management system is a software package that allows an
organization to control, optimize and verify its maintenance
activities, such as repairs, routine inspections and preventive
maintenance.
A CMMS can record exactly what work has and
hasn’t been done. For example, it can record what safety
inspections and maintenance jobs should be done, and when they
actually were done. It can also help maintenance personnel
schedule safety jobs in advance, so the work isn’t forgotten or
overlooked. If liability questions arise, CMMS records help an
organization defend itself, by showing that maintenance was
performed in accordance with any applicable requirements.
According to a White Paper prepared by MainBoss
Maintenance Software, a division of Thinkage, Ltd., CMMS can
also help organizations use their resources more productively.
Maintenance departments can substantially increase labor
productivity, decrease inventory needs, and reduce equipment
downtime by eliminating waste and spotting repair trends. More
than anything, a CMMS is a way of keeping accurate and timely
accounts of maintenance activities.
Such measurements allow effective management
decisions instead of blind guesses, and provide the kind of
feedback needed to continue making improvements. They also let
maintenance personnel become proactive rather than reactive –
getting on top
of
things rather than simply responding to problems as they arise.
The CMMS notes what jobs have been done,
schedules what jobs need to be done in the future, and keeps
track of all information relevant to maintenance work. A
comprehensive CMMS can record costs of labor and materials on a
per-job basis, can show what equipment is under warranty, and
can tell you when to reorder spare parts.
More than anything else, a CMMS lets you measure
what you’re doing. It helps you answer questions like the
following:
• What was the total cost of maintenance (labor
and materials) on a particular piece of equipment in the past
year?
• What’s the replacement cost of that same piece
of equipment (from which you can calculate downtime costs to the
company)?
• What kind of problems did the equipment have?
Do the repairs have an overall pattern that suggests maintenance
procedures should change? Is it likely that more frequent
inspections or preventive maintenance will stop trouble before
it happens? Can you prove that this would be worth the cost?
From an insurance perspective, a CMMS makes sure
that necessary work doesn’t slip through the cracks. If, for
example, a piece of machinery requires monthly maintenance, the
CMMS can schedule that maintenance ahead of time to make sure it
doesn’t get missed. In liability cases, CMMS records can be used
to prove that an organization has been appropriately
diligent
in maintenance efforts; the records can show that all required
maintenance has been done in accordance with manufacturer’s
specifications.
CMMS packages differ in many respects, but most
provide the following features:
Work request management – Keeping track of
problem reports received from sources outside the maintenance
department, such as complaints from other departments in the
organization.
Work order management – Keeping track of work
orders prepared by maintenance personnel. This includes the
creation of work orders, plus recording the results of each job
after its’ finished.
The creation of work orders may include
description of the job, specifying date and time it should be
done, estimating length of job, assigning personnel and
estimating labor costs, reserving materials expected to be
needed for the work, specifying accounting charges for the job,
recording useful information for workers.
When the job is finished, the CMMS can record
what the job actually entailed, the start and end times for the
job, labor costs and material usage, length of down-time for
equipment involved, cause of the problem, and any other details
that might be relevant now or in the future.
Work order management also includes automatic
generation of work orders for preventive maintenance.
Maintenance costs are subject to a greater degree of control
than many other costs in an organization. Up to a point, you can
choose how much maintenance you do, and you can tune the nature
of you maintenance to get better results with less cost. To
control costs, however, you need the right information. You need
to know where the money really goes, and whether it’s spent
effectively.
That’s where a CMMS comes in. Some of the
savings include: Improved safety – Equipment gets serviced on
time. Problem reports don’t get lost. Work orders can include
full instructions for preventive maintenance tasks. Maintenance
personnel can easily find the information they need to do their
jobs, and if someone decides that a particular equipment
component needs special attention during inspections, an
appropriate note can be added to instructions so that the
information is passed on to whoever does the job in the future.
Improved liability tracking – Complete records
of all work done on facilities and equipment can be invaluable
in liability proceedings. There is no missing paperwork, because
everything is stored in computer files.
Increased labor productivity – Maintenance
productivity in the U.S. and Canada averages about 35 percent,
which means that in an 8-hour shift, a worker spends about 2.8
hours in direct hands-on work. Most organizations with a CMMS
have managed to raise this to 70-80 percent. They can get more
accurate information on equipment and facilities without having
to search through paper files and manuals.
Work orders are more complete and accurate,
making sure that the right people arrive at the right place at
the right time. Other cost savings come from better inventory
control and better analysis of history, which allows for better
planning. Knowing what went wrong in the past can help you avoid
repetitions. If a particular piece of equipment is known to have
vulnerabilities, maintenance staff can proactively take steps to
monitor and minimize potential problems.
