How to Select Maintenance Software: The DO’s and DON’Ts of Purchasing CMMS
When buying CMMS Software, making the right choice can be a daunting and overwhelming process. How do you go about ensuring that you’re selecting the best product for your company? We’ve gone ahead and made an infographic that simplifies the process into a few key Do’s and Don’ts. Check out the infographic above or read along below to learn some tips that will help you avoid any CMMS purchasing pitfalls and make the most out of your software investment:
1. Flexibility
DO: Choose a standard solution that you can easily configure yourself.
DON’T: Go with a solution that needs heavy customization, which can be costly and inefficient.
It is extremely important that the CMMS software you purchase is intuitive and easy-to-use. Further, make sure that many self-help resources are available on the software’s website. This way, you will be able to teach your maintenance management team how to use the software without having to spend endless hours and dollars working with implementation specialists on detailed training and customization requests.
2. Mobility
DO: Select a CMMS that has a mobile application, so that field workers can complete and communicate about their services on the go 24/7.
DON’T: Opt for a cheaper solution without mobile options, and then rely on SMS text messaging or printouts to communicate with field workers.
Mobility is a non-negotiable feature for your CMMS software. It allows you to have an agile maintenance management system, in which work orders, service requests, notifications, checklists, and key information can all be accessed at the touch of your fingertips – no matter where you are or what time it is. A mobile application feature also allows for more efficient and effective service from third-party vendors, who can also access the app and provide updates in real-time as they are providing their services.
3. Resource Scheduling
DO: Use a CMMS with dynamic visual planning tools and multi-criteria resource allocation.
DON’T: Waste time and money on a CMMS with poor planning and scheduling tools.
Make sure that the CMMS software you choose can offer you a wide range of planning tools. For example, CMMS softwares that have dynamic and elaborate planning tools empower you to create a hierarchy of tasks that have an estimated start time, end time, and run time as well as allocated resources. This type of planning tool would also allow you to define dependencies between different tasks and adjust the planning in an interactive Gantt chart. You can also assign one or more from your management team as resources to a task.
4. Best Practices
DO: Be open to adopting industry-proven best practices and standards embedded in CMMS.
DON’T: Impose your current outdated processes onto the CMMS software.
A good CMMS software will ensure that you are adopting industry-proven best practices. These would include streamlining and automating your maintenance operations – which both optimize facilities ops in terms cost and quality. Further, a powerful CMMS can enable you to turn raw data into key business reports and analytics that will provide invaluable insight on where to cut costs and how to budget and plan efficiently and effectively. Do not shy away from these changes, no matter how big and intimidating they may seem. They will transform your operations for the better in the long run.
5. Asset Tracking
DO: Selected an integrated CMMS platform that provides a single view of all your assets.
DON’T: Use a patchwork of disparate tools that prevent you from having a general overview.
Use a CMMS that lets you track all of your company’s assets. The software should help you manage key information such as the value, supplier/manufacturer, conditions and inventory of the asset. Further organizational capabilities, such as defining catalogs for different asset groups, should also be available through your CMMS.
6. Compliance
DO: Track and centralize compliance evidence and ensure it can be easily retrieved.
DON’T: Underestimate the importance of proactive tracking.
Preparing for an audit is an overwhelming and inevitable endeavor in the world of maintenance management. However, with the help of a good CMMS, a maintenance manager can store, organize, and track all necessary documentation of their operations. They can also work with their CMMS to generate reports that can instantly provide asset history, transaction history and many other information sets. This not only reduces audit prep time but also greatly minimizes risk of noncompliance.
7. Performance Tracking
DO: Know your performance at a glance through tracking KPIs and monitoring SLAs.
DON’T: Focus only on execution of maintenance interventions.
It is key for maintenance management not only to execute their operations, but also to track how their operations are performing by setting and tracking specific KPIs. In the facilities management world, these KPIs could include Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Planned Maintenance, and Percentage PM Compliance. With a high quality CMMS, facilities professionals can monitor KPIs within the maintenance management software itself, which will ensure that companies meet their business goals.
8. Native BIM
DO: Embed BIM (Building Information Modeling) in your CMMS bi-directionally, keeping a digital twin synced at all times.
DON’T: Import BIM in your CMMS, giving you a mere viewer and one-off model.
BIM allows you to manage the entire life cycle of a building on one data-sharing platform, and BIM data can augment asset and facilities management. Get a CMMS that allows for BIM integration, so that you can sync your BIM data at any time. Combine your BMI data insights with other types of data, such as IoT data on space utilization.
9. IoT Enabled
DO: Invest in a CMMS with integrated IoT sensor capabilities.
DON’T: Buy sensors without knowing what data and integration it can offer.
A CMMS that has integrated IoT sensor capabilities can improve workplace comfort levels, as well as space and resource utilization. This leads to increased efficiencies and data-led insight that cause for a fast ROI.
10. Future Readiness
DO: Look for a forward-thinking CMMS solution, including predictive maintenance and AI.
DON’T: Buy maintenance software that focuses solely on what it can do for your company today.
Invest in a CMMS software that is invested in the future of maintenance management. Key signs that a CMMS is forward-looking include: the leveraging of IoT sensors, fault detection models, and machine learning.
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