What Features Should I Look for in CMMS Software?
By Steven Quayle
When you’re looking to streamline your assets, CMMS software can be an effective tool for maintenance management. CMMS provides a digital, centralized hub for all management aspects, from work order tracking to data analytics. This software aims to reduce downtime and lower production costs for your business.
However, it’s important to consider what CMMS features offer your company and what to look for to improve operational efficiency. Many CMMS programs come with their own advantages, so here’s what you should look for when deciding on a CMMS for you.
What’s The Purpose of CMMS Software?
CMMS is a system made to categorize and organize your valuable assets. It’s based on an asset hierarchy, or asset register, that establishes relationships between every asset within your business. These assets, which include systems, equipment, and other valuables, have physical or logical relationships. A CMMS software program calculates and systemically organizes these assets based on these relationships to optimize performance.
This record-keeping and tracking system can be an invaluable tool for businesses, as it can streamline processes and help increase your production output by tracking asset health and encouraging preventive maintenance. Work orders can be managed, assets can be monitored for potential repairs, and businesses looking to maximize performance can improve, as it provides these key benefits:
Organized Management: CMMS provides better management for systems, inventory, products, and other essential assets. Within this system, assets are organized into categories, work orders can be prioritized, and your business's resources can be allocated to reduce waste. If downtime occurs in any part of your system, then all other aspects, such as work orders, can be adjusted easily without losing potential benefits.
Greater Knowledge: These programs provide a greater sense of knowledge and awareness about how your assets and equipment can be maintained. Asset history logs, parts inventory, predictive datasets, and tracking work orders bring greater visibility to managers and supervisors of your teams. These create a larger sense of accountability and communication creating a more reliable structure to build upon.
Reduced Costs: A CMMS like Maintainly reduces business costs by integrating all work-related systems into a single, accessible platform. It gives greater opportunities to integrate predictive and preventive management strategies into your team's workflow, which can reduce costs overall. In predictive strategies, data analytics can help you decide where resources should be allocated and what work orders should take priority. In the end, any intricate costs related to reactive, run-of-failure strategies can be reduced and can help you budget your finances where you need it most.
CMMS can be used anywhere and accessed by anyone within your team operations effectively, but not every software offers the same features. CMMS software programs are highly dependent on their company’s choice of design. One of the biggest problems many businesses face is finding the right CMMS that caters to their specific industry's needs. Overall, your choice in CMMS highly depends on your budget, where your assets falter, and what maintenance management strategies you’re looking to use for your business.
The Key Features To Look For In CMMS
While most CMMS programs will offer a wide variety of features, it’s important to work with software that can provide the essentials and nothing more, bloat causes user resistance. Your CMMS should be easily accessible to employees of any seniority level, key features should include:
Work Order Management
Work orders are the heart of your business’s operations, and through CMMS software, you can route work orders to specific tasks based on priority. This feature gives you the ability to create custom workflows for your employees based on daily schedules. It also provides the ability to be reactive in cases of asset failure. When asset failures occur, work orders can be rerouted to that repair request, allowing you to organize your time and how you spend it more effectively.
Data Analytics and Reporting
CMMS programs offer a wide range of data tracking and reporting abilities. It allows you to enter any essential data into the CMMS’s database, integrate it into the software’s asset register, and establish those relationships crucial to your business’s workflow. When an asset falters and needs repairs, alerts and notifications can be generated to notify your managers and provide solutions. Good CMMS programs offer the ability to customize business solutions based on your company’s industry and requirements, and having this feature in your CMMS software can help you succeed long-term through its proactive measures.
Preventative Maintenance Tracking
One of the key aspects of equipment maintenance is shifting from a reactive strategy to a preventative one. Preventative maintenance is a strategy focused on integrating checklists, plans, and measures to reduce the likelihood of asset failure before it happens. CMMS platforms can include schedules for routine inspections and maintenance tasks to keep track of assets at high risk, and based on your customizations, can provide data-driven solutions to solve the problem before it occurs.
Inventory and Asset Management
Lastly, inventory and asset management are key, as they allow you to track multiple business locations in real time. A CMMS system should curate your assets, resources, and current inventory for maintenance reports based on your business’s current metrics. By tracking and managing assets, your business can create work orders, perform repairs, and implement preventative strategies to improve your company’s success.
Choose Maintainly For Your CMMS Operations
CMMS software should not be a struggle to work with, and at Maintainly, we can be your solution. Our CMMS allows you to manage all aspects of your business, implement maintenance strategies that rival competitors, and keep your work environment operating smoothly in any industry. If you’re thinking about CMMS, try Maintainly CMMS free for 14 days and see how our software can help you succeed.
