Month: September 2019

What is Work Order Management? | Work Order Management Process Explained

Posted: 9/26/2019

A stack of paper work orders from a side angle view.

Key Takeaways

Proper work order management allows you to efficiently process and complete work orders
The work order management process covers the entire work order lifecycle, from initial request to closure and analysis
Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software, like FTMaintenance, simplifies and automates work order management

Work order management is critical to maintaining asset reliability and minimizing downtime. However, managing work orders is more than tracking tasks – it’s a process that involves multiple interdependent steps that must be carefully coordinated. In this article, we break down the key stages of the work order management process and explain how maintenance software improves efficiency by automating routine tasks, tracking completion, and reducing manual work.

What is Work Order Management?

Work order management is the systematic approach of processing and completing maintenance work orders in a timely manner in order to minimize asset downtime. The process involves many steps and also depends on the availability of other maintenance resources such as assets, parts, people, and money. Once work orders are closed, they are analyzed to help improve work order schedules, work quality, and streamline the process.

Why is Work Order Management Important?

Traditionally, maintenance teams rely on paper-based systems to communicate job assignments. Though the work orders themselves may be easy to create by hand, manually managing them is labor-intensive and often introduces more problems than it solves.

For example, maintenance staff must interpret bad handwriting, leading to incorrect documentation. Physical copies are liable to get misplaced and lost, resulting in missed maintenance. Stacks of paper clutter up file cabinets and desks, making it difficult to find historical work orders.

Some maintenance teams have advanced to spreadsheet-based work order management, but these systems carry their own limitations. Spreadsheets can only be modified by one person at a time, making it difficult for technicians to see the most up-to-date information. Work orders generated by spreadsheet software must still be printed, bringing along the challenges discussed earlier. In addition, using spreadsheet software may be daunting for employees who prefer hands-on tasks over screen-based work.

As organizations grow, “old-school” work order management methods quickly become unsustainable and inefficient. Even more so, a renewed focus on operational efficiency has put a spotlight on the functions of the maintenance department. To improve work order management, organizations invest in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Work Order Management Process

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Proper work order management accounts for every stage in a work order’s lifecycle, from initial request to completion. The following sections describe what happens in each step of a typical work order management process. Along the way, notice how a CMMS makes the work order management process more streamlined and efficient.

Work Request Approval

A wrench and screwdriver on a blue background with a computer keyboard and mouse.

The need for maintenance work is often communicated through a work request or service request. An approver will review the request and determine whether a legitimate need exists, if enough information is available to create a work order, or if the issue has already been reported. Many organizations use the maintenance request feature of a CMMS to handle incoming requests. If the request is valid, it will be approved and a work order will be created.

Work Order Creation

The creation of a work order signifies that authorization has been given to perform the requested work. Work orders are created from approved maintenance requests, by the maintenance staff, or automatically from a CMMS. Using a mobile CMMS, technicians can create work orders from the field.

Prioritization

Maintenance technician performing an equipment inspection according to a checklist on a tablet computer.

Prioritizing work orders involves determining which work orders are to be completed first. A work order’s priority is typically determined by the criticality of the job or asset. For example, work orders related to safety (of sites or staff) may be given a high priority. Lower priority work orders include routine preventive maintenance or non-essential maintenance requests.

The maintenance team creates standards for what makes a work order high or low priority. Not only will this allow the truly high priority work orders to be completed faster, but when a backlog does occurs, it should consist of low-priority work.

Scheduling

The scheduling of work orders is based on their priority. Emergency work orders are addressed without delay. Preventive maintenance work orders are typically scheduled based on calendar- or runtime-based intervals, or by the asset manufacturer’s maintenance guidelines.

While timing plays a key role in work order scheduling, it’s not the only consideration. Maintenance managers must also account for the availability of technicians, spare parts and supplies, tools, and other special equipment needed to complete the job. CMMS software allows you to visualize the maintenance workload and identify how staff can be used most effectively.

Assignment

Every maintenance team is made up of technicians with varying skills and abilities. Work orders should be assigned to the technicians best suited for the job. For larger organizations, technicians may specialize in a particular craft or have training on specific assets.

Small to medium-sized businesses are more likely to use jacks-of-all-trades who can perform a multitude of maintenance tasks. Determining who is best for the job may be done by first-hand experience, but can also be identified using maintenance reports from a CMMS.

Distribution

Once work orders are scheduled and assigned, they must find their way into the hands of technicians. Work orders can be physically handed out, but it takes time to track down technicians. CMMS software features automatic printing to designated printers and automatic emailing to staff. A CMMS with mobile capabilities allows technicians to instantly receive work orders on internet-connected devices.

Execution

Close-up shot of maintenance technician repairing a conveyor system.

Execution is the act of the assigned technician(s) performing the tasks listed on the work order. A CMMS allows you to track the progress of work orders in real-time so that you can ensure technicians are staying on top of their work.

Documentation

An important aspect of work order management is ensuring that technicians accurately document all results—whether successful or not. The more accurate information you have, the better off you will be. Technicians should take care to record exactly what was done, how much time was spent, what parts were used, and so on. CMMS allows for easy documentation, which leads to more accurate maintenance records that can be used to identify areas of improvement and assist in future troubleshooting.

Poor documentation leads to inaccurate or flawed reports – as they say, “garbage in, garbage out.” Detailed work order documentation enables more accurate KPIs and insights from your CMMS reports.

Closure

Close-up shot of person placing paper work orders in a filing cabinet drawer.

Work order closure occurs when all tasks have been performed, all services delivered, and the job is complete. Technicians are now available to begin working on other “open” work orders.

Analysis

While the core of work order management focuses on day-to-day processing of work orders, organizations committed to continuous improvement should also track performance metrics to enhance their overall work order and maintenance management practices. Common work order management KPIs include:

Maintenance Backlog: The number of hours it takes to complete pending work orders with your available resources
On-Time Work Order Performance: The percentage of work orders completed by their due date
Average Response Time: The amount of time it takes to start executing a work order after it has been created, most commonly used in organizations with a formal service request process

Tracking these KPIs brings better visibility to the efficiency of your work order management process, providing valuable insight into your performance and areas of improvement.

Aside from these KPIs, historical work orders also provide insight into asset health. Analyzing an asset’s service history helps identify recurring issues, failure patterns, and performance trends, revealing where adjustments to the maintenance strategy may be needed. These insights support more informed decisions about preventive maintenance frequency, repair versus replace strategies, and long-term asset planning.

Work Order Management Software

With so many steps involved in managing work orders, it’s no surprise that the process can quickly become overwhelming without the right tools. Work order management software, such as a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), automates tasks at each stage, helping you efficiently track maintenance work orders throughout their entire lifecycle.

Modern work order management software allows maintenance teams to:

Receive service requests from non-maintenance personnel via a dedicated request portal
Automatically create work orders based on preset schedules or on demand
Prioritize work orders based on maintenance type, asset, customer, or nature of the work
Assign tasks to the right labor resource based on skills or availability
Schedule preventive maintenance at regular intervals
Track progress in real time
Document what work was completed, when, and by whom
Analyze work order history to identify trends and recurring issues that impact equipment reliability
Report on work order performance to find opportunities to continuously improve

By using work order management software, organizations gain greater visibility into their maintenance operations and improve the consistency, accuracy, and efficiency of their work order processes.

Improve Work Order Management with FTMaintenance Select

Even the most well-planned maintenance efforts can fall short without an efficient work order management system. FTMaintenance Select simplifies every stage of work order management to help your team stay organized, reduce manual tasks, and respond to maintenance needs faster. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select puts you in control over your work order process.

So You Purchased a CMMS – Now What? | CMMS Implementation Activities (Part 2)

Posted: 9/20/2019

Maintenance worker using CMMS software after CMMS implementation

When properly implemented, a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a powerful tool with benefits that can be felt throughout an organization. Shockingly, as many as 80% of CMMS software implementations fail, but why?

CMMS implementation can be a long process with pitfalls at every turn. Inexperienced buyers often don’t know where to start or what to do next. The urgency of a project may also force buyers to take shortcuts that create other problems down the line. Our eBook, The Definitive Guide to CMMS Acquisition and Implementation, provides first-time buyers with a systematic approach for implementing a CMMS.

Read Blog Post: Why CMMS Implementations Fail

Implementation covers events that happen both leading up to and following the purchase of a CMMS. Our first article in this series, How to Plan for CMMS Implementation, covers pre-purchase CMMS implementation activities. This article focuses on the activities that take place after software has been purchased.

Post-purchase CMMS Implementation Activities

Purchasing a CMMS is a major milestone in your journey towards improving your maintenance operations. Though it is indeed a time for some celebration, you aren’t out of the woods quite yet. The purchase decision does not mark the end of the CMMS project. Instead, it marks the phase where the “real” work begins.

Perhaps you’ve heard the old proverb, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? That certainly applies here. The goal of this article is not to overwhelm you, but to share our knowledge and experience gained from over 30 years of helping industrial organizations automate their maintenance operations.

The following section describes post-purchase CMMS implementation activities. Software vendors often provide services to assist you during this stage of your CMMS implementation.

Planning Your Implementation

A little planning goes a long way to help your CMMS succeed. You need to put some thought into how you will prepare, configure, and roll out the software. This will determine what activities must be completed, in what order they will completed, and how long you expect each to take.

Review of Current Processes

Implementation starts with a review of your current maintenance management processes. Keep in mind that a CMMS cannot fix poor processes or other underlying problems. Reviewing how you currently manage your maintenance operations allows you to identify areas of improvement and set new policies and expectations. Any process changes should be documented so that everyone knows what’s expected of them and can be held accountable.

Software Installation

Depending on whether you are using on-premise or cloud CMMS, installation will vary. Most CMMS products are hosted in the cloud and do not require a traditional, physical installation on computers. Instead, cloud-based CMMS is accessed through a browser on internet-connected devices.

Power User Training

Power users typically include trainers, maintenance supervisors and managers, and system administrators. These users are more advanced than basic users and are responsible for determining a company’s processes, system usage, and implementation goals. Power users become onsite system experts and help train other users on the software once it is ready for launch.

Data Gathering

Perhaps one of the most significant implementation activities is gathering your maintenance data. This phase involves determining what data will be collected and how. A few questions to ask at this stage:

Where is existing maintenance data stored or located?
Will you be entering hundreds or thousands of asset records into the CMMS?
Will the CMMS be used to track the entire inventory stockroom or only critical spares and commonly used parts?
Who will be responsible for collecting or retrieving the required data?

Before it is entered into the CMMS, take the opportunity to “clean” your maintenance data by removing any duplicate or obsolete data, creating a logical naming convention for assets and spare parts, and adding any new information.

Due to the amount of information to be gathered and cleansed, it is not uncommon for this activity to take a considerable amount of time. Dedicating a little time each day to gathering data will make the task more manageable.

Entering Data into the System

Data can be entered manually by typing it in by hand (data entry), or imported directly into the CMMS (data importation) through vendor-supplied tools or services. Manual data entry can be a lot of work upfront, so if you choose to do it yourself, make sure there are dedicated resources available. It is up to you to decide who will do the job – current employees, interns, or temporary/seasonal workers. Some vendors offer data entry or data importation services.

You should also consider how data will be entered into the CMMS on a day-to-day basis. Will technicians enter their own data into the system? Will an administrative assistant or maintenance planner enter in data at the end of each day?

System Setup

This activity involves setting up initial users with the applicable access rights and permissions. If required, your IT team should also configure any additional security settings on the devices on which the software will be used.

Configuration

Configuration involves tweaking the system to match your company’s workflows and processes. This can include renaming fields according to your internal terminology, determining required fields, enabling system-wide settings, and customizing screens and dashboards.

System Testing

Before rolling the CMMS out to the entire team, the software should be tested. Allow select staff to start working in the software and observe whether their experience matches what you have envisioned. Based on your observation, decide what changes need to be made.

Integration

Integration allows your CMMS to communicate with other business software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) or accounting software. Not all organizations desire integration, but for those that do, more time should be allotted for planning what data will be shared, having the vendor or internal IT staff perform the integration, and testing.

End User Training

The success of end user training may make or break your CMMS implementation. Since your non-management maintenance staff will be the primary users of the software, it is important that they feel confident using the system. Be aware that everyone has different learning styles and different levels of experience using technology, so plan accordingly. Vendors typically offer multiple CMMS training resources, like videos, webinars, and product documentation. It is likely more than one resource will be needed.

Going Live

The go live date is when the CMMS software is formally available and put into use. Remember that no launch is problem-free – it is normal to experience some “growing pains” as users get used to the system. We recommend assigning someone, such as a power user, to be the point of contact for asking for help, reporting problems, and resolving issues.

FTMaintenance Implementation Services

Implementing a CMMS can be a daunting project, but the good news is you don’t have to go it alone. FasTrak provides complimentary CMMS implementation services to help you get FTMaintenance up and running quickly. We also offer professional services that provide hands-on assistance from product and industry experts at key points before, during, or after your FTMaintenance implementation. Contact us to learn more about how we can assist you with your CMMS implementation.

6 Ways Maintenance Teams Benefit from Cloud-based CMMS

Posted: 9/17/2019

Graphics of people, internet, mail, and computers surround cloud graphic for cloud-hosted software.

The popularity of cloud-hosted computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software has exploded since its adoption in the early 2000s, and for good reason. There are many benefits of cloud software, such as quick deployment, little-to-no IT involvement, and data security. Given today’s fast-paced and highly-mobile industrial environments, along with the criticality of maintenance management, maintenance teams experience additional advantages with cloud-based CMMS.

Read Blog Post: On-Premise vs. Cloud CMMS: Comparing CMMS Deployment Options

Cloud-based CMMS Benefits

1. Faster Decision-Making

Cloud-based CMMS provides real-time access to actionable maintenance data, speeding up decision-making and enabling teams to take action faster. Let’s look at an example:

An operator reports a problem by submitting a maintenance request from the field, which automatically notifies an administrator. After approving the request, the administrator creates a work order that defines the appropriate tasks, parts, and skills required to complete the work. Once the work order is created and assigned, a notification is automatically sent to the relevant maintenance technician. The technician views the work order on his mobile device. Based on the data provided on the work order, the technician can prioritize the job and make decisions about how and when to proceed.

2. Guaranteed System Availability

Maintenance operations can be significantly impaired when a CMMS is unavailable. Cloud CMMS vendors provide service that is “always on,” with certain exceptions for routine maintenance or server upgrades. Around the clock system availability means that the maintenance team will have access to maintenance data and functionality anytime of the day or night. This is particularly important for organizations with 24-hour production schedules or mission critical assets.

3. Anywhere Access

Effective maintenance technicians have always been highly mobile, but technology hasn’t always been able to accommodate freely-moving workers. Before cloud CMMS, technicians would have to access the CMMS from a single or limited number of computers, creating bottlenecks and hampering productivity. Cloud technology allows CMMS to be accessed from internet-connected devices like smartphones and tablets. Technicians can log in and use the CMMS from anywhere – whether in an office, on the plant floor, or in another geographic location.

4. Better Collaboration

Cloud maintenance software provides the ability to centralize maintenance data and better equip maintenance teams to share information between co-workers, supervisors, and customers. Leveraging technologies such as email, short message service (SMS), and push notifications, cloud CMMS automates communications about maintenance activities. These notifications enable maintenance teams to complete work faster at higher quality and satisfaction levels.

5. Improved Information Sharing

A web services-based application programming interface (API) shares data between a cloud-hosted CMMS and an organization’s other existing software systems. Automatic data sharing allows the maintenance team to focus on using CMMS without worrying about where else data might be used and how to report the information. An API also reduces the amount of duplicate data entry.

6. Real-Time Equipment Monitoring

An API allows organizations to share data from their existing internet-connected equipment sensors with cloud-based CMMS. Based on the information collected, the CMMS can automatically generate maintenance requests or work orders for the assets, whether those assets are mobile, onsite, or globally distributed. Using real-time data also allows the maintenance team to perform preventive maintenance based on an asset’s actual condition, thereby reducing the amount of unnecessary or unneeded maintenance.

Read: What is Condition-based Maintenance?

FTMaintenance Cloud-based CMMS

If you are considering implementing maintenance management software, cloud-based CMMS offers an alternative to on-premise maintenance software. FTMaintenance is an easy-to-use, yet robust CMMS solution for managing, documenting, and tracking maintenance activities. Flexible CMMS pricing and deployment options make FTMaintenance the perfect fit for any maintenance team. Request a demo of FTMaintenance today.

Scaling Your CMMS Software

Posted: 9/17/2019

Ariel view of an industrial factory that can benefit from scaling CMMS software across the organization or to other locations.

Organizational growth can come in the form of new locations, new employees, and/or new products. This growth usually requires you to purchase additional assets and modify your maintenance management process. Therefore, scalability is an important characteristic to consider when selecting or expanding the usage of a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

What is Scalability?

First things first – what is meant by scalability? In CMMS software, scalability is the ability to accommodate and support an increasing amount of data or a growing number of users in a cost-effective manner. In other words, scalability is the ability of the software to “grow” as usage increases without drastically increasing costs or sacrificing performance. A good CMMS has the capacity to handle an increasing amount of users, workload, or transactions without straining the system.

Factors Affecting Scalability

When choosing CMMS software, it’s necessary to think about how the system will support your maintenance operations as they scale up. Selecting a system that gives you the flexibility to grow, rather than one that only meets your current needs, will help you avoid replacing your CMMS in the future. The scalability of CMMS software can be affected by the following factors:

The number of assets maintained
The number of inventory items
The size of the maintenance team(s)
The number of sites where the CMMS is to be used
The level of interdependence between maintenance operations and other departments (e.g., accounting, purchasing, production, etc.)
The desired maintenance service levels needed to improve key performance indicators (KPIs)

How to Scale Your CMMS Software

Provided that your CMMS can accommodate your future needs, you must still determine when and how scaling will take place. As mentioned earlier, organizational growth typically drives the need to scale your CMMS. When changes happen (or are about to happen), it is a good time to assess your maintenance management software needs. Broadly speaking, the process of scaling a CMMS requires you to understand the reason(s) why you need to scale, consider the costs involved, and strategically plan the implementation of any changes.

Understand Why You Need to Scale

Scaling your CMMS software can happen in many ways. First, think about why you need to scale or what business problem(s) you are trying to solve through scaling. Ask questions like:

How many assets do I maintain and track?
Do more people need access to the software?
Are we running out of data storage?
Will the software be expanded to another location?
Am I meeting my maintenance management goals?

Once this information is known, you can identify potential solutions and their related costs.

Understand the Cost of Scaling

The costs related to scaling a CMMS vary by the solution of the problem(s) to be solved. For example, some solutions, like onsite training, require one-time costs; additional software license costs are ongoing. Possible cost drivers include, but are not limited to:

Hardware (additional computers and/or devices, servers and drivers, data storage and memory, printers, scanners, etc.)
Additional CMMS software licenses
IT staff expansion or consulting
User training
Data backups
CMMS software upgrades

Plan Your Implementation

With a list of potential solutions and their related costs in hand, you are almost ready to make changes. Think strategically about your implementation – you shouldn’t necessarily focus on the solution with the lowest cost. Instead, look at your options in terms of risk or the threats they pose. For example, if you anticipate that software adoption will stall your implementation, begin with user training.

Read: How to Increase CMMS User Adoption

Common CMMS Scalability Pitfalls

Although many organizations are able to successfully scale their CMMS to accommodate growing maintenance operations, there are a number if things people tend to overlook during this process. Consider the following to avoid a botched implementation:

Training

Many organizations delay training until the newly scaled system is implemented. When training is delayed, this often frustrates new users as they attempt to navigate the software “blind.” Ensuring those who are going to operate the system and carry out maintenance processes are ready is the key to successfully adding staff and/or locations.

Data Backup

When organizations go from using a CMMS at a single site to using the software at multiple sites, they tend to overlook how they’re going to back up their data. This includes how they will use the backups to recover information during the transition and how long it will take before they can resume operations. Even with single-site implementations, disruptions such as hardware failures or viruses can occur. Therefore, regular data backups can save you from disaster or setbacks.

Differences between Single and Multi-Site Implementation

There are subtle differences that affect implementation at multiple sites versus one. For instance, establishing a proper asset naming convention is crucial when accessing data from multiple locations. Appointing a system administrator provides users with a single point of reference for the software. Ensuring that maintenance data can be easily share with new locations helps them go live sooner.

Expand Your Maintenance Operations with FTMaintenance CMMS

FTMaintenance CMMS software is designed to grow along with your maintenance management needs. Whether transitioning from manual maintenance management methods to a CMMS or upgrading to FTMaintenance from an obsolete system, our consulting services can help you plan your implementation and avoid the pitfalls of scaling a CMMS. Take a tour to learn more about FTMaintenance.

Corrective Maintenance vs. Preventive Maintenance: What’s the Difference? (with Examples)

Posted: 9/12/2019

At home or in the workplace, there will always be unexpected repairs—like when a falling tree branch breaks a window. You have to install a new window, which is corrective maintenance. Other major repairs may be avoided if the correct preventive maintenance is performed ahead of failure.

For example, you might decide to trim off a dead or overhanging branch before it falls during the next storm and breaks the window, which would be preventive maintenance. Due to budget constraints, miscommunication from management, or limited resources, in some production environments, it may not always be obvious when to use corrective vs. preventive maintenance. We’ll help you make informed decisions by discussing and comparing them both in detail.

About Corrective Maintenance

Maintenance technician performing corrective maintenance repair on an air conditioning unit

Corrective maintenance (CM) is maintenance performed to restore a non- or under-performing asset to an optimum or operational condition. Examples of corrective maintenance include:

Pulling weeds as part of facilities maintenance
Replacing the alternator in a fleet vehicle after it refused to start
Replacing an entire machine in a production line post-failure
Changing a belt on a machine that malfunctioned

Corrective maintenance can fall into two categories: scheduled and unscheduled. Scheduled corrective maintenance is a repair that needs to be made, but doesn’t have to be performed immediately. Unscheduled corrective maintenance occurs when a repair is required immediately due to the failure of an asset critical to production. As you may have guessed, unscheduled corrective maintenance usually takes priority over scheduled corrective maintenance.

While corrective maintenance can get a bad rap, it is a valid maintenance strategy and in some cases, the best type of maintenance to perform. It has advantages such as less planning required, a simplified need-based process, and saving money when maintenance involves a simple process (minimal labor) replacing inexpensive parts.

Read Blog Post: What is Corrective Maintenance?

About Preventive Maintenance

Maintenance technician performing preventive maintenance by inspecting machine with a checklist

Preventive maintenance (PM) is maintenance that is proactively performed on an asset with the goal of lessening the likelihood of failure, reducing unexpected downtime, and prolonging its useful life. Examples of preventive maintenance include:

Changing the oil on a riding lawn mower
Cleaning an air duct
Replacing rusted bolts on a machine
Inspecting a production line asset

Just like with corrective maintenance, there are two types of preventive maintenance: calendar-based and runtime-based. Calendar-based PM is done on a planned, periodic basis, anywhere from once per week to once per year. Runtime-based PM is done based on how long a machine has been operating since the last preventive maintenance task was performed on the asset. For example, you might schedule lubrication of a machine after every 3000 hours of runtime.

Preventive maintenance has a number of advantages, including improved scheduling, lower, more controlled maintenance costs, and less stressful preparation since parts, supplies, and labor are scheduled to be available ahead of time.

Read Blog Post: What is Preventive Maintenance?

Difference Between Corrective and Preventive Maintenance

If you’ve been getting by without a preventive maintenance plan in place, is shifting the focus to preventing machine failure really worth the effort? See the chart below for a comparison of corrective and preventive maintenance.

	Corrective Maintenance	Preventive Maintenance
When Task is Assigned	At time of asset failure	Scheduled prior to asset failure
Cost	Medium to High	Low
Savings	None, often adds to expenses	20% or more per year
Resource Deployment	At time of asset failure	Prior to asset failure Orderly, cost effective Fits into schedule
Pros	Requires less initial investment Requires less planning	Decreases long-term costs Extends asset life Keeps maintenance teams productive Maximizes asset uptime Reduces stress
Cons	Increases long-term costs Interrupts production schedule Schedules maintenance staff inefficiently Increases maintenance staff stress	Requires higher initial investment Requires more planning
Example	Repairing a large-scale printer after the motor burns out	Cleaning ink off the parts and lubricating the printer motor before failure

The recommended balance for maintenance is 80% preventive to 20% corrective. While you want to lean toward preventive maintenance whenever possible, corrective maintenance is still important and will never be eliminated completely. A cost-benefits analysis on all of your assets may help to support the case for scheduled corrective maintenance.

As we mentioned earlier, some corrective maintenance is unexpected and unavoidable, but you should still approach these sudden repair jobs in an organized, systematic way. Ideally, you want to use PM to extend the lifespan of all your assets, but you need to prioritize when you’re just starting out. Begin with the assets that are essential to production.

Ultimately, making decisions about when to use preventive or corrective maintenance depends on your industry, organizational goals, and types of equipment you maintain. However, a CMMS can help to make those decisions easier.

FTMaintenance Helps with Corrective and Preventive Maintenance

FTMaintenance is a CMMS with features such as preventive maintenance task lists, automated work order notifications, and auto-distribution. This powerful software helps organizations take control of their maintenance operations, fostering a shift from an emphasis on reactionary corrective maintenance to more planned preventive maintenance. As a result, more breakdowns are prevented, major repairs and unplanned shutdowns are reduced, and asset life expectancy is increased. Take a tour to learn more about FTMaintenance.

CMMS Cost Justification: Making a Case for CMMS

Posted: 9/11/2019

A middle-aged maintenance worker supervises two younger technicians as they repair a winch motor with a wrench.

As a maintenance manager on the front lines every day, the need for a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is obvious to you. Maintenance software enables your team to become more organized, decreases asset downtime, and increases productivity all while lowering maintenance costs!

But even if you’re confident that a CMMS will have a positive impact, there is still a big challenge to overcome – justifying the cost of a CMMS to upper management and convincing them to pay for it. This conversation can be intimidating, and understandably so.

Before approaching upper management about purchasing a CMMS, it is important to first understand things from their point of view. Putting yourself in their shoes helps you create a well-thought-out argument that the benefits of CMMS will justify their investment.

Maintenance: A Necessary Evil?

Upper management often views maintenance operations as a “necessary evil” whose costs must be minimized, so they are hesitant to invest additional funds into the department. Reinforcing this view is the reality that maintenance expenditures can often be cut or delayed without any immediate negative effects.

Maintenance staff, however, realizes that delaying or avoiding maintenance work will likely result in greater and more costly asset failures in the future. Likewise, a lack of investment in technology, like a good CMMS, will prevent the organization from achieving long-term efficiencies and cost savings.

As you can see, the goals of upper management and maintenance department staff can be quite different. Cost savings like the ones listed are more visible to upper management, but you know that there is more going on than meets the eye. In order to get the funding you need, your goal as the person asking for funding is to help change the perception of maintenance from a cost center to a value creator. This is no easy task, but it can certainly be achieved.

Appealing to Upper Management

Middle-aged business man wearing a white hard hat smiling while standing in a warehouse representing upper management to whom you may need to justify the cost of cmms software.

The goals of upper management and maintenance managers must be aligned to justify the cost of a CMMS.

Justifying CMMS software costs requires a proposal that aligns with the broader goals of the organization. Upper management will naturally view a proposal for CMMS from a financial perspective. Therefore, you will want to show upper management that an investment in CMMS software will have a measureable, positive impact on your organization’s profit. This is typically achieved by either increasing revenues with improved production uptime or by minimizing costs with reduced maintenance inventory and labor costs.

Making a Case for CMMS

Quantify the Benefits

In order to make the strongest case for the purchase of a CMMS to upper management, a proposal will need to quantify (put into numbers) the benefits of the CMMS. To do so, you must make estimations about your current maintenance operations and identify how the CMMS will help you make improvements. For example:

How long does it take to find equipment documentation?
Do you know when assets are due for maintenance?
How much time is spent trying to locate parts in the stockroom?
How many hours of overtime do employees currently work?
What is the cost of lost production when important assets break down?

Identify Areas of Cost Savings

After answering these questions, determine how the software might help improve the numbers. CMMS software vendors can provide you with information about how their features address these key areas. For example, a CMMS can store documents electronically for quick access, reducing the time it takes to locate manuals and troubleshooting guides. Automatic notifications alert the maintenance team when preventive maintenance is upcoming or due. Maintenance reports allow maintenance managers to monitor asset health. Make a list of the areas of cost savings with estimates of savings for each.

Look to the Future

The CMMS cost justification discussion shouldn’t just focus on the present – upper management will want to see the bigger picture as well. Therefore, consider how the savings achieved by the CMMS will impact the maintenance team or other areas of the business. Perhaps the newly available funds will allow for additional personnel or justify other purchases. Upper management may also decide to reallocate funds into research and development, purchase new equipment, update facilities, or schedule much needed training.

Estimate the Return on Investment (ROI)

Ultimately, upper management is most interested in the return on their investment (ROI) and payback period. An estimate of CMMS ROI and of payback time is most easily consumed by upper management, and if well-supported by your proposal, would most effectively lead to a purchase approval. With today’s low-cost Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriptions, the payback period can be as short as a few months.

Justifying the purchase of a CMMS has its challenges, but is definitely worthwhile. According to industry sources, a CMMS can help organizations save 10-15% on maintenance costs annually. While following the advice provided in this article doesn’t guarantee a “yes” from upper management, it should give you a starting point from which to build your case.

Invest in FTMaintenance

Justifying an investment in FTMaintenance is easy. FTMaintenance is a feature-rich, easy-to-use solution that is designed to help your organization increase profits by lowering maintenance costs. Complimentary CMMS implementation services and ongoing customer support empowers maintenance professionals to start improving their operations from day one. Request a demo to see how FTMaintenance can improve your maintenance operations.

What is Asset Management in Maintenance Operations?

Posted: 9/9/2019

Senior male operations engineer reviews asset management report with junior engineering manager.

Effective asset management helps organizations maximize the value they get from physical assets. Although the discipline generally covers the entire asset lifecycle, in maintenance operations it focuses on maintaining equipment reliability, minimizing downtime, and controlling maintenance costs. In this article, we explore the asset management practices that maintenance teams use to improve availability and performance while supporting broader asset management goals.

What is Asset Management?

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 55000, asset management is “coordinated activity of an organization to realize value from assets.” In practice, this means managing physical assets in a way that aligns with organizational goals, balances costs, mitigates risks, optimizes performance, and delivers great value throughout the asset’s lifecycle.

Put simply, asset management means working together – across departments and systems – to get the most value out of equipment, facilities, and other assets. Value includes not only financial return but also reliability, safety, compliance, and operational performance.

The Asset Life Cycle

Traditional asset management covers the entire asset lifecycle, from cradle to grave. While it can be defined in different ways, it typically consists of the following stages:

Planning: Recognizing the need for an asset and defining its requirements
Acquisition: Procuring, installing, setting up, testing, and inspecting the asset. This stage may also include activities such as tracking it in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).
Operation: Using the asset for its intended purpose
Maintenance: Performed alongside operation to keep the asset running through routine maintenance and repairs
Decommission/Disposal: discarding or repurposing the asset prior to its replacement

Many of these stages involve teams such as operations, engineering, procurement, and finance. However, maintenance plays a critical role during the operational phase by ensuring that assets continue to perform as expected.

From the perspective of the maintenance team, asset management focuses on preserving asset condition, reducing unplanned downtime, and supporting long-term performance through proactive and reactive maintenance strategies.

Download: Types of Maintenance Infographic

Asset Management vs. Maintenance Management

Though they are commonly used interchangeably, asset management and maintenance management refer to distinct but closely related functions.

Asset management is a broad discipline that focuses on maximizing the value an asset provides throughout its entire lifecycle. It includes activities like evaluating vendors, managing acquisition costs, preparing facilities for installation, training operators, and eventually reclaiming value through resale or disposal. The goal is to extract the greatest total value from each asset.

Maintenance management, on the other hand, deals specifically with coordinating the resources, schedules, and activities required to keep assets in working condition. It includes tasks such as managing spare parts, assigning labor, tracking work orders, and analyzing maintenance costs. While maintenance management supports the goals of asset management, it represents just one piece of the overall asset lifecycle strategy.

Key Elements of Asset Management in Maintenance Operations

Effective asset management within maintenance operations involves several elements that ensure assets are properly identified, tracked, maintained, and optimized. To better understand how maintenance teams manage assets, it helps to break down asset management into more specific categories:

Identification

Maintenance teams must know exactly what assets they are responsible for maintaining. While this may sound like common sense, it can be challenging in practice. A single organization might operate multiple facilities – whether in a single location or across the world – each containing hundreds to hundreds of thousands of assets including equipment and inventory.

Further, some assets function as one. For example, a production line is a single, integrated system composed of multiple assets working together. Each individual asset is made up of several subassemblies, which can be further broken down into individual parts.

Given this complexity, organizations must have a way to uniquely identify and track assets.

Asset Naming Conventions

Organizations use an asset naming convention to develop consistent, intuitive naming structures that uniquely identify assets and improve recognition, communication, and tracking. Clear naming makes it easier for technicians to locate asset records in asset tracking systems.

Asset Tags

Example of a QR code asset tag used for asset identification in asset management.

After naming their assets, organizations often create physical labels – typically in the form of barcodes or QR codes – that encode identifying information. These asset tags can be scanned by asset tracking software to read or retrieve information about the asset.

Learn more about barcode systems and their role in maintenance management.

Asset Hierarchies

Asset hierarchies represent how your assets relate to one another using parent-child relationships. It allows maintenance teams to understand an asset’s role within the organization and visualize how assets work together. For example, a facility may contain a production line (parent), which includes a conveyor (child), which in turn includes a motor (grandchild). Depending on the tools used to build them, asset hierarchies can be in the form of a nested list or visual tree structure, helping teams drill down from higher-level systems to individual components.

Bills of Materials

A bill of materials (BOM) is a structured list of parts – along with their respective quantities – used to maintain or repair an asset. It serves as a central point of reference for identifying which components the maintenance team can reasonably expect to repair or replace. BOMs also help organizations anticipate spare part demand, leading to more efficient procurement and inventory management.

Asset Tracking Software

Many organizations utilize asset management software, such as a CMMS, to track assets. These systems typically require a unique number that identifies the record, allowing users to easily identify, navigate to, and select assets.

Asset Location Tracking

A network overlaid on a aerial view of a city to represent assets located across a wide geographical region.

It’s not enough to know what assets you have – you must also know where your assets are located. Organizations that manage mobile equipment (like vehicles), movable assets within facilities, or fixed assets across multiple sites need reliable ways to track asset locations.

In many cases, this is as simple as recording the asset’s physical location in a CMMS, spreadsheet, or paper log. For more advanced tracking, technologies like graphic information system (GIS) mapping and global positioning system (GPS) tracking help maintenance teams visualize asset locations and plan work with location in mind.

Monitoring Asset Condition

Pressure gauge attached to an asset that tracks an asset’s real-time condition as part of asset management.

Understanding the condition of an asset is necessary for making decisions such as when to repair or retire equipment. Condition data can be collected in several ways. The most common method is inspection-based preventive maintenance, where technicians visually assess equipment on a regular schedule. More advanced strategies involve continuous condition monitoring using specialized equipment sensors or SCADA systems, which track metrics such as vibration, temperature, or pressure in real time.

Condition monitoring also enables advanced maintenance strategies such as condition-based maintenance (CbM) and predictive maintenance (PdM), which trigger maintenance when specific thresholds are met or forecasted. Additionally, maintenance teams may receive insight into asset health from maintenance requests submitted by machine operators, increasing visibility of emerging issues outside of routine monitoring.

Understanding Asset Design and Specifications

Top view of a bottling line in a beverage manufacturer facility running to specification.

Understanding an asset’s design and specifications is essential for effective maintenance. An asset’s design influences its maintainability, or how easy or difficult it is to service. Knowing an asset’s design can affect how maintenance is planned or performed.

Specifications define the acceptable operating parameters for an asset – such as speed, temperature, or pressure – to help set performance expectations. For maintenance teams, this information is used to guide appropriate maintenance strategies, troubleshoot breakdowns, and ensure part compatibility so that the asset continues to operate within its intended range.

Specifications also help maintenance teams decide which replacement parts are compatible, which materials should be used, and what tolerances are acceptable during repair. When failures occur, comparing equipment’s actual performance to spec can help diagnose issues and be used to determine whether assets can be restored or need to be replaced.

Maintenance Planning and Execution

Senior maintenance manager holding a clipboard and recording equipment data to help evaluate an asset’s maintenance needs.

After documenting basic information about their assets, organizations can develop structured maintenance plans. These plans often include a mix of maintenance strategies tailored to each asset’s condition, criticality, usage, and risk of failure.

For example, corrective maintenance may be appropriate for non-critical assets that are inexpensive to repair or used infrequently. Preventive maintenance is used heavily on high-value or high-risk assets to minimize unplanned downtime. More advanced strategies may incorporate condition monitoring to trigger maintenance based on real-time performance data.

Often times, multiple maintenance strategies are applied to a single asset based on the many ways in which it can fail. Choosing the right combination ensures maximum reliability without unnecessary maintenance.

Cost Control

Technician under heavy equipment performing vehicle maintenance at a construction site.

Asset management aims to maintain equipment at the lowest possible cost. However, as assets age, they require more frequent repairs and become increasingly costly to maintain. To keep costs under control, maintenance teams must strategically apply cost-effective maintenance strategies that extend asset life and reduce the total cost of ownership.

Maintenance costs are influenced not only by the chosen strategy, but also the specific tasks performed, the parts used, and the labor required. This demands careful coordination of inventory, workforce management, and when necessary, external service providers.

Over time, every asset reaches a point where maintenance becomes more costly than replacement. By analyzing maintenance data, maintenance managers can make informed decisions about whether to continue repairing equipment or invest in more efficient replacements.

Learn more about making repair vs. replace decisions.

Safety and Regulatory Compliance

Close up of locks and tags for a lockout-tagout procedure required by workplace safety regulations.

In addition to improving performance, asset management also supports safety and regulatory compliance. Poorly maintained assets pose serious safety risks to operators and technicians, and may result in violations of workplace safety regulations or industry-specific standards. Proactive and consistent maintenance reduces the likelihood of accidents, injuries, and unexpected failures.

Asset management software also helps enforce compliance by documenting that specific tasks – such as safety inspections, calibration, or part replacements – have been completed on time, in full, and according to standards. These records can be provided during audits to demonstrate compliance and protect the organization from fines, penalties, and other liabilities

Many maintenance standards incorporate asset management best practices for improving performance, extending asset life, and reducing unplanned downtime. Following these guidelines ensures that compliance and safety become common practices within your maintenance operations.

Tracking Performance

Close up of a pen pointing to a table of data with charts, indicating maintenance costs for the previous quarter.

To determine whether their asset management efforts are delivering results, maintenance teams must track asset management key performance indicators (KPIs) related to equipment health and reliability. Monitoring metrics such as Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) provide visibility into how well assets are performing and whether maintenance strategies are working.

CMMS platforms automatically capture the data used in these calculations and provide reports and dashboards that help you visualize your performance over time. These tools help teams identify problem areas, adjust maintenance plans, and continuously improve their asset management practices.

Manage Your Assets with FTMaintenance Select

Asset management is all about getting the most value from your equipment and assets. For maintenance teams, that means optimizing equipment performance while minimizing cost. Effectively managing assets across an entire organization is a big responsibility, but is made easier with the proper tools in place.

FTMaintenance Select is an asset management platform that allows maintenance teams to easily track, manage, and document maintenance performed on fixed assets, equipment, and facilities. With all asset data centralized in one platform, your team can plan more effectively, reduce downtime, and make smarter maintenance decisions. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select supports your asset management goals.