Efficient and effective asset management is a key driver of business performance. Businesses that optimize asset management throughout the entire asset lifecycle enjoy many benefits, from reducing operational costs and improving productivity to enhancing reliability. However, managing assets manually is cumbersome and error-prone, especially for large-scale enterprises with complex infrastructures. This is where enterprise asset management (EAM) software comes into play. There are many EAM software benefits that businesses can leverage to increase production efficiency and uptime, reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their assets, and extend the usable life of their equipment.
Put simply, enterprise asset management refers to an overarching strategy focused on helping organizations track, manage, and maintain their physical assets throughout the entire lifecycle. EAM software can manage everything from procuring assets to deploying and maintaining them to retiring and disposing of them. An EAM software is a centralized digital platform that lets teams easily manage everything about an asset, including monitoring equipment performance, scheduling maintenance activities, tracking inventory, and generating reports.
EAM software ultimately helps organizations make more data-driven decisions about their assets, optimize asset performance, and prolong asset lifespan.
The Advantages of an EAM-CMMS Hybrid
Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software helps organizations manage their maintenance operations. This primary function sounds similar to EAM software because it is. The main difference between EAM vs CMMS is that EAM generally refers to a strategy that encompasses every phase of an asset’s life, whereas a CMMS is usually focused on the usage and maintenance phase of an asset’s life.
A CMMS enables asset managers to automatically track work orders, schedule preventive maintenance tasks, monitor equipment health and performance, manage inventory, and much more. By combining the best of both worlds with an EAM software like eMaint, you get a holistic approach with advanced capabilities for both asset management and maintenance.
Top Benefits of EAM Software
1. Streamline Asset Management
An EAM software streamlines your asset management program by giving you a central, unified platform for managing everything about your equipment, from asset procurement to work orders to spare parts inventory. Having all of these capabilities integrated into a centralized system makes it easier for you to not only manage your assets day-to-day but also capture actionable data and insights to help you continuously optimize your equipment and operations.
2. Improve Maintenance Efficiency
With maintenance software that fulfills the functions of both EAM and CMMS, like eMaint, asset managers can automate preventive maintenance tasks, reducing the risk of equipment failures and downtime. Maintenance teams can also effortlessly prioritize work orders based on urgency to avoid unnecessary downtime and ensure critical maintenance tasks are completed on time.
3. Improve Asset Health and Performance
Paired with condition monitoring sensors and handheld tools, your team can gather real-time insights into asset health, so your maintenance team can identify potential issues before they turn into major problems. Your team can easily see when and where asset health and performance issues occur. You can also track asset usage, enabling organizations to optimize asset utilization.
4. Ensure Regulatory Compliance
Regulated industries have strict standards for asset maintenance and inspections. The benefits of a combined EAM and CMMS software include helping organizations ensure compliance by offering electronic signatures, automating compliance-related tasks, and easily generating reports.
5. Better Data-Driven Decision Making
An EAM-CMMS hybrid provides organizations with a wealth of data on asset performance, maintenance activities, and inventory. This data can be used to identify trends, make informed decisions, and optimize asset management strategies both now and into the future.
Conclusion
Effective asset management is critical for reducing costs, improving productivity, and enhancing reliability. EAM software benefits organizations by offering a centralized platform for managing their assets, tracking maintenance activities, and optimizing asset utilization. A combined EAM-CMMS software enhances these capabilities by providing a comprehensive solution for asset management and maintenance operations.