Six CMMS Features Your Techs Want
Maintenance managers know how CMMS software can capture critical data for making good decisions, while helping you save time and money. But your maintenance techs have different needs—and wants. [related-content] Your technicians will use CMMS software in their day-to-day jobs. So, it’s vital that the software you choose is easy for your team to learn and navigate. Here are six important features that your techs want in CMMS software. Work order management: Your technician’s day revolves around work orders. Make sure the CMMS software you choose streamlines the way your techs will receive, update, and close work orders, making their workflows more efficient. Also electronic work orders don’t get lost or ruined like paper work orders do, saving time and hassle for everyone. Custom fields: Probably one of the most undervalued features is the ability to customize what information your techs see, and what they don’t. The latter is as important as the first, and maybe more. Custom fields and drop downs can help your techs fill in important details quickly, helping to significantly reduce time spent on data entry—which is everyone’s least favorite task. Historical information: CMMS captures key information with every work order, and that comes in handy for the next tech who works on that asset or has a similar issue. No more lost information between shifts or tracking down a coworker to ask questions. Media and resources: Manuals, warranty information, websites and vendor information right on the screen? That’s a huge time saver when your techs are looking for important information and resources. Mobility: Maintenance happens in the field, so techs benefit from an adaptive interface that make it easy to access work orders and make updates wherever they are, without stopping by the office or needing to find a computer. Automated communication: No reason for your techs or admin staff to constantly make calls or send emails to provide updates. Your service requesters can check the status of their requests themselves and received automated emails when work orders are completed. Remember if your techs don’t use the software the way it’s intended, you’ll never get the results you need. So, when it’s time to buy or upgrade your CMMS software, think like your techs and prioritize the features they want too. Your investment will pay greater dividends faster. Contact us to find out more.
10 Ways CMMS Helps You Control the Cost of Maintenance
Controlling the cost of maintenance is a major goal for maintenance teams. Here are 10 ways CMMS software can help. Repair or Replace Maintenance software can not only track the age of the equipment, but the miles, hours, life-to-date repair dollars, and many other metrics—helping you decide when it becomes cheaper to replace an asset instead of repairing it. Reduce Downtime When you use CMMS to schedule and track PMs, you’ll reduce emergency maintenance issues and unexpected production stoppages. This, in turn, cuts overtime costs for emergency repairs and reduces production losses. You can also schedule maintenance for off hours by tracking equipment use time. Extend Lifecycle CMMS software generates a schedule of preventive maintenance tasks, making it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. Properly maintained assets perform more efficiently, use less energy, and fail less often—extending their usable life. Inventory Management CMMS software can prevent under-stocking and over-stocking, streamline reordering, and automate cyclical inventory counts. You can also track parts to stock based on availability and automatically generate purchase orders based on need, reducing purchasing overhead. Historic Information Each work order in CMMS automatically records labor time, parts and inventory costs, asset history, and other key information. This information also eliminates lost information between shifts, reducing confusion and errors. Better Communication CMMS software’s automated communication tools streamline the approval and assignment process with confirmations sent to requesters, managers, and technicians. In turn, status updates are automatically emailed to the appropriate people as the technician updates the work order. Vendor/Manufacturer Contact Information Access You can have detailed records of each vendor’s contact information, rates, and personnel in your CMMS database. You can track which vendors provide which goods and services as well as find out who is available for work. Automated Scheduling Automated PM schedules and inspections help spot issues before they occur. Maintenance intervals can be scheduled based on asset or part condition, which triggers a work order just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Employee Performance By tracking repair times in CMMS, you can measure employee performance and create benchmarks. You’ll also see which employees are most efficient at which tasks, helping to balance the workload. Automated Routing CMMS software can automatically filter maintenance requests based on your predetermined criteria, then quickly route them to the appropriate people for review and approval. CMMS helps you capture key data and turns it into reliable information to help make cost-effective choices about asset management. Contact us to learn how it can help your maintenance team.
Create CMMS Asset Records with Ease
Building a CMMS asset database can feel overwhelming. In fact, it can feel so overwhelming, some organizations give up before they even try. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Dividing up a big job into smaller chunks makes it easier. Use these five steps to create your CMMS asset records with ease. Step 1: Pick 10-20 of your most important assets. Make a list of 10-20 of your organization’s key assets. Start with the assets your maintenance team works on most; assets essential to production or operations; and any that are prone to emergency breakdowns. Step 2: Decide your maintenance strategy for each asset. [related-content] Maintenance can be triggered in different ways: use-based maintenance, fail-based maintenance, or condition-based maintenance. Pick one strategy for each asset. Use-based maintenance (UBM) is triggered by time, meter, or event—such as changing the oil every 3,000 miles or every 3 months. Fail-based maintenance (FBM) is running an asset to failure. A simple example would be replacing a burned-out lightbulb. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is triggered when an asset’s condition changes outside of a specified range based on data, which can be gathered manually or automatically. Step 3: Create a schedule. Once you have determined each asset’s maintenance policy, you can use your CMMS software to build schedules for each asset. For assets on a UBM policy, you’ll build a work plan and schedule maintenance tasks based on the factors you’ve chosen. For CBM, you’ll create a range of conditions that will form the basis of a work plan and schedule, as well as forecast when CBM will likely occur. Last, but not least, while it’s hard to plan for FBM, you can forecast when failure is likely to happen and ensure you’re ready to react, with the right parts in stock and repair procedures in place. Step 4: Identify the data you need. Next, you’ll decide what data you need to capture to support your plans. Some may be available in your archives, but much of it will need to be collected from this point forward. And that’s okay. Step 5: Repeat with another 10-20 assets. Once you’re done with the first 10-20 assets, pick another group and work through the same steps. Take the extra time to get it right the first time, and you’ll have a solid foundation of good CMMS data that will make your maintenance operations run more smoothly. You’ll be creating CMMS asset records with ease in no time! Need help? Call us. We’re here for you.
Business Intelligence Data from CMMS
CMMS software is the best way for maintenance teams to manage preventive maintenance tasks and repairs. But that’s not all. Over time the software gathers data that’s a valuable source of business intelligence information for the entire organization. This data provides insight into your organization’s operations, helping you (and your bosses) make better decisions. Labor Expenses CMMS software tracks labor expenses, which helps organizations accurately estimate labor hours for both repair and preventive maintenance tasks. That also helps your organization balance staffing levels and the workload as well as reduce overtime costs. Plus, you can work with your human resources department to determine when it’s more efficient to add more staff members instead of paying current employees more overtime. Inventory Control Basic inventory in CMMS software links items and their unit costs to work orders and asset. That gives you simple records of inventory items and enables you to track and report on consumption of those items—which is valuable information for your purchasing and/or finance department. Advanced inventory management features are even more beneficial for your organization, as you can add stocking levels, reorder points, storage locations, and supplier information. These advanced tools 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. Asset Failure Analysis [related-content] CMMS data is a treasure trove of asset information. Over time, CMMS software provides a historical record of repairs and maintenance costs, which you can view in relation to other data—like asset age, previous repair history, and replacement cost. That helps you with the big decisions in maintenance management, like when it’s better to replace rather than repair an asset. Financial Insight CMMS data can help you create benchmarks for your maintenance team, plus identify areas where your team needs more training or when it might be more efficient to outsource the repair. You also can schedule maintenance tasks based on actual usage. This capability extends the asset’s lifecycle, increases your staff’s productivity, and saves your organization both time and money. Users can schedule corrective maintenance tasks and prevent emergency breakdowns—fixing equipment before it actually breaks. That’s music to any executive’s ears. Organizations need to stay to competitive now more than ever before. CMMS software can help your organization become more productive and efficient. Learn how it could work for you. Contact us for more information.
Vendor Management and SLAs with CMMS Software
I really enjoy talking to maintenance managers who use our CMMS software in the real world. There’s really no better way to learn about the challenges you face, so we understand how we can help make your work lives easier. Such was the case with Andrew, a relatively new MPulse customer. His company buys assets that typically are purchased with extended warranties and service contracts. Those service contracts usually last 3‒5 years and include scheduled vendor maintenance tasks. When I asked Andrew how his MPulse software helps with his workload, his answer was straightforward. “I couldn’t manage our vendor documentation and warranties without it,” he told me. Manage Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Before his company purchased MPulse, Andrew’s maintenance team relied on paper and pencil as well as an Excel spreadsheet for their vendor management information and schedules. Today Andrew manages all his service level agreements (SLA) in MPulse—which documents contact information, personnel, rates, and more. Plus, he connects those records with asset history and warranty information as well as scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) tasks. The result of SLA driven operations is an improved and automated system that links Andrew’s vendors and the work orders generated by his CMMS system. He can assign work to vendors and email work order details quickly and easily. Related Article: Three Ways Your MPulse Account Manager Can Streamline Your Business “Steve, it’s freed up so much time,” Andrew said. “I can run a quick report, and I know who needs to do what and when. I see the reminders, and I can schedule vendor visits in advance. No more vendor PM tasks slipping through the cracks because someone forgot to update an Excel spreadsheet or there was a data entry error. No more warranty problems because we missed a preventative maintenance task.” Track Vendor Information Even if your maintenance operations don’t rely on service level agreements, vendor management helps document which vendors provide specific goods and services for quick reference when you need them. Plus, it’s easy to contact vendors directly as well as view historical information on previous work. Related article: Five Ways MPulse Can Help You Reduce Downtime “With MPulse, everything is at my fingertips,” Andrew continued. “No more searching through filing cabinets or looking up phone numbers and email addresses on the Internet. I can focus on more important things now.” Andrew also uses MPulse’s report generation features to track warranty expiration dates, related costs, response time, and other key performance indicators that measure how effective his vendors are. “My team is a lot happier because they know what to expect and when,” he said. “It’s significantly reduced the stress level around here.” Are you having issues with your vendor management and service level agreements? Leave a comment, or contact us for a free, no-obligations demo!
Timed vs. Metered Preventive Maintenance with CMMS
When a maintenance team establishes and regularly performs PM 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. Regular preventive maintenance tracking programs also ensure equipment is properly calibrated and lubricated. Automating preventive maintenance with CMMS software helps maintenance teams schedule PM tasks, making it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. Maintenance intervals can be scheduled based on time, operating hours, or part condition—triggering a work order just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Timed Preventive Maintenance Timed preventive maintenance is simply based on the time between PM tasks—such as days, weeks, months, etc. A good example is inspections, which need to be performed at specific time intervals to help maintenance teams spot issues before they occur. Timed preventive maintenance tasks are easy to set up in CMMS software. Simply choose the correct time interval, and then let CMMS software notify you or automatically create a work order when it’s due. Metered Preventive Maintenance Metered PM scheduling measures usage using a specific meter, which triggers a PM task at the appropriate time. Meter readings track and measure the condition of equipment, machinery, vehicles, and other assets—such as mileage, usage time, production volume, pressure, flow rate, etc. [related-content] Over time these meter readings create historical data for the asset, which maintenance managers can use to determine if repairs were successful or if they should adjust the PM schedule based on performance. While some maintenance teams record meter readings manually, others save time with CMMS features like MPulse DataLink to automate the process. Whether you use timed or metered PM scheduling, your CMMS software can help you reduce emergency maintenance issues and unexpected production stoppages. This, in turn, cuts overtime costs for emergency repairs and reduces production losses. Properly maintained assets perform more efficiently, use less energy, and fail less often—extending their usable life. Preventive maintenance scheduling with CMMS software is cost effective and beneficial for organizations of all sizes—lowering costs, improving reliability, and helping with compliance reporting. Learn more about how MPulse Maintenance Software can help you improve your PM scheduling. Contact us. We’re here to help.
Mistakes that Occur When Buying CMMS
After more than 3,000 customers, MPulse employees have an insider’s viewpoint of what works—and what doesn’t—when it’s the right time for your organization to buy CMMS software. To help new and potential customers, we’ve created a list of the five most common mistakes that occur when buying CMMS software. So, you can learn from other people’s mistakes (and avoid them). Use these five items to ask questions now that will help your CMMS implementation succeed later. Scalability: Scalability means the CMMS software can accommodate changes in size or volume as your needs change. That may mean something as simple as adding user licenses. Or, more complicated like adding advanced features or upgrades to meet new organizational needs. Compatibility: Maintenance managers often need to share maintenance data with their organization’s systems of record. CMMS software’s compatibility with external applications means you don’t need to worry about manually reformatting volumes of data to just to satisfy the requirement of other systems. Customizations & Modifications: It’s important to be able to customize certain things so your CMMS software matches your organization’s needs. Make sure you can adjust layouts, add custom fields, create nested fields, and link custom prompts to fit your needs. Mobile Devices: If you haven’t started using mobile devices in your maintenance operations, you probably will soon. Look for CMMS software with an adaptive interface. As a result, your maintenance team will experience the same easy access no matter what device (desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone) they use. Data Accessibility: A modern CMMS, properly integrated, can use data from virtually any source to feed its alerts, alarms, and reports. Make sure your CMMS software can track the data that your users need. You’ll also want to run custom reports on the information you and your organization’s managers need to know about. Sometimes failure can give you the tools and information you need to succeed. Take advantage of our experience with maintenance management for a variety of organizations. Contact us to see how we can help.
Common Maintenance Problems You Can Avoid with CMMS
Maintenance requires the right knowledge and the right tools. CMMS software provides your maintenance team with both. But CMMS software doesn’t just help you fix problems. It can also help you avoid problems in the first place. When it’s your job to fix things, it’s always good to have fewer problems on your list. Five Maintenance Problems You Want to Avoid CMMS software can help you with maintenance problems, like… Missed prevent maintenance tasks. With CMMS software, you can schedule maintenance intervals based on time intervals or asset condition, which triggers a work order just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Regular preventive maintenance also ensures equipment is properly calibrated and lubricated when it needs to be. Unavailable parts. The number one reason for delayed repairs is unavailable parts. CMMS manages your parts inventory, prevents under-stocking and over-stocking, and streamlines reordering. CMMS software also can determine your current inventory levels and automatically generate purchase orders based on need, reducing purchasing overhead. You also can track parts to stock based on availability. For example, if a part has a three-week lead time, you can adjust stocking levels to make sure it is available when your staff needs it. Miscommunication. CMMS software helps you eliminate lost information as well as reduce confusion and errors. With CMMS software, your employees know what their priorities should be as well as when they’ll need to complete maintenance work around other activities. With automated communication tools, CMMS software also lets the right people know the status of their maintenance requests. Historical information and technical resources. CMMS software automatically records work completed on an asset. Plus, you can link to important documents, maintenance manuals, videos, photos, supplier websites, intranets, and more. All the information is stored with the record, so it’s easily accessible the next time around. Repair or replace. CMMS software gives you hard data about the age of the equipment and the miles, hours, life-to-date repair dollars, and other metrics—so it’s easier to decide when it’s time to replace an asset instead of repair it. You’ll have all the information at your fingertips to determine the total cost of ownership, making your decision much easier. How can MPulse CMMS software help your maintenance team avoid problems like these? Leave a comment or contact us. We’re here to help.
Cloud-Based vs. On-Premise CMMS Software
When you’re researching CMMS, you’ll find vendors typically offer two different deployment options: cloud-based or on-premise software. Cloud-based CMMS software (sometimes called web-based CMMS software) is hosted by the vendor and accessible via any device with an Internet connection. On-premise software (sometimes called client-server software) requires you to host the software on your own server and use your own network and hardware. Maximizing your CMMS investment means ensuring you’re getting software that’s going to work for the long term. Here’s what you need to know about cloud-based vs. on-premise CMMS software. Reduced IT spending: Because cloud-based CMMS applications are located elsewhere, maintenance operations no longer need to enlist expensive (and often unavailable) IT support to set up and maintain technology infrastructure. Lower hardware costs: Because a cloud-based CMMS runs on external servers, many organizations have discovered they spend less on hardware in the office, particularly on PCs and internal servers. Always up-to-date: Because cloud-based CMMS software is centrally managed by the provider, you never need to apply software updates. Cloud-based software stays updated to the latest version in real time. Mobilization: Mobile technology is a natural fit for the maintenance industry. Cloud-based CMMS means maintainers can access data anytime and anywhere with Internet-enabled devices, like laptops, smartphones, or tablets. Lower training costs: Improved web-based and app-based user interfaces that mimic popular personal-use applications can minimize the learning curve on hardware and software. Easy scalability: Cloud-based CMMS software makes tasks like adding a new user or expanding reporting capabilities easy, so you can keep up in a fast-changing environment. Data security: No more worrying about hard drive failures or data-loss catastrophes. A cloud-based CMMS system backs up your data and secures it in a professionally managed environment. Plus, you own your data and can access it at any time. While both on-premise and cloud-based CMMS software work, there’s a difference in the long-term costs. On-premise software is a bit like the flip phones of 15-20 years ago. You can still make calls and send texts, but it can’t compete with capabilities of a modern smartphone. Cloud-based CMMS software helps maintenance operations get applications up and running faster while reducing onsite implementation and management costs. Your maintenance team will save time and money getting your CMMS system working—and you’ll be able to get on to the real work of maintaining and repairing critical assets. Contact us for more information.
CMMS Software Security Must-Knows
CMMS data is an organizational asset, and it needs to be protected like any other asset. You don’t hand the keys to your office over to just anyone—and you don’t want unauthorized access to your CMMS software either. As a maintenance professional, your goal should be to prevent unauthorized access, misuse, modification, unintended deletion, or malfunction of your data. Modern CMMS software can help you achieve that goal. Here’s what you should know about CMMS software security. Network Security Security starts with the network. If your CMMS software is hosted internally, your IT team will be responsible for ensuring the security of your network. However, cloud-based CMMS software runs on external servers. If you have cloud-based maintenance software—or you’re thinking about buying it—be sure your CMMS data is backed up and secured in a professionally managed environment. [related-content] MPulse provides a SSAE 16 Type II certified cloud hosting and recovery service. Our goal is to offer solutions that combine certified production deployments with fully tested, disaster recovery services to provide the highest levels of availability, security, responsiveness, and recovery. Single-Sign-On (SSO) / Active Directory Integration for Cloud-Hosted Customers SAML SSO enables cloud-based CMMS software to integrate with security directories that determine who gets access to what computers, networks, applications, and services. SSO offers many advantages for organizations that want to streamline and control access to cloud-based software. For example, with our SSO option, MPulse users can log into their computers once and have immediate access to their hosted CMMS from MPulse. MPulse’s SSO option extends an organization’s internal Microsoft Active Directory to the MPulse cloud environment. This feature supports multiple identity providers (including Microsoft ADFS and Okta) as well as user self-provisioning and custom claims for populating user data. Access Control Within your CMMS database, you’ll want to protect sensitive information by limiting which records your employees see depending on their role in the organization. In other words, you want the right people to have the right access to the right records. MPulse Maintenance Software’s Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) was designed for this purpose—enabling you to reduce errors in data entry, prevent unauthorized users from viewing or editing data, gain tighter control over data access, and eliminate the “data clutter” of unnecessary information. Have questions about CMMS software security? We have answers. Contact us.