Month: October 2019

Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software is a powerful tool that can transform the way maintenance teams work, particularly in organizations still relying on manual processes. But while maintenance leadership may recognize the value of a CMMS, technicians often see things differently.

Many organizations struggle with how to get maintenance staff to use CMMS software, running into resistance that can put the entire implementation at risk. In this article, we’ll provide strategies for gaining user buy-in and ensuring successful CMMS user adoption.

What is CMMS User Adoption?

CMMS user adoption is the process of getting new users to start using a new CMMS and keep using it long term. It is the journey your team takes from becoming familiar with the CMMS to seeing the value in how it makes their work easier and making it a part of their daily routine.  This acceptance to a new way of doing things is what is meant by “adoption”.

Why User Adoption Matters in CMMS Implementation

To put it simply, your CMMS implementation will only be successful if your team actually uses the software. While leadership may see an opportunity to improve productivity, streamline processes, and reduce maintenance costs, these goals are unlikely to be shared by the maintenance team. Instead, they may view the CMMS as a disruption that forces them to change the way they work, leading to frustration, resistance, and resentment.

Complicating the issue is that, initially, a CMMS may actually decrease productivity as maintenance staff gets up to speed with new technology, workflows, and expectations. This may reinforce strong opinions that the system is burdensome and adds unnecessary complexity to their work. Without a plan to address these perceptions, poor user adoption can reduce your ROI and increase the time it takes to achieve your maintenance goals. With the right strategies, however, you can overcome these challenges and set your team up for long-term success.

Learn how to calculate CMMS ROI

Common Challenges When Implementing CMMS Software

From management’s perspective, a CMMS is a valuable tool that should make life easier for the maintenance team, so it can come as a surprise when the system is met with resistance.

It is important to recognize that most people don’t resist change just for the sake of it – there is usually an underlying reason. Understanding these reasons is critical, because it allows leadership to address concerns directly and build trust during the transition. Maintenance staff may be reluctant to adopt a CMMS for several common reasons:

Perceived Burden of Data Entry

Technicians may perceive the CMMS as adding administrative work. Today’s organizations value data-driven decision-making, which means higher data entry requirements for CMMS end users.

Technicians may worry that data entry will be cumbersome and increase administrative work. It also takes them away from what they do best: performing maintenance and making repairs. This can be especially worrisome for employees without basic computer skills.

Lack of Experience with Technology

Technicians may lack experience with digital tools. Organizations that currently rely on paper-based maintenance management may have employees that are uncomfortable using new technology.

After all, making the transition from pen and paper to a fully computerized system is a big leap. Even as technology becomes more common, a significant portion of employees still lack basic computing skills.

Fear of Replacement

Technicians may fear that CMMS software may one day replace them. This stems from the concern that if all of their knowledge, gained over years of experience, is entered into a computerized system, they will no longer be valuable to the organization. Therefore, employees may withhold information from the software or refuse to use it altogether.

Maintaining the Status Quo

Technicians may prefer to stick with familiar processes. The proverb, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” captures this mindset.  Staff may be satisfied with the way things are working right now and see no reason for a change. This sense of tradition can make workers resistant to adopting a CMMS.

Past Negative Experience

Technicians may be wary of new CMMS software because of past experiences. If employees have previously used a CMMS or other maintenance software that was difficult, unreliable, or poorly implemented, they may be hesitant to invest time and effort in a new system.

Negative experiences can create skepticism about the benefits of the software and reinforce resistance, making it essential for management to acknowledge these concerns and demonstrate how the current CMMS is different.

CMMS User Adoption Strategies

The level of user adoption can depend on how the software is implemented. Common user adoption strategies are an instant switch, parallel use, and a phased approach. Below is a summary of each:

Based on his CMMS consulting experience FTMaintenance Select Product Expert Dave Dulak, recommends a phased user adoption strategy.

“I’ve always been a proponent of implementing a system in the simplest form with the easiest processes possible.”

He advises that organizations should take “baby steps” when integrating the CMMS into their processes. Once the low-level, simple goals have been achieved, more advanced use can be introduced.

Best Practices for User Adoption of Maintenance Management Software

Implementing a CMMS is only half the battle. Ensuring that your team actually uses the system is critical to driving results and achieving your maintenance goals. The following best practices help organizations overcome resistance and create long-term adoption of the CMMS.

Understand Your Maintenance Culture

Your maintenance culture shapes the behaviors and mindset of your team. Traditional maintenance culture is often reactive, leaving employees feeling like they’re constantly putting out fires. A shift toward a more proactive approach not only improves equipment reliability but also gives employees a clearer sense of purpose and control over their work.

When maintenance staff see how a CMMS supports proactive strategies such as scheduling routine tasks, tracking equipment health, and preventing unexpected breakdowns, they are more likely to view the system as a tool that enables better work rather than an additional burden. Aligning CMMS adoption with a proactive maintenance culture can inspire your team to embrace the software and take ownership of its benefits.

Communicate Personal Benefits

With such a focus on the CMMS, it can be easy to overlook change from your team’s perspective. Technicians are not interested in the software’s features – instead, they want to know how the system will make their lives better.

To encourage maintenance teams to use the CMMS, focus on communicating the ways in which it will be personally beneficial. This may include benefits such as:

• Automating administrative tasks to reduce repetitive data entry and free up time for hands-on maintenance.
• Minimizing paperwork by replacing forms, logs, and spreadsheets with digital documents and records.
• Simplifying daily responsibilities like tracking work orders, scheduling tasks, prioritizing maintenance activities, and staying organized.
• Preventing emergency breakdowns by staying ahead of issues with automated notifications to reduce last-minute emergency repairs.
• Providing more visibility into what work is coming up, overdue, and completed.

By framing the CMMS in terms of personal benefits rather than technical features, you help your team see the value in adopting the new system.

Involve Employees in the Selection Process

As part of the CMMS software evaluation process, you should gather input from all maintenance stakeholders, including your team. While management focuses on how the system will increase reliability, reduce downtime, and lower maintenance costs, your workforce will be the primary users.

Involving employees early through software demos, evaluation sessions, or even early access to the system gives them a chance to provide feedback, voice concerns, and influence the implementation. Even small decisions can go a long way in making employees feel like their input is valued and respected.

This participation not only ensures the chosen CMMS meets real-world needs, but it also helps turn team members into advocates for the system, reducing resistance and building buy-in before they are expected to use it.

Read Blog Post: What to Expect from a CMMS Software Demonstration

Amp Up Training

Training provides a boost in user adoption when aligned with how your team learns best. Some employees prefer traditional classroom-style learning environments while others are more comfortable with digital learning methods. Depending on the vendor, training formats may include:

• In-person training that provides technicians with valuable face time with a knowledgeable, experienced software trainer.
• On-demand videos that allows users to learn how to use system features at their own pace.
• Live, web-based training where users can follow along with a live instructor from the comfort of their own workspace or facility.

Training can come from your internal team as well. Tech-savvy employees can serve as an internal support network for others. Power users and system administrators can also make themselves available to answer questions, share tips via email, or hold lunch-and-learn sessions, if appropriate.

Learn more about the role of power users in CMMS implementation

Update Documentation

When first launching the system, vendor-provided or internally-created documentation is accurate and up to date. However, as the software is updated and you increase your use of advanced features, it is easy for documentation to become out of date. This creates frustration when what users see in the software does not match the training materials.

Keeping user documentation up-to-date ensures employees have reliable reference materials and reduces the risk of resistance due to uncertainty or misinformation.

How to Maintain Momentum After Initial CMMS Launch

Even if your implementation starts strong, it is common for enthusiasm to wane over time. CMMS user adoption should be treated as an ongoing responsibility that requires regular attention, and not just a one-time effort. The following strategies can help keep employees engaged and increase the chances of long-term success:

• Provide ongoing training to reinforce correct usage, introduce new features and workflows, and address any questions.
• Share and celebrate your team’s success by highlighting how the CMMS has helped your team improve response time, reduce downtime, and increase productivity.
• Empower power users as software champions that can provide ongoing support, demonstrate best practice use, mentor other users, and continue to advocate for using the CMMS.
• Regularly review workflows and processes to observe how maintenance tasks are actually performed in the field and adjust the CMMS to support practical use.
• Ask for feedback from your employees and encourage them to suggest improvements, report issues, or request new features.
• Track and share performance metrics that help your team connect their work to real improvements.

When CMMS user adoption is viewed as a continuous process, you keep your team engaged and greatly increase the chances of successful user adoption.

Drive CMMS User Adoption with FTMaintenance Select

We understand that CMMS implementation can be tricky, especially when it comes to user adoption – but you don’t have to tackle it alone. FTMaintenance Select is an intuitive, easy-to-learn CMMS solution designed to get your team up and running with minimal training.

With complimentary implementation services, user training, and ongoing support, your maintenance staff will confidently adopt FTMaintenance Select from day one and continue to build long-term success. Request a demo today to see why organizations choose FTMaintenance Select as their CMMS solution.

Implementing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is more likely to be a success when using a systematic approach. However, the urgency of putting a system in place now often forces buyers to take shortcuts, potentially putting successful implementation at risk.

Although CMMS implementation can be a long process, it is worthwhile if it creates operational improvements and makes maintenance management easier. Our eBook, The Definitive Guide to CMMS Acquisition and Implementation, provides first-time buyers with a systematic implementation plan.

Implementation covers events that happen both leading up to and following the purchase of a CMMS. This article describes implementation planning activities – activities that occur before software has been purchased. Our second article in this series, So You Purchased a CMMS – Now What?, covers post-purchase CMMS implementation activities.

CMMS Implementation Planning Activities

In most cases, purchasing a CMMS is not a unilateral, one-sided decision. Although the software will be used primarily by the maintenance department, its use affects the entire organization. Therefore, being methodical in your approach to CMMS implementation will ensure that the chosen solution addresses everyone’s needs.

The first step for any business improvement project is to get buy-in from upper management. While there may be implied support for the project, management must first be presented with a project plan before any action is taken. The following sections help you develop the contents of the project plan.

Determine Ballpark Project Costs

Estimating, or “ballparking,” project costs for budgetary purposes may take place early or late in the implementation process. Management will likely have a ballpark number in mind for what they think the project will cost, which they may share with you. Otherwise, you may need to do a little research to get a sense of what the project might cost.

Generally speaking, you should consider the costs of software licenses, setup and installation fees, and training in your a rough estimate. Be sure to also provide an estimate of how long you expect the project to take.

Identify Stakeholders

Stakeholders are the people within your organization who will be impacted by the CMMS. Each CMMS stakeholder has different needs and a different amount of influence over the project. Therefore, you must be aware of how the CMMS is likely to affect each person’s daily work and responsibilities. Your communication of the benefits the CMMS will bring will differ when discussing the project with upper management versus technicians.

Create the Evaluation Team

As mentioned previously, CMMS implementation is not a solo effort. Successful implementations are supported by a team of internal system advocates and cheerleaders. Let’s discuss who to include on your implementation team.

One person that every implementation team should include is a project champion, whether that person is you or someone else from the facility or maintenance management team. The project champion acts as the project manager and is involved in every stage of the implementation process. This person helps identify the project goals, keep things moving, and ensure that all stakeholders are satisfied. Depending on the size of your organization, multiple other stakeholders may be involved, including:

• Corporate management responsible for overseeing maintenance
• A technical expert, typically IT staff, to provide internal technical support
• Power users and system administrators who will be advising others on system use and maintaining the system
• End users who will use the CMMS on a day-to-day basis
• Management from departments impacted by maintenance, such as production, quality, and operations

Identify Maintenance Management Needs

The success of your CMMS will depend on how well it meets your maintenance management needs. You must first identify exactly what it is that you are looking for a CMMS to do. For example, are you responsible for maintaining a fleet of vehicles, permanent assets, or buildings? Will you be tracking inventory on work orders or through an existing system? Do you require mobile access to maintenance data?

Knowing your maintenance needs up front allows you to more easily identify viable CMMS solutions during your research. Be careful to distinguish between your needs and your wants. Needs must be addressed for your CMMS solution to be a success. This needs-identification exercise is typically done as part of a request for proposal (RFP), but can be done absent of a formal process as well.

Read On: How to Write an RFP for CMMS Software

Identify Maintenance Management Goals

Your maintenance goals should reflect your vision of how you want to improve your operations in order to satisfy your maintenance management goals.  Perhaps you are looking to minimize inventory costs, improve maintenance responsiveness, or process more work orders per month.

Setting specific goals and metrics to measure against will help you determine whether or not the CMMS is making a difference. Let’s look at a quick example:

Your goal might sound something like this: “Lower MRO inventory costs”. Note that this goal is quite broad and there can be many ways to accomplish it. Each goal needs to be more specific so that a detailed plan can be created to meet the goal and the results can be measured against the original goal.

Here’s a revised version of the goal: MRO inventory costs will be lowered by reducing the costs associated with emergency inventory purchases. With this more specific goal identified, now determine a way to measure progress. Using a CMMS, you can track dollars spent on rush orders, the number of emergency purchases, and the frequency of those purchases.

Identify CMMS Features

With your maintenance management needs and goals identified, you should be able to determine what CMMS features match your needs. Your use of the system will be based on your goals. Refer back to the goal outlined in the previous section.

The CMMS will need to be able to track inventory purchases if their costs are to be lowered. Additionally, you will want to see how costs change over time, so maintenance inventory reports will also be required. There are other, non-feature-related qualities to consider also, such as ease of use, system customization options, and scalability.

Make a Decision and Purchase a CMMS

Through your research, you and your evaluation team should identify at least 2-3 CMMS systems that will meet your requirements, fit your project budget, and can be implemented according to your deadline. After some deliberation, you should be able to make a recommendation to upper management. Make sure to note your preferred choice, along with any viable alternatives. The vendor selection process is covered in our article, How to Create a Vendor List for CMMS Research.

FTMaintenance Makes Maintenance Management Easy

FTMaintenance is a fully-featured CMMS that solves many challenges facing today’s maintenance teams. With solutions for work order management, asset management, inventory management, preventive and corrective maintenance, and more, FTMaintenance is the perfect fit for any-sized maintenance team. Read a CMMS case study to learn how our customers benefit from using FTMaintenance and schedule your demo today!