What is a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)?
A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a software package that helps businesses plan and manage every aspect of their maintenance department. CMMS software effortlessly generates and tracks work orders, monitors asset health, and creates efficient maintenance schedules.
The best CMMS solutions also have strong, built-in analytic components. A quality CMMS like eMaint can even analyze condition monitoring data and alert maintenance teams when an asset develops a new fault. CMMS software plays a crucial role in asset lifecycle management and can drive data-backed decision-making about maintenance needs.
Beyond that, CMMS software can track inventory and spare parts across multiple worksites, monitor spending and labor hours, and help standardize maintenance workflows. For businesses that face quality or safety regulations, a CMMS makes it easy to pass audits and achieve ongoing compliance.
What Does a CMMS Do?
The central function of a CMMS is to store, organize, and analyze maintenance data. That includes:
- Work order data
- Asset health data
- Scheduling and labor availability
- Inventory and spare parts
- Costs and budgeting data
- Regulatory and safety compliance data
CMMS systems give teams the organizational tools they need to increase efficiency, standardize workflows, and extend asset lifespan. CMMS solutions provide critical insights into equipment performance and maintenance needs, supporting proactive maintenance strategies and enhancing operational reliability.
Many of today’s leading CMMS solutions are cloud-based and offer innovative features like a mobile CMMS app, regulatory compliance tools, and multi-site or multilingual capabilities. They can also integrate with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and systems, applications, and products (SAP) software applications, or tap into siloed production data from SCADA, PLC, and BMS systems. The best CMMS software, like eMaint, can even connect with condition monitoring sensors and software, giving teams the power of predictive maintenance.
What Are the Types of CMMS?
There is a range of CMMS solutions on the market, but they can generally be divided into two types: on-premise and cloud-based CMMS. But which one is right for your operation? It depends.
On-premise CMMS solutions usually involve a higher upfront cost. They also require more in-house expertise. That’s because the installation process includes setting up a firewall and other IT infrastructure so that the software works smoothly on your server. Users of on-premise CMMS solutions also must pay for upgrades or additional solutions.
The trade-off? On-premise computerized maintenance management systems may offer a higher level of control and customizability, making it attractive to some larger institutions.
Cloud-based CMMS solutions are subscription-based and tend to cost significantly less. They are also easier to scale. Most cloud-based CMMS software issues free updates for existing users and includes features to protect your data.
One of the chief benefits of a cloud-based CMMS is the ability to access data remotely. Workers in the field can access and update work orders through mobile apps, and decision-makers can log in and review asset health data remotely.
Why Use a CMMS?
Computerized maintenance management software enables asset visibility across the entire organization. The flexibility and capabilities of a CMMS benefit everyone, from the teams tasked with day-to-day asset maintenance all the way to the leaders who make big-picture capital decisions.
Thanks to the wealth of data captured by the CMMS, maintenance technicians can easily see which assets need maintenance. Asset prioritization ensures the most important repairs will be completed first, and automatic scheduling of preventive maintenance makes sure routine maintenance tasks are never forgotten. Detailed checklists and procedures can ensure assets are maintained the same way no matter which technician is working on them.
Managers can see the status of an asset as well as its work history, such as which technicians worked on the asset and what tasks they completed. Audit trails and password-protected digital signatures provide audit-ready documentation without the need for tedious paper filing. Managers can also access reports to monitor maintenance hours and parts spending to get a clear picture of maintenance costs.
A CMMS provides a birds-eye view of assets across the organization, giving decision-makers visibility between multi-site facilities and allowing them to make data-driven decisions in real-time. Instead of information being siloed to a single site, reports and metrics allow teams to compare assets and productivity across sites. Detailed asset histories give insights about whether assets should be repaired or replaced, and easy-to-use reports allow enterprise-level tracking of metrics like key performance indicators (KPIs) and audit dashboards.
Computerized maintenance management systems with integration capabilities provide even more information about the company as a whole. Software and hardware integrations incorporate information from sources like sensors and SCADA systems, and can even connect finance and ERP software.
Using a CMMS ensures team members have access to the information they need, no matter what their role is. This type of visibility is impossible with paper systems. Even electronic systems like spreadsheets, shared calendars, or other methods of maintenance tracking aren’t as effective or efficient as a computerized maintenance management system.
What Is an Example of a CMMS?
eMaint is an example of a CMMS that can be used across many different industries. The capabilities of a CMMS mean that it can be used to simplify maintenance while also streamlining information sharing between departments and making communication even easier. Here are a few examples of what a CMMS like eMaint can do:
Work Order Management
Users can organize, assign, and track work orders from an easy-to-use dashboard. Built-in procedure checklists ensure all the correct steps are taken during maintenance, and a simple drag-and-drop calendar streamlines preventive maintenance scheduling.
Audit Dashboards
Since the CMMS provides detailed, time-stamped records of every user interaction, specialists can access all the information auditors need without having to dig through paper records. Workflows can automatically route work orders through supervisor approval, and password-protected digital signatures maintain an accurate audit trail.
Interactive Floor Plans
Computerized maintenance management systems that include a floor plan allow users to quickly see where assets are located when they need attention. And since the floor plans are interactive, users can see information like real-time, color-coded asset status, or even plan out workflows based on asset conditions.
Advantages of CMMS Software
CMMS software helps teams streamline and manage their maintenance processes. By storing and analyzing data, CMMS software also facilitates smart decision-making and enables managers to build ever-stronger maintenance programs.
The benefits of using CMMS include:
- Reduced downtime by implementing an effective preventive and predictive maintenance strategy
- Increased operational efficiency, including time savings on every aspect of scheduling, data entry, and reporting
- Extended asset lifespans and improved asset management, tracking, and analysis
- Compliance with safety and quality regulations
- Standardized maintenance workflows
- Increased work order completion rates
- Lower overall maintenance costs
- Increased productivity and lower labor costs
Disadvantages of CMMS
Every solution has a few drawbacks, and CMMS software is no exception.
For some users, implementing CMMS can be a challenge. Learning how to navigate the software, exploring the different functionalities, and training your team to use the new software are time-consuming processes.
Most businesses that implement a computerized maintenance management system only use a few of the available CMMS features. That’s why eMaint built a special learning portal called eMaint University, which is designed to train users so they can make full use of their CMMS. It’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so users in any time zone can take full advantage.
The result? Users achieve full implementation without the headaches of training and onboarding. That drives rapid adoption of some of eMaint’s best functionality. And very quickly, it translates to a sharp reduction in downtime, longer asset lifespan, and an overall increase in operational efficiency.
How Does CMMS Software Work?
Among other things, a CMMS system functions as work order software to track maintenance orders and schedule tasks. It helps maintenance teams manage their workflows and minimize downtime.
Through integrations with vibration sensors and other condition monitoring tools, a CMMS and its database also let teams keep tabs around the clock on machine health and conditions, so they can implement condition-based maintenance.
Other key CMMS integrations, like ERP software, can help maintenance teams connect their operations to the purchasing and inventory functions used elsewhere in an organization. While maintenance and reliability teams may spend their time focused on keeping machines running, today’s organizational environments make it necessary to have a CMMS that can communicate seamlessly with these other business systems.
Today’s maintenance managers rely on CMMS systems to level up their maintenance programs, streamline processes, and improve tracking and analysis of maintenance KPIs. A CMMS can also enable accurate documentation for maintenance activities, which is vital for heavily regulated industries subject to audits.
In the end, a CMMS is a database, and information within it supports a variety of functions across different teams. Those in operations or finance can benefit from visibility into inventory status or costs, supply contracting, and other maintenance functions.
A CMMS can help organizations manage and streamline:
- Resources and labor
- Asset lifecycle
- Work order prioritization and scheduling
- Preventive maintenance
- Materials and inventory
- Audits and compliance tracking
- Reporting and dashboarding
- Mobile maintenance functionality
- Condition monitoring
- Customized training and support
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What are the Benefits of Using a CMMS Software?
There are many efficiency and lifecycle benefits from implementing and using computerized maintenance management system software. Overall, it allows teams to align their maintenance practices and activities with other departments and business goals. When you have a system that allows cross-departmental sharing of data, everyone’s job gets a little more efficient.
Some of top benefits of a CMMS software include:
Healthy and Safe Environments
In line with global, national, state, or local regulations, a CMMS can improve safety, health, and environmental issues. When assets are properly maintained and in a timely fashion, they’re less likely to have a failure that endangers workers. Get reports on incidents, defects, correction action histories, and process change management.
Workflow Visibility and Work Order Management
Work order software allows teams to visualize actions with dashboards and reports, helping every level of worker assess the current status and improve work order completion rates. Maintenance teams can quickly determine where an asset is, what parts are needed, and who should perform what work and when.
Mobile Workforce
Keeping field workers on the go can be a difficult and pricey endeavor. However, the best software offers advanced mobility connectivity for users who rarely need to come back to the office. Deploy teams remotely using a CMMS that supports mobile workers.
Automation and processes
There are so many process that are prime for automation:
- Inventory reorders
- Scheduling shifts
- Assigning work orders by availability
Transitioning to a CMMS program allows users to automate many processes. Automation saves time, reduces human error, and increases efficiency.
Asset Lifecycle Visibility
CMMS programs allow teams to track and manage asset health and lifecycle from pre-installation planning and engineering to decommissioning. When you know the active status of your assets, you can better plan, schedule, and perform work.
The Road to Prescriptive Maintenance
CMMS software helps teams move from reactive, preventive, and predictive maintenance to a prescriptive maintenance strategy. By integrating info like machine data from sensors and usage statistics, maintenance teams gain visibility into asset health. Then, the software can generate AI-enhanced analytics on what actions to take and when.