If you're like many facility maintenance professionals, you constantly search for ways to trim expenses and closely scrutinize your plant's equipment, parts and labor costs. Fortunately, maintenance operations don't have to be the budget-depleting necessity they have long been considered to be. With today's computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), you can actually transform maintenance into a profit center. That's because CMMS makes maintenance operations more efficient, boosts productivity and cuts costs, benefiting a facility's bottom line.

CMMS Benefits

For the past few years, CMMS has made the job of building service managers easier by converting paper work order systems into electronic ones, better coordinating maintenance tasks, and supporting preventive maintenance programs. Additionally, these systems have made maintenance technicians more accountable.

Now, newer systems are building upon these capabilities and providing more advantages. For one thing, the latest systems excel in tracking assets, parts and labor, letting managers make more informed assessments about repairs, purchases and staffing levels. Recent systems also offer improved automation of work orders. Some are even capable of fleet management, while others allow work requests to be filed online or via a network.

Using some CMMS systems, maintenance technicians can fill out work orders and perform inspections with PDAs (electronic handheld information devices). Furthermore, employing systems linked to barcoding, users can track inventory and assets electronically with PDA-based handheld barcode scanners.

Some systems can also connect to commercial CAD packages, providing managers with a visual depiction of their data. This capability is especially useful for facility managers planning a space or overseeing a move. Furthermore, these systems can accommodate managers who would rather not set up the software and maintain it at their sites. Such managers can choose CMMS programs that can be accessed over the Internet, through application service providers (ASPs).

Preventive Maintenance

Newer systems improve upon the preventive maintenance capabilities of their predecessors. They keep preventive maintenance systems up and running, letting managers reap the full benefits of such programs. With preventive maintenance, problems such as mold, leaks, drafts and pests are kept under control because work is regularly performed following a pre-set schedule. Regular maintenance also helps keep equipment functioning at full capacity, boosting productivity. It also extends service life, allowing users to realize a greater return on original investment.

Facility managers who implement preventive maintenance programs on HVAC systems, for example, will improve energy efficiency, moisture control and service life. As a result of extended equipment life, managers can delay large capital expenditures for replacement—potentially for several years. Additionally, with regular maintenance, they can inhibit moisture condensation and mold growth—two problems that have prompted many costly lawsuits. Furthermore, because HVAC systems can run at peak capacity, managers can reduce energy consumption, ancillary costs and downtime.

Regulations & Inspections

CMMS software also expedites the process of complying with regulations and performing inspections. "Many managers like mobile options for inspections because maintenance technicians can easily enter inspection data on a PDA, like a Palm Pilot," says Pat Conroy, president of MicroMain Corp., a CMMS manufacturer. "Some mobile options let you see at a glance where the inspection stands. The tech simply chooses a checkmark next to the inspection point to show that it has been viewed or chooses an X to show that the inspection point failed.

"The techs can select pre-determined ratings and measurements to complete the inspection, and mark inspection points for follow up. They or their supervisors can add comments or action notes, such as detailing what happened to create the failure or specifying how a failure should be fixed."

When technicians place their PDAs back on their cradles, they trigger the automatic uploading of information to the CMMS database. Because maintenance technicians do not have to manually type in the data, facility managers can rest assured that accuracy is exceptionally high. Next, using this precise inspection information, CMMS software can generate reports for facility managers and for regulators. It can also automatically create a corrective work order, detailing failed inspection points.

Organizing Assets

Another advantage of computerized maintenance management is improved asset organization. In particular, CMMS systems that incorporate parent-child hierarchies are handy because they group building-specific equipment and assets such as doors, lighting, windows, flooring and roofs into families. This way, managers can see which assets are in the same family and which are subordinate to another asset.

Systems with these features can automatically update the asset information of every member of a family if the data for one member is modified. For example, if a facility manager changes the location information of one asset, he or she doesn't have to worry about doing the same for all the asset's family members since the system does this automatically. In addition, with CMMS, managers can more easily report on assets because they don't have to gather information on every single asset, just on groups.

The Bottom Line

In short, computerized maintenance management can help you achieve two exceedingly important objectives—saving money and improving your bottom line. And the technology's effect is both immediate and long-term, allowing you to quickly improve maintenance operations as well as enjoy continued efficiency gains and savings in the long run.

Top 10 Things to Look for in a CMMS

1) Is the system user-friendly?
2) Does it come with open source code so you can customize it on your own?
3) Has the vendor done business with similar facilities?
4) Is the system configured in a manner that will allow it to accommodate your workflow procedures?
5) Is it sufficiently flexible to support your maintenance processes?
6) Can you readily tailor reports to meet your needs?
7) Will you be able to avail of in-house technical support so you can consult staff with superior product knowledge?
8) Is the data accessible using standard software, such as Microsoft Excel?
9) Will you be able to test the software on your own and perform a run-through?
10) Does the price represent a good value?

Source: The ABCs of CMMS: Change Maintenance to a Profit Center
Joe Brummer
Building Services Management, July 2003
http://www.buildingservicesmgt.com/Articles/2003/07/CMMS.html