If you are a maintenance veteran who has watched our field change over the years, you likely remember a time when the maintenance department was largely invisible. Your phone number was on speed dial, but what your team did seemed somewhat mysterious to other departments.
That’s no longer the case for many maintenance managers. Our modern maintenance environment brings new challenges, including the need to consistently document maintenance activities and be more transparent to our end users.
As my friend and MPulse customer, Andy, said, “Today’s maintenance team works in a culture of accountability. Now our maintenance tasks are tracked, and every department is expected to demonstrate their value.”
From accounting to compliance and from human resources to purchasing, your phone now rings with more than repair requests. Those calls are asking for detailed, accurate information about what’s impacting productivity, profitability, performance, and operations. For how a CMMS keeps records audit-ready across regulations, see maintenance compliance.
Automate Maintenance Documentation
Today’s maintenance manager must constantly gather and report on maintenance information for managers and other departments. That takes time. And time is usually in short supply around the maintenance department.
The answer? Automate your maintenance documentation with CMMS software.
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One of CMMS software’s biggest advantages is that you can document everything related to maintenance in one system. It starts with the work order, which automatically records labor time, parts and inventory costs, asset history, and other key information with each task your maintenance team completes.
This CMMS data grows over time, offering a wealth of information at your fingertips.
It doesn’t get easier than that.
Create Maintenance Reports
Once you’ve automated maintenance data collection, you can use that data in multiple ways. CMMS software reporting tools enable maintenance managers to quickly produce status reports and documents giving details, graphs, or summaries of maintenance work.
Examples of the maintenance activities you can document and report on with CMMS software include…
- Labor costs, including overtime and/or outsourced work
- Inventory turnover and costs
- Inspection schedules
- Warranty documentation
- Purchasing and vendor information
- Compliance procedures
- Quality assurance tasks
- Regulatory audit support.
“Our MPulse Software, Inc has changed the way I do my job,” Andy told me. “Instead of each information request making me feel like I’m responding to a fire drill, our CMMS software can create custom reports in minutes with a few keystrokes. No more pouring over Excel spreadsheets or searching through stacks of paperwork.”
Just as CMMS software makes your maintenance team more efficient at their jobs, it helps maintenance managers report more effectively on what their team is doing. That’s increasingly helpful in today’s workplace where the maintenance team is often asked to do more with limited resources.
How could you use CMMS software to document your team’s maintenance activities? Contact us.
