A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is designed to keep track of past system repairs and schedule future maintenance. It can be used to organize facility maintenance, track maintenance tasks, generate work orders for maintenance staff, and keep a record of the work they perform.
Undoubtedly, a CMMS proves to be an invaluable tool for a facility manager. However, it all depends on investment in the right CMMS. A system that does not fulfill your business needs will not be the best investment. It is important to avoid common CMMS mistakes to make the most of your investment.
1. Focusing only on the software’s look & feel
Most companies look for the perfect user interface when it comes to selecting a maintenance management system. Though user interface is important, it is not the most significant factor to determine the best CMMS among its counterparts. The prime focus should be to help shift the focus of workers to actionable tasks that create and add value while improving productivity for the organization.
2. Considering only the functional aspect of the software
True, the functional aspect of a maintenance management software solution is a crucial deciding factor when it comes to choosing such a system. But it does not mean your focus should be only on the functional aspect, but also on the ease of implementation, installation, and support provided by the vendor to help you learn how best to use the software to achieve your goals and performance targets. Your relationship with the vendor doesn’t end once you have purchased the software; rather, it is just the beginning of a long-lasting relationship.
Look for a vendor who offers the best product that fits your specific needs and can meet your requirements over the long run. When it comes to selecting CMMS, look for a vendor that offers support services, such as organizational readiness assessment and gap analysis, guidance about industry best practices, expertise to map your configuration to optimized processes, facilitating decision-making and data analysis to ensure expected savings and establish a framework for continuous improvement, and fine-tune asset management processes.
3. Taking work order software as a static data & reporting system
Traditionally, CMMS was viewed as a tool to computerize existing manual processes. It was merely an electronic data depository. Some companies continue to believe that the fleet maintenance software is still the same and that nothing much has changed. Unfortunately, they continue to hold the notion that the prime purpose of the work order software is to only store data for producing reports on a periodic, continuous, or ad hoc basis.
Contrarily, modern systems are designed with much more functionality and features, including alert management, workflow, alarming, and notification, and a more sophisticated workflow engine. Today, a CMMS system is more like a real-time knowledge-management system that helps reduce operating costs and risks.
When you are wondering how to choose a maintenance management system, consider these factors as a benchmark that can transform your Enterprise Asset Management software into a real-time monitoring and control system that drives simplicity and adds value.
4. Focusing only on current needs
Software investment isn’t just for today – it is for tomorrow as well! When you invest in a software solution, you must consider your growing business needs, instead of focusing only on your present business challenges and requirements. Unfortunately, one of the biggest maintenance management system mistakes made by most companies is to select a system that meets their short-term needs of maintenance.
When you plan to choose a CMMS, consider your long-term requirements, with a focus on operations, configurability, maintenance, finance, purchasing, engineering, and IT. The solution should be flexible enough to make changes to the changing needs of each stakeholder group, allowing for quick, hassle-free configuration at any time.
5. Considering site-specific software solutions alone
One of the common CMMS mistakes made by some businesses while choosing an enterprise management system is considering only the needs of individual sites, without paying attention to the organization overall.
It is critical to involve stakeholders from both individual sites and corporate for choosing a facilities maintenance software solution with strategic asset-management functionality that can accommodate the needs of each plant and the entire organization and thus encourage enterprise-wide thinking.
Strategic asset-management functionality implies that the software can fulfill the varied needs of all levels in the organization along the entire life cycle of an asset and translate into savings and profits in the long run.
Wondering how to choose a maintenance management system? At ITQlick, we pride ourselves on our extensive technical knowledge and can guide you through the CMMS selection process, saving you time, money, and resources.