Maintenance Benchmarks for Universities
Colleges and universities are tasked with maintaining the longevity of investments in their institutions. Facility management becomes a huge part of this pursuit by ensuring physical buildings and grounds are operating and functioning properly. Moreover, facility costs are the second largest expense category behind personnel costs for colleges and universities. Additionally, it’s a big job. Maintenance departments at colleges and universities are responsible for maintaining all facilities and infrastructures to their effectiveness for intended activities. That includes HVAC, electrical, fire safety, plumbing, cleaning and sanitation, structural, transportation, groundskeeping, safety, pest control, etc. Higher education maintenance also involves customer satisfaction—with customers that range from students, facility, staff, and administration to board members and members of the public. But how does a university or college determine the effectiveness of its maintenance program? Benchmarks. Common Benchmarks for Colleges and Universities Benchmarking allows managers to assess and evaluate different metrics in their field. For facility management, it’s a process that compares and analyzes data based on the building’s performance. Firstly, you start by using your CMMS data to measure your team’s current key performance indicators (KPIs) and create a baseline. Many maintenance benchmarks common in higher education facilities will look very similar to general facility management. KPIs evaluate your success in the areas you care about, while also giving you a new level of insight about what’s going on in your department. Three main KPIs for facilities management benchmarking are: Maintenance cost for a specific period Units of electrical and other energy consumption Surveillance of building assets and their value to the company Secondly, size, building use, occupancy, time of use, age, building composition, and level of service all affect the cost of running a facility. Some universities and colleges use the Square Foot Rule as a starting point for calculating benchmarks, such as… Building Maintenance and Repair Cost Average per Sq. Ft.: maintenance materials, staff wages, subcontractor management, subcontractor cost Building and Facility Utilities Cost Average per Sq. Ft.: electricity, natural gas, water Janitorial Building Facility Costs Average per Sq. Ft.: cleaning materials, staff wages, equipment Additionally, other common benchmarks 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 assets Maintenance Backlog: The percentage of uncompleted tasks Finding Benchmarks You can evaluate your department’s performance by comparing your metrics and processes with those of other organizations. Start by researching your industry’s benchmarks to see how you’re performing and where you should look for improvements. For instance, you can find benchmarks from industry associations, maintenance journals, benchmark databases, and other sources. Additionally, use your professional network to find common benchmarks that your industry uses. When comparing benchmarks to other institutions, it’s also important to take into consideration the location, typical weather, age of the facilities, and condition. Then, based on your team’s performance and the industry standards, use your benchmarks to determine realistic KPI goals for your organization. Also, create a reasonable timeline with goal-based milestones and efficiency goals. Over time, MPulse helps you pinpoint trends and determine what areas need more attention. You also can create benchmarks to measure current performance against historic performance or goals. Whatever you decide to measure, CMMS software gives you the tools you need to determine if your maintenance team is doing the right things to support or improve productivity—and if they’re doing those things correctly. This way you will be able to measure maintenance effectiveness. Need more information on creating maintenance benchmarks? Contact us. We’re here to help. Get a Free Demo! [related-content]
How to Create a PM Tracking Routine
Reducing breakdowns and emergency repairs directly impacts your team’s workdays. But setting up a PM tracking routine might feel challenging if you’re facing a huge backlog of maintenance tasks or feeling the pinch of labor shortages and budget cuts. But here’s where CMMS software can help. How Do I Get Started? It’s important to start small with manageable goals. We recommend creating a list of your organization’s most important assets. Rank them by their impact on production and operations. Next, you can… Pick five of those assets. Enter scheduled maintenance tasks into your CMMS software, based on the manufacturer’s recommendations. Choose to schedule each task by time or meter. For example, you might want to schedule safety inspections or tasks for assets like HVAC systems based on time. However, it makes more sense to track miles, hours, or runtime with assets like vehicles or production equipment. If you choose to make a task meter-based, enter the anticipated usage and frequency interval. Include any important details that your technician needs to know, like checklists, links to manuals or websites, and parts and inventory. Next, your CMMS software 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. Additionally, they enable you to prioritize daily tasks for your teams, making sure the most important jobs get done, while the lower priority work doesn’t slip through the cracks. What’s Next? Next, choose five more assets. Continue until you’ve entered the scheduled maintenance tasks for every asset that you want to track. Okay, Now What? With your maintenance tasks scheduled, you now can collect data with every completed work order. Over time, this information can help you identify repeated issues with assets and give insight on ways to correct them. Helpful Tips When creating your PM schedules, help your team save time when they’re in the field or on the production floor by providing key details for each task like… Manufacturer or vendor’s name, website, and contact details Location of asset Tasklists Documentation, including manuals and warranty details Inventory and parts information and location Benefits of PM Tracking Why bother setting up a PM tracking routine? It helps prevent the need for more costly repairs. Benefits include… Automated PM tasks schedules that make it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guideline Reduced emergency maintenance issues and unexpected production stoppages Lower overtime costs for emergency repairs and production losses Decrease in more serious problems and more expensive maintenance that arise as a result of neglect Established schedules that ensure equipment is properly calibrated and lubricated Elimination of lost information between shifts, reducing confusion and errors Automated schedules for both employees and contract workers Improved equipment and asset reliability Streamlined compliance reporting Find out how MPulse Software can help you create a preventive maintenance program. Leave a comment or contact us.
What is Breakdown Maintenance and When Should You Use It?
Breakdown maintenance, sometimes called run-to-failure maintenance, occurs when an asset completely breaks down and needs repair to resume operation. In many cases, breakdown maintenance is the default maintenance strategy, particularly for organizations that rely on reactive maintenance. But sometimes it’s also the right strategy. When Should I Use Breakdown Maintenance? Breakdown maintenance can be planned or unplanned. Maintenance professionals are very familiar with unplanned breakdowns—those are the ones that trigger the anxious phone calls. But sometimes an organization might choose to let an asset fail. You can use run-to-failure maintenance when there’s no risk to safety due to failure. Some of these assets may include light bulbs, fuses, bolts, hand tools, pumps, batteries, etc. There are many advantages of breakdown maintenance. You might choose breakdown maintenance as a strategy if the asset… has inexpensive parts that are easy to replace is not critical to operations cannot be replaced because of lack of access is disposable is designed to have a short lifespan When Breakdown Maintenance isn’t a suitable option, Preventative Maintenance Software can help mitigate interruptions to business operations. How Can CMMS Software Help? As CMMS software gathers data about the type and frequency of breakdowns, it can provide some insight into future events. It also lets you know if the breakdown maintenance procedure is really the right strategy for a particular asset. Breakdown Maintenance Example Let’s say you have a machine with a fuse that breaks every 9-10 months. Your organization uses this asset infrequently. It doesn’t directly affect production. You track repairs to this asset with CMMS software, like every asset. Over time you gather information from work orders about the time between breakdowns, the part(s) required, and any instructions or other details from prior replacement. You can use that information to make sure you have quick and easy access to the part when the time comes, and that the tech responsible for replacement has all the information they need at their fingertips. Just as you plan for scheduled maintenance, you should also plan for run-to-failure maintenance. That plan includes who will be responsible for the work, what parts they need, and what tasks they need to do. The only difference between planned scheduled maintenance and planned breakdown maintenance should be your knowledge about when the breakdown maintenance is carried out. Do you use run-to-failure maintenance? Leave a comment or contact us.
Five Ways MPulse Can Help You Reduce Downtime
Reducing equipment downtime—and the corresponding loss of productivity—is one of the biggest benefits our CMMS users find with their MPulse software. The maintenance team is on the frontline when things aren’t working. And, when your organization’s equipment hasn’t been maintained properly, you’re going to experience more downtime. That translates into lost dollars and intense pressure on the maintenance team to get production running again. Here are five ways MPulse can help. #1: Develop or Strengthen a Preventive Maintenance Schedule 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. 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. #2: Improve Inventory and Part Management MPulse allows you to control your stock based on need and availability. As a result, the right parts are on the shelf, yet you can minimize other parts that are used less frequently. MPulse can streamline reordering by determining current inventory levels and automatically generating purchase orders based on need. For example, if a critical part has a three-week lead time, you can adjust stocking levels to make sure it is available when your staff needs it. You also can use MPulse to control capital outlays by identifying unused or slow-moving parts to return to the vendor. #3: Determine If It’s Better to Repair or Replace CMMS software helps you capture key data and turn it into reliable information to help make cost-effective choices about asset management. MPulse 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. With a little more information about operations, you can use that information to calculate the opportunity cost due to downtime. Comparing that to the estimated cost (and potential added productivity) of a new asset will tell you if it’s better to repair or replace. Plus, you’ll have the data to back up your decision. #4: Streamline Maintenance Workflows Automated communication tools in MPulse 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. MPulse also can automatically filter maintenance requests based on your predetermined criteria, then quickly route them to the appropriate people for review and approval. That saves time and streamlines maintenance workflows for the whole team. #5: Make Information Easily Accessible Each work order in CMMS automatically records labor time, parts and inventory costs, asset history, and other key information. This information eliminates lost information, reducing confusion and errors. Plus, you’ll 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. The less downtime you experience, the better. And the shorter duration of that downtime when it does happen, the better. Contact us to learn more about how MPulse can help your organization reduce downtime. Get Pricing!
Three Ways Your MPulse Account Manager Can Streamline Your Business
When it comes to maintenance, experience matters. That’s true with your technicians, and it’s true with managing your department as well. That’s why MPulse created our Dedicated Account Manager service. Our team’s experience and expert advice can save you a lot of time and money. Those two things are in short supply in maintenance departments these days. What’s a Dedicated Account Manager? A Dedicated Account Manager is your personal MPulse consultant. Their goal is to understand your business and your organization. Then they combine that detailed knowledge with their MPulse expertise to ensure your ongoing success. How Can My MPulse Account Manager Help Me? Maintenance professionals need to make the most of their time and budgets. Your MPulse Dedicated Account Manager can help with both. Here’s how. Expert Advice: Your MPulse Dedicated Account Manager can assist you with any MPulse problems, changes, enhancements, and questions. That includes simple things like revising work order fields and data, as well as complicated things like new requests for functionality. They can also help with configuring MPulse tools as your needs change, as well as assist with updates or upgrades to your MPulse CMMS. Scheduled Meetings: Participating customers have recurring, scheduled phone meetings with their MPulse Account Manager, where they can share any challenges and learn about new ways MPulse can support your team. These regular status meetings also monitor your ongoing priorities, making sure you’re on track to achieve your long-term goals. Fast Response Time: Our MPulse Dedicated Account Manager program comes with custom contact and case creation, including a dedicated support email and a direct number (during business hours). You’ll have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for managed response times, including a 4-hour response upon submission of an open ticket, as well as 24-hour resolution or plan for resolution upon ticket submission. What Does the Service Include? MPulse Dedicated Account Manager services include… Custom contact and case creation Dedicated support email Direct number (during business hours) SLA for managed response times 4-hour response upon submission of open ticket, and 24-hour resolution or plan for resolution upon ticket submission Regular status meetings to monitor ongoing priorities Resolution of post‐implementation issues such as problems, changes, enhancements, and questions Consulting and help with specifications for new functionality requests Communication between your team and MPulse engineers when requests, issues, or questions arise Notification of software enhancements or repair MPulse Dedicated Account Manager can help your maintenance operations work more efficiently, so you’ll keep your team focusing on maintenance tasks—not software. Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve maintenance success!
How To Track Equipment History In MPulse
Organizations know that assets can easily cost more than they’re worth, particularly as they age. Your oldest equipment might be costing you the least amount of money in repairs—or the most—but you’ll only know if the data is there. MPulse captures a wealth of data on equipment history with every work order or scheduled preventive maintenance task. Here’s how. Step 1: Create or Edit an Asset In MPulse’s main dropdown menu, choose Capital Assets to either create or edit the asset. Pick the asset type: Equipment, Buildings, Grounds, Rooms, or Vehicles. If you’re creating a new record, click the + button in the top right-hand corner. If you’re editing an existing record, find the correct asset on the left, and then click the pencil icon in the top right-hand corner. Click on the checkmark icon in the top right-hand corner to save any changes or edits. Step 2: Fill Out Asset Details Next, you’ll want to either fill out or edit the general asset details in the asset record. On the General tab, you find all the critical fields. These are available and consistent with every asset. You can find meter readings on the Service tab. You also can link inventory items for the asset ahead of time on the Inventory tab. This information will automatically become part of a work order for this asset. Step 3: Create a Work Order You can create a work order directly from the asset record through the Procedures icon in the top right-hand corner. All the global fields from the asset record will follow through to the work order. The Meter readings and Inventory data will also follow through to the work order. With each work order or preventive maintenance task on an asset, you can capture a wealth of equipment history data that will accumulate over time. You’ll be able to report on that data using MPulse’s custom reports. (Click here for instructions.) MPulse can help your team gather the right data, as well as help your organization get the most out of its investments. As a result, you can make informed decisions about the condition of every asset, and whether it’s better to repair or replace it when the time comes. Have questions? We’re here to help. Contact us. [related-content]
Why You Should Set Maintenance Benchmarks
Maintenance benchmarks help you evaluate your team’s performance. They can help you answer the big questions, like “How effective is my organization’s maintenance strategy?” Using benchmarks, you can identify best practices that drive the metrics. How Do I Start Setting Maintenance Benchmarks? Firstly, you start by measuring your team’s metrics. Use your CMMS data to measure your team’s current key performance indicators (KPIs) and create a baseline. 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. If you’re not sure where to start, six 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 Make sure you dig deeper than the numbers—because processes, workflows, and other factors can affect these KPIs. As a result, you should understand how those numbers are calculated to make sure you’re making a fair comparison. Where Do I Find My Industry’s Benchmarks? Secondly, you evaluate your company’s performance by comparing your metrics and processes with those of other organizations. Start by researching your industry’s benchmarks to see how you’re performing and where you should look for improvements. You can find benchmarks from industry associations, maintenance journals, benchmark databases, and other sources. Additionally, use your professional network to find common benchmarks that your industry uses. Then, based on your team’s performance and the industry standards, use your benchmarks to determine realistic KPI goals for your organization. Also, create a reasonable timeline with goal-based milestones and efficiency goals. Over time, MPulse helps you pinpoint trends and determine what areas need more attention. You also can create benchmarks to measure current performance against historic performance or goals. Whatever you decide to measure, CMMS software gives you the tools you need to determine if your maintenance team is doing the right things to support or improve productivity—and if they’re doing those things correctly. This way you will be able to measure maintenance effectiveness. Need more information on creating maintenance benchmarks? Contact us. We’re here to help. [related-content]
Five Most Common Pitfalls in Labor Resource Management
Labor is a big part of any organization’s budget. Managing your employees and contractors provides a direct link between the people you depend on and the maintenance work that needs to get done. Yet costly HR pitfalls for small businesses and enterprise organizations alike can make labor resource management difficult. What is Labor Resource Management? Labor resource management refers to the process of distributing and managing the volume of work across your team. It starts by tracking all facets of employee records: status, skill level, billing rate, contact information, and more. In addition to basic information, organizations track employee attendance, illness records, work productivity, and overtime hours. Plus, you can match employees or vendors to the assets they maintain, and assign tasks accordingly. Let’s talk about five most common human resource management challenges in labor resource management. Staffing Levels Personnel management starts with appropriate staffing levels. Labor resource management helps you accurately estimate labor hours for tasks, making sure your staffing levels match the workload. This type of labor cost analysis can determine when it’s more efficient to add more staff members instead of paying your current employees more overtime. You also can automate schedules for both employees and contract workers, as well as eliminate lost information between shifts to reduce confusion and errors. Employee performance tracking helps you determine which employees are most efficient at which tasks, enabling managers to balance the workload. By tracking repair times, you can create benchmarks for your organization as well. Training Maintenance is a skilled profession, and training must be consistent to develop your team’s individual and group skill sets. As a result, a successful maintenance management program requires well-trained people and a system set up right to work with your company’s assets and business processes. Professional training services can markedly accelerate your success. Training is the fastest way to improve your maintenance team’s efficiency and get the best return on investment (ROI). Start by identifying the formal and informal job training needed, then schedule it accordingly. And don’t forget about training yourself as well. The payoff is far greater than the cost. Documentation As every maintenance professional knows, if it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen. Labor resource management should track all facets of your employee records: status, skill level, billing rate, contact information, and more. That includes performance-related discussions with employees. MPulse customers can use our software to easily match employees or vendors to the assets they maintain, and assign tasks accordingly. In addition to basic information, you can track employee attendance, illness records, work productivity, and overtime hours in MPulse. Safety Maintenance teams are responsible for the safety of your entire organization, as well as their own safety. Additionally, maintenance professionals must quickly respond in an emergency, such as bad weather; unplanned breakdowns to a major facility asset, like an HVAC system; and smaller unplanned events. Workers often use equipment that, if not properly used, can result in accidents or health problems. Safety requires a comprehensive preventive maintenance plan to ensure manufacturers’ recommended maintenance tasks happen on time. All these safety issues require a lot of documentation, particularly for creating procedures and recording maintenance activities. Our customers use MPulse CMMS software to… Update safety procedures Document safety training Publish safety data as a reminder to employees Standardize checklists for scheduled inspections Create a paper trail showing preventive measures Detail emergency procedures in case of a natural disaster or other incident. Communication Employees should always understand what’s expected of them and what rules, policies, and regulations they must follow. Additionally, if your standards and rules change, employees should be informed and sign a document testifying to the fact that they understand these changes. That also goes for new safety standards, protocols, and regulations, particularly those that include the most current federal and state laws. Remember to update your employee handbook with all policies. That includes information on at-will employment, discrimination, harassment, leaves, drugs and alcohol, and background checks. In addition, be sure to obtain a signed acknowledgment of receipt and understanding forms for each employee. Handbooks also should be reviewed annually for changes in your practice. Take the long-range perspective of labor resource management, and you’ll reap the rewards. Have questions? Contact us. We’re here to help.
Five Things To Consider When Purchasing a CMMS
Choosing computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can feel overwhelming. A little time thinking about “why” will go a long way towards successfully implementing CMMS software, whether it’s your first system or you’re a long-time user. So, we recommend spending a little time on answering these five questions first. #1: What Problem Am I Trying to Solve? When you purchase or upgrade CMMS software, you always have a problem, or a pain point, that you’re trying to solve. Usually, the catalysts for change fall into one of four pain points: Functional: A functional pain point occurs when an existing system isn’t delivering on a core maintenance-related function. Technological: A technological pain point occurs when the system you’re currently using is no longer a match for the way you need to conduct the management, execution, and tracking of maintenance. Organizational: Organizational pains are ones that “roll downhill” to you from other places in the organization. You inherit them from someone else who’s feeling pain and requires you to fix it. Scalability: Scalability pains are driven by organizational growth, which causes you to make system and process changes. It’s possible you will have more than one pain point too. The more specific you are about the problem, the easier it will be to find the right solution. #2: Who Will Be Affected by This Decision? The impact of your decisions will reach far beyond your immediate team, to a wide range of stakeholders. You should ask yourself how each one of these people is likely to be affected—and how they might react to the coming changes in systems or processes. Typically the people affected by this decision include.. Users IT Managers Senior Managers Procurement Finance Legal and Compliance Each one of these roles can have a huge influence on the success (or failure) of your maintenance management program. #3: How Will CMMS Software Help? Exactly how will a computerized maintenance management system benefit your organization? There’s no better way to determine if CMMS software is going to work for you than a software demo or trial. Although it may be tempting to skip this step because of the time commitment, it’s time and energy well spent to get the right software for you. Once you’ve identified three to five vendors in your price range, we recommend doing demos or trials with each one to get a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses. This type of hands-on testing often brings up questions that will help you refine your needs as you move towards finalizing pricing. You want to make the most of these software demos or trials, because they’ll likely be a big factor in your final decision. Here are our tips on making the most of software demos and trials… Include end users in each demo. They will have their own perspective as well as specific questions related to their needs. Write down a process script. Make sure you know what you want the vendor to cover before the demo occurs. Use scorecards. With the process script as your basis, use a scorecard to objectively compare different vendors. Debrief. Right after each demonstration, take the time to debrief with everyone who participated and make notes for things to research or ask the vendor. Don’t do too many. Too much of a good thing is still too much. Keep to your three-to-five limit. #4: How Much Will It Cost? Software prices vary significantly depending on your needs and the size of your operations. Typically, you’ll pay for the base software and then the number of licenses you need. Advanced features also will add to the cost. Start by asking sales reps to provide price-range estimates. The more specific you are about your needs, the more accurate those estimates will be. These price range estimates will tell you if their product is a good fit. Then you can move forward with the companies who sell software in your budget range. You can ask a sales rep to refine the pricing as you get more specific about your needs. The cost of CMMS software is more than just the price of the software itself. When you ask for a CMMS software quote, make sure it includes… Startup training Integration services Data migration from legacy systems Hosting Maintenance/support agreements Calculate the five-year total cost of ownership of all these things to get an accurate comparison. Typically, there are two ways to purchase CMMS software. Subscription pricing is also known as Software as a Service, or “SaaS.” When you opt for SaaS, you’re renting the software for a monthly or yearly fee. SaaS is a common option today—but it may not be the best one for you. #5: What Other Things Will I Need? Choosing a CMMS software vendor is twofold—you obviously want one that offers the right product, but it’s also vital to find the one who can help you get the software up and running. Even if the software is great, if you don’t know how to use it effectively, it’s like not having CMMS software at all. CMMS customization and integration with existing software present two big expenses. Implementation and ongoing maintenance have real costs as well. Make sure you factor in all of these expenses during the early stages of your CMMS deployment. As part of your evaluations, consider each vendor’s offerings for training, implementation, and support. You want to work with a company that can meet your needs today—and tomorrow. When you find the right CMMS software for your team, you’re on your way to creating an efficient and productive maintenance department that can cope with the constant change of modern maintenance. And that’s the bigger goal of every maintenance manager, whether they work for a small business, a government agency, or a large enterprise. Have questions? Contact us. We’re here to help.
What’s the “Best Of Breed” System And Do You Need It?
Organizations use multiple types of software for different purposes. But what works for one department might not be the right fit for another. While managers may lean towards finding a solution that works for multiple purposes, integrating best of breed solutions instead can improve productivity for everyone. A “Best of Breed” system is needed. What’s “Best of Breed” Software? Best of breed software refers to the top application for a specific purpose or niche. It performs specialized functions better than an integrated system. However it’s also limited by its specialty area. For example, your finance or accounting department needs software that provides features like billing, invoicing, time keeping, payroll, purchase orders, etc. Other departments, like maintenance, don’t need these functions. Instead, they’ll need their own special software to get their work done. However, financial data and maintenance data are closely linked. As a result, integrating two best of breed systems offers the advantages of both. Why Do I Want a “Best of Breed” System for Maintenance? Using a best of breed system helps you complete maintenance tasks as efficiently as possible. CMMS software contains many features the maintenance team will need—such as links to manuals and vendor websites, work order history, inventory information, asset details, etc. As a result, It will perform maintenance-related functions better than an integrated system. CMMS software can help you make better decisions based on maintenance data and answer business-critical questions. For example, you’ll know exactly how much money each work order or asset type costs your business in maintenance for a specified timeframe, and certain 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 general questions, you can formulate 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? Why Shouldn’t I Use an ERP? If your organization uses enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, some stakeholders may tell you it can handle your maintenance needs too. ERP software is a system of integrated applications to manage and automate many functions related to accounting, human resources, sales, planning, and inventory. But it often performs poorly as a tool for managing other functions—like maintenance. Many organizations discover that their ERP doesn’t provide easy-to-use tools to get all jobs done—like maintenance management—without excessive system overhead, user antagonism, time, and cost. That’s a big problem for the maintenance department, where the tools you use directly affect your efficiency and productivity. When you aren’t using the right tool, it takes longer to do the job—and sometimes it’s even impossible. What If I Need Departments to Work Together? More and more companies are realizing that syncing best of breed systems offers the added bonuses of better user tools, as well as cheaper and significantly easier implementation. For example, many of our MPulse customers have an ERP in place, and the maintenance team uses MPulse as their best of breed software. A CMMS helps you see accurate, complete data, and this data can be applied directly to purchasing or other important organizational decisions through systems integration. As a result, the executive team gets the data they want, and the maintenance department uses the best tool for their jobs. Everyone’s happy. Data integration offers organizations benefits like… Fewer errors due to manual data entry Reduced data input redundancy Faster response times to maintenance problems Near real-time monitoring of critical data The ability to grow with your organization’s changing technologies. In our modern world, efficiency is everything. Integrating best of breed systems can improve productivity for everyone. Have questions? Contact us. We can help. [related-content]