’ll see what’s really at stake when they can see how CMMS software can provide solutions. How will it affect other business processes? Look at possible benefits, disruptions, and use cases for business units outside maintenance. Also, consider if the CMMS can be easily connected to the other technology your organization uses, like accounting systems. When will it provide results? Outline a realistic timeline for your managers to see results. MPulse estimates that successful CMMS implementations typically return 3 to 5 times the initial investment in less than three years. What are the risks? You’ll always have risks with big projects. These risks include security, data integration, training, support, scalability, personnel turnover, productivity, and more. Show that you understand those risks and how to mitigate them. The key to software success is managing the change that new technology brings. Remember that senior managers are people, too. Consider how helping them achieve their goals will make them look good. As a result, you’ll offer motivation for them to nurture and support your CMMS implementation efforts. Have questions? Need help finding answers? One phone call or email to MPulse can get you started. Contact us. Get a Free Custom Quote
How Your Maintenance Team Can Get the Most Out of Your Part Inventory Management Software
Like many maintenance professionals, you’ve decided it’s time to start or expand your part inventory management system. However, you want to get the most out of your investment. So, what should you do to get started? Meet yourself where you’re at. Just Getting Started Maybe your organization doesn’t do any part inventory management for maintenance. Your techs simply order the parts they need when they need them. Maybe they also buy an extra one, which usually sits on the shelf, forgotten and unused. Hey, you aren’t alone. Lots of organizations have worked that way for decades. If this scenario sounds familiar, it’s time to start with the basics. For example, use parts inventory management software to create simple records of inventory items that let you track and report on consumption of those items. That’s it! You’ve just started an internal inventory control management system. Congratulations! Make It Even Easier As easy as that sounds, maintenance parts inventory software can make it even faster with barcodes and scanners. Scan the part. Scan the asset. That’s how long it takes to link inventory to a new or existing work order record. This system also lets you enter inventory items as they arrive and automatically track who is performing work. Even with these simple workflows, your organization will save time and eliminate errors by reducing tedious data entry. Additionally, your team will be able to identify needed parts faster. You’ll also save money by reducing inventory shrinkage and bloat. Take Inventory Management to the Next Level Maybe you already have a system of inventory control management in place. However, you can improve your return on investment by taking your inventory control management to the next level. Parts inventory management best practices outline advanced inventory control features to track stocking levels, reorder points, storage locations, and supplier information. You also can track various units of measure for a single inventory item. For example, you might purchase oil by the barrel, but use it by the quart. Now you are playing in the big leagues. Your inventory management software is helping you prevent time- and money-wasting problems like running out of parts, searching for lost parts, or duplicating inventory you didn’t know you had. With advanced inventory control features, you’ve moved your organization from being reactive (ordering parts as needed) to proactive—where your inventory and parts data help you forecast, manage, and monitor inventory. Inventory Shopping Cart If you want to make inventory management a snap, the MPulse Inventory Shopping Cart allows you to check parts and supplies into and out of inventory using an online shopping cart. Quickly link items and their unit costs to work orders and assets using this intuitive shopping cart system, helping your team track and report on consumption of those items. MPulse Inventory Shopping Cart serves as your virtual stockroom manager by allowing your team to easily scan parts in and out of stockrooms with a mobile device or barcode scanner. Faster inventory check-in/out with the MPulse Inventory Shopping Cart can make your operation more efficient, saving money and time for both your employees and your organization. You’ll always have an accurate count of all the parts coming and going, and you can quickly link them to the associated work orders and assets. MPulse Inventory Shopping Cart can make your operation more efficient, saving money and time for both your employees and your organization. You’ll benefit from… Faster inventory check-in/out Accurate counts of all parts and inventory Ability to quickly link parts to the associated work orders and assets Documented records of inventory items Tracking and reporting capabilities Data-Driven Decision Making Whatever system you use, you now have easy access to the information you need to make important decisions. As a result, your organization can save time and money by improving tracking, stocking, ordering, and inventory processes. When an emergency arises, easy access to part inventory data gives you critical information for making cost-efficient decisions. Additionally, parts inventory management reports give you the high-level picture you need. You can accurately assess how your department is functioning and where you might make changes to improve. With solid data and easy-to-read reports, you can make good decisions based on hard evidence. As a result, you can manage your maintenance department effectively and efficiently. Sometimes maintenance professionals worry about the effort involved in implementing an inventory control management system. However, the gain far outweighs the pain. CMMS software is the best tool you have for gathering, analyzing, and reporting data about your maintenance operations. Let the power of parts maintenance inventory software do the hard work, and you’ll see the rewards. Contact us to learn more or get a free trial!
Do You Need Repair Part Inventory?
Long-time maintenance professionals know the challenges involved in parts and inventory management. Commonly, technicians simply ordered their own parts as needed. Maybe they even bought an extra one, which usually sat on the shelf, forgotten and unused. However, that system leaves a lot to be desired. Particularly when you need to improve uptime for both operations and facilities under challenging business conditions. Maintenance teams of all sizes are investing in systems for managing repair parts. The benefits of repair part inventory for maintenance tasks will pay off in multiple ways. Part Lead Times Lead times become problematic when a key part for a vital asset isn’t available when needed. Many organizations realized the importance of part inventory management for maintenance when they started experiencing recent supply chain issues. Suddenly, limited supplies made it hard to get basic necessities, not to mention vital parts. Repair part inventory with CMMS software helps maintenance departments control stock based on need and availability. As a result, you’ll find right parts on the shelf. However, you also can minimize other parts that are used less frequently. For example, if a critical part has a three-week lead time, you can adjust stocking levels to make sure it is available when you need it. Inventory control tools also can enable coworkers to reserve certain parts. That ensures the right parts are available for a particular job. You can also track issue quantities for situations where you only have one part on hand when the job takes two. Capital Expenditures A lot of capital sits in your stockroom. Yet an efficient parts inventory management system is consistently one of the most overlooked parts of maintenance management. What many don’t realize, however, is you can get your fastest return on investment (ROI) by implementing inventory control management software. Maintenance parts and inventory software can help you prevent time- and money-wasting problems like running out of parts, searching for lost parts, or duplicating inventory you didn’t know you had. You also can identify where parts or materials are stored, making it quicker and easier for staff members to find them and preventing duplicate orders because someone didn’t look in the right place. That also helps you track inventory loss or shrinkage, as well as identify slow-moving parts that might be surplus and need to be returned to the vendor. Documentation and Record Keeping Using parts inventory management best practices, you can identify where parts or materials are stored. That makes it quicker and easier for staff members to find them and prevents duplicate orders because someone didn’t look in the right place. You also can use barcodes to make it easy to scan parts in or out. Maintenance inventory software can track shipments, vendor performance and warranty information. That helps you control capital outlays on unused or underused parts and materials. Additionally, you can automate cyclical inventory counts, reducing the man hours needed and ensuring the parts or materials in the system are actually sitting on the shelf or in the parts bin. Cost Savings Your organization can save time and money by improving tracking, stocking, ordering, and inventory processes. Part inventory management for maintenance repairs can help quickly identify what you need for which piece of equipment. When an emergency arises, this information also provides critical data for making cost-efficient decisions. With maintenance inventory software, you’ll know stocking levels, reorder points, storage locations, and supplier information with just a click. You can also track various units of measure for a single inventory item. For example, you might purchase oil by the barrel, but use it by the quart. Part and inventory management for maintenance is a hot topic for maintenance management. CMMS is the best tool you have for gathering, analyzing, and reporting data about your maintenance parts for inventory management. Contact us to learn more. [related-content] Get a Free Custom Quote
Knowing Your Stakeholder: Procurement
Your procurement department holds the key to the paperwork that will make your maintenance software a reality. They want you to “follow the process” when purchasing CMMS software. While your stakeholders in the procurement process won’t use your maintenance software, they offer instrumental guidance in how to purchase it. You need to understand the processes and lead times required by procurement early in the stakeholder management process. Company standards dictate procurement and contract management for software, usually with processes set by the accounts payable section of your accounting department. The procurement process includes the preparation and processing of a demand as well as the end receipt and approval of payment. The rules also define spending limits. Let’s talk about the relationship between procurement and maintenance managers. How Do I Follow the Process? A common concern for procurement managers in the software buying process is whether or not you know the administrative steps to follow. Familiarizing yourself with how the purchasing process works will avoid delays and bureaucratic roadblocks. You want to take “red tape” and turn it into “processed paperwork.” Start by identifying the right person or persons to talk to. Ask direct questions like… What are the key things you need to understand? Which forms do you need to fill out? What “gotchas” do you need to avoid when filling out the forms? How does procurement issue a purchase order from your company to the software vendor? What’s the lead-time from purchasing decision to issued order? Take notes and make sure you understand the details of the process. And if they took the time to explain it to you, take the time to follow the steps. What Else Can I Do to Help with Procurement? It doesn’t hurt to get to know the people in this department early in your search for software. An established relationship and a proactive approach may save you weeks when it’s time to actually make the purchase. Get on procurement’s bad side, and you may wait a year before seeing your purchase order. It’s highly likely that your maintenance team already has a relationship with your procurement people. Maintenance and procurement go hand in hand, given the costs of maintaining equipment and purchasing parts and inventory. Sometimes procurement also runs the request for proposal (RFP) or request for bid (RFB) process, which is another area where your two departments might work closely together. Like all stakeholders in the CMMS buying process, a thorough understanding of your procurement department’s needs will make it easier to turn your maintenance software dreams into reality. Have questions? Need help understanding the stakeholders involved? Contact us. We’re here to help. Contact Us Today!