Month: February 2022

Everyone expects to be kept safe and comfortable in the spaces they occupy, whether at work, at home, or at play. Despite the critical role building maintenance management plays in our daily lives, many of us pay little attention to building maintenance – that is, of course, until something goes wrong. This article provides an overview of building maintenance management.

What is Building Maintenance Management?

Building maintenance management is the coordination of maintenance activities designed to maintain, repair, and improve buildings and their related systems and provide a safe, habitable, comfortable, and functional environment in a cost effective manner. It encompasses all tasks that make a space “livable” and ensures that major building systems, such as electrical, plumbing, fire prevention, and HVAC, are working efficiently.

Building maintenance management also includes a building’s structure including flooring, walls, ceilings, roofs, and fixtures. In addition, building maintenance may extend to building exteriors and include painting, cleaning, landscaping, and groundskeeping.

Why Building Maintenance Management is Important

A properly maintained building is important to both building owners and occupants for a number of reasons.

Safety and Comfort

Proper building maintenance management is important for the safety and comfort of building occupants – whether residents, employees, or commercial tenants.

Though occupants are responsible for some maintenance tasks, such as changing light bulbs and maintaining a sanitary environment, they become disgruntled when common areas aren’t cleaned or safety issues arise. Further, maintenance issues that are ignored accumulate over time and create dangerous environments, sometimes with tragic results.

In addition, prospective occupants need assurance from their lessors or owners that their maintenance concerns will be addressed in a timely manner.

Money-Saving

For building owners, it is much easier to manage a maintenance budget with predictable costs, rather than try to find the money whenever issues occur. For example, it is more costly to replace a major building system than to proactively maintain building assets through regular preventive maintenance (PM). Well-maintained buildings are typically more energy efficient as well, leading to further cost savings over time.

Compliance

Adequate maintenance is essential to staying in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations, such as those imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the International Code Council (ICC). Building code violations can result in heavy fines and other penalties for building owners.

Staying in compliance with building codes also helps minimize safety risks and reduces liabilities to occupants or guests who use your building.

Functionality

As with equipment maintenance, the overall objective of building maintenance management is to minimize failures and downtime. Without regular maintenance, buildings deteriorate and are more likely to cause disruptions to those inside.

Organizations that perform building maintenance management must address the challenges of both new and old buildings. New buildings may have design flaws that lead to undesirable conditions, such as inadequate air circulation, that may result in problems with indoor air quality. Old buildings face age-related issues, such as inefficient HVAC systems that create an uncomfortable indoor climate and result in high utility bills.

Profitability

Effective building maintenance management not only saves building owners money, but helps owners maintain or increase their property value. Buildings kept in good repair have the potential to earn more income from lessees, tenants, and buyers.

Types of Building Maintenance

Building maintenance generally falls into three broad categories.

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is routine maintenance performed on a regular basis to proactively address maintenance issues before they arise. It involves inspections, treatments, part replacements, and other tasks that prevent damage to the building’s interior and exterior structures. Preventive maintenance tasks are planned and scheduled according to appropriate date-based or usage-based intervals.

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance activities restore a building to optimal conditions as damage becomes apparent. The nature of these tasks varies based on the type of building and the needs of its inhabitants. Unlike preventive maintenance, which is planned, corrective maintenance is done in response to an issue, such as those reported through service requests.

Protective Maintenance

Protective maintenance shields building structures from harsh environmental conditions and deterioration. It involves applying protective paints, sealants, coatings, and films to exposed surfaces such as pillars, awnings, and other architectural surfaces. Depending on the climate, these areas of the building may need protection from ice, snow, salt, heat, moisture, and extreme weather.

Areas of Building Maintenance

Building assets that require maintenance can be broken down into a few major building systems.

Electrical Systems

A building’s electrical system includes lighting, safety systems, electrical equipment, and power distribution. Regular maintenance of electrical systems ensures that spaces are adequately lit, electric systems are installed correctly, and that the building can handle the electrical load without causing safety issues.

Electrical maintenance is becoming increasingly important in older buildings that need to expand their electrical infrastructure to support newer equipment and technology.

Plumbing Systems

When people think of plumbing, the first thing that typically comes to mind is bathroom fixtures such as sinks and toilets – but it’s much more than that. Building maintenance management professionals are also responsible for maintaining hot water heating systems, storm pipes, roof drainage, and fire sprinkler systems.

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems provide for a safe and comfortable environment for occupants. HVAC systems not only control air temperature, but also air quality, air circulation, dust, and relative humidity. HVAC maintenance for buildings includes maintenance of the air handling units themselves, but also ensuring that the building structure is air tight and has proper ventilation. Maintenance on HVAC systems also includes the energy source for building heating and cooling.

Water and Wastewater Treatment

Building maintenance management also requires the maintenance of water and wastewater treatment systems. Maintenance teams must ensure there is a reliable source of safe, potable water for cleaning, drinking, and other uses. Wastewater and sewage systems must also be maintained to ensure safe and sanitary disposal of human waste, chemical runoff, and other hazardous materials.

Energy Management

Energy management is an important aspect of building maintenance management, especially in aging structures. Proper energy management leads to greater enjoyment of building spaces, better health and living conditions for occupants, and lower energy bills. Therefore, building maintenance teams must inspect and track the condition of roofs, insulation, doors and windows, and other areas that might contribute to the loss of heat or cold.

Interior

Interior building structures include floors, walls, stairwells, basements, and ceilings. Maintenance for these areas includes tasks such as cleaning common areas, regular trash removal, repainting walls, repairing drywall, refinishing flooring, and carpet replacement.

Exterior

Maintaining building exteriors is important for building owners because it gives the first impression of the residence or business. Exterior structures that require building maintenance include the foundation, roof, exterior walls and doors, and windows. While the core building maintenance focuses on the structure itself, effective building maintenance often extends to the immediate and surrounding grounds, as these elements directly impact the building’s integrity, accessibility, and overall presentation. This can include maintaining lawns, parking lots or structures, sidewalks and walkways, drainage, pest control, and landscaping.

Who is Responsible for Building Maintenance Management?

Building maintenance requires professionals with a wide range of skill and expertise.

Building Occupants

In some cases, those who occupy a building are responsible for minor maintenance tasks. For example, Wisconsin state law dictates that apartment tenant’s repair responsibilities include:

• Changing light bulbs and other minor maintenance
• Keeping the apartment in a safe, sanitary condition
• Keeping working batteries in smoke detectors
• Keeping thermostats at a reasonable temperature to prevent freezing of pipes and other equipment
• Repairing damage they or their guests have caused
• Controlling pests (in specific instances)

Janitorial Staff

Janitorial staff is responsible for the general cleaning of a building. Their job responsibilities include tasks such as sweeping, mopping, trash disposal, vacuuming, and so on. Depending on the organization and building size, janitorial services may be outsourced to a service provider.

Maintenance Technicians

Building maintenance technicians perform various routine tasks, such as performing inspections, repairing fixtures and equipment, and addressing simple maintenance needs. Smaller organizations may employ a “handyman” or jack-of-all-trades, while larger organizations are more likely to hire technicians with more specialized skills, such as a dedicated HVAC technician.

Other technician responsibilities include responding to work requests submitted by others and performing low priority preventive maintenance.

Maintenance or Facility Managers

Building maintenance managers or facility managers oversee all building maintenance. They plan and schedule maintenance activities, manage the team, and ensure tasks are completed on time. Additionally, people in this role may also hire and train new maintenance employees.

3^rd Party Maintenance Service Providers

Organizations may outsource maintenance work to third-party vendors depending on the scope of work, specific job, or required expertise. For example, some companies may not find it beneficial or cost-effective to hire a full time electrician, so electrical work is outsourced instead. Other building maintenance functions, like snow plowing and pest control, are typically performed on an as-needed basis. Therefore, it makes sense to outsource these tasks.

Building Maintenance Software

Building maintenance management can be overwhelming without a system to help coordinate and organize maintenance work. Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software provides a single platform for managing building maintenance. Using a CMMS allows maintenance and facility managers to maintain a birds-eye-view of all maintenance activities, track building and equipment maintenance costs, and schedule preventive maintenance tasks.

Building maintenance software allows organizations to:

• Maintain accurate records for all equipment and building systems
• Create, assign, and prioritize work orders
• Automate preventive maintenance scheduling
• View maintenance history and generate reports that support repair vs. replace decisions
• Track stock levels of frequently used spare parts and track inventory purchases
• Record labor performed by in-house or external maintenance teams
• Keep digital records for maintenance audits and regulatory compliance requirements
• Complete tasks from anywhere with access to the CMMS from a mobile device

Improve Building Maintenance Management with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select is CMMS software designed to help you efficiently and effectively manage building maintenance. Comprehensive preventive maintenance functionality allows you to keep track of routine maintenance tasks and create maintenance schedules that protect and maximize the value of your buildings and equipment. A mobile app extends work order functionality to technicians in the field. Request a demo today to learn more about FTMaintenance Select.

Maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) inventory is a major expense for industrial organizations. By some estimates, it accounts for as much as 40% of an organization’s annual procurement budget, with replacement parts alone making up as much as 15% of total operating expenses.

This significant investment presents a clear opportunity to improve inventory control and reduce costs – without sacrificing maintenance effectiveness. In this article, we’ll explore what MRO inventory control is, why it matters for maintenance teams, and how a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can help streamline the process.

What is MRO Inventory Control?

MRO inventory control, sometimes called stock control, is the process of tracking and regulating the level of MRO inventory within an organization, from the time it is received to the time it is consumed by maintenance work. It involves knowing what inventory items are available, how many are in stock, where they are located, and their condition (when applicable).

Effective inventory control provides real-time visibility into daily spare part usage and availability. This accurate data informs inventory management decisions, helping to ensure the right parts are on hand when needed. As a result, organizations can reduce inventory-related costs and minimize equipment downtime.

Inventory Control vs. Inventory Management

Inventory control and inventory management are often used interchangeably, though they are technically different concepts. While both involve tracking and managing stock, there are some key differences.

Inventory control refers to the process used to monitor and regulate stock that is already on hand within a facility. It focuses on storage, organization, and ensuring inventory levels remain accurate. It does not typically include purchasing or replenishment activities.

Inventory management, on the other hand, involves all aspects of inventory, from tracking item specifications and monitoring usage, to forecasting demand, making purchase decisions, and managing supplier relationships. It addresses both current inventory and the sourcing of future stock.

Effective inventory management depends on strong inventory control practices to provide accurate, real-time data for making decisions related to restocking and overall inventory strategy.

Why MRO Inventory Control is Important

Proper inventory control benefits maintenance organizations in 4 key areas: inventory accuracy, productivity, procurement, and inventory cost control.

Inventory Accuracy

Inventory control gives organizations a reliable, real-time view into what stock is available and in what quantities. This helps identify overstocked or understocked items, which informs better replenishment decisions.

Accurate inventory data also improves maintenance planning. When working from accurate stock counts, planners can schedule work around part availability and proactively address shortages to avoid delays.

Productivity

Poor inventory control leads to lower productivity and increased downtime. When parts aren’t available where they should be – or aren’t in stock at all – technicians must search for alternatives or wait, delaying repairs and disrupting production. By tracking part locations and quantities, technicians spend less time hunting for parts and more time performing maintenance.

Procurement and Reordering

Consistent inventory tracking provides insights into usage patterns and turnover rates, helping organizations determine ideal stocking levels and set accurate reorder points. This reduces the risk of overordering or running out of critical parts.

Inventory Cost Control

Strong MRO inventory control prevents excess spending on unused, obsolete, or expedited parts. It allows organizations to keep enough spare parts on hand to meet maintenance needs while freeing up money for other projects. Reducing the total cost of inventory also supports lean maintenance budgets and can help boost the organization’s overall profitability.

Key Elements of MRO Inventory Control

MRO inventory control involves knowing what items are carried in inventory, their quantities, their stocking locations, and conditions.

Maintaining Accurate Inventory Records

Organizations may use hundreds – sometimes hundreds of thousands – of spare parts to keep equipment running. With such a large volume of parts, accurately tracking inventory items and their quantities is essential to maintaining control.

To ensure accurate inventory records, organizations audit their inventory using a few key methods:

• Cycle Counting: Counting a subset of inventory on a rotating basis. Compared to a full inventory count, cycle counting is less disruptive, requires less labor, and can be done more frequently.
• Physical Inventory Counts: Periodically, organizations may perform full or spot-check physical counts, where they reconcile any discrepancies between the physical shelf and inventory records.
• Barcode Systems: Barcode labeling and scanning helps maintain accurate stock levels by reducing manual data entry errors and improving tracking efficiency.
• MRO Inventory Software: Many organizations use computerized inventory systems – such as a CMMS – that store inventory records and automatically update stock levels. While CMMS software provides real-time visibility into your inventory, it still requires some oversight to reduce data entry errors, mislabeling, and other mistakes that can introduce discrepancies over time.

During the audit process, organizations identify items that are obsolete, expired, or slow-moving and determine whether they should be scrapped, sold, or disposed of. This helps free up space for additional inventory and improve access to necessary spare parts.

Learn more about managing inventory with a barcode system.

Tracking Stocking Locations

Effective inventory control depends not only on knowing what’s in stock, but also on knowing exactly where items are located. Depending on an organization’s size and structure, MRO inventory may be stored in a single centralized storeroom or spread across multiple locations, such as additional storerooms, supply closets, cribs, vending machines, and technician carts. Within these spaces, items may be placed in specific aisles, racks, shelves, or bins.

With so many possible storage locations, it’s essential to monitor what is stored in each location and in what quantity. Without clear location data, technicians may spend up to 25% of their time searching for parts – time that could be spent carrying out maintenance work. That’s why location tracking is critical for MRO inventory control – it ensures part availability, increases technician productivity, improves audit efficiency, and reduces unnecessary reorders.

Check out our guide on how to organize your maintenance storeroom.

Maintaining Inventory Condition and Quality

When evaluating inventory locations, organizations must also consider whether those environments support proper storage conditions. Over time, items may become compromised due to dust, humidity, oxidation, corrosion, or other environmental factors. Supplies like chemicals, oils, and lubricants can degrade or expire if not used within their shelf life.

Damaged inventory may fail to perform as intended or even pose safety risks if used in maintenance work. Regularly inspecting storage spaces, stored items, and monitoring expiration dates helps ensure that only serviceable parts are available for use.

Monitoring Inventory Movement

Inventory control goes beyond knowing where an item is stored – it also involves tracking items as they move from place to place. Inventory may be relocated for many reasons, such as restocking storage areas, resupplying technician carts or service vehicles, or checking tools out from a crib. In some cases, inventory is moved strategically to improve efficiency and decrease travel time to a central storeroom.

Tracking these movements ensures inventory remains visible and available when needed. Without proper movement tracking, stock may appear to be missing, leading to unnecessary reorders, confusion, and downtime.

Not all inventory movement is physical, however. Organizations commonly use a check-out system for shared items like tools, temporarily transferring them to a technician’s custody. Documenting these transfers helps keep them accountable for proper usage and timely return.

Whatever the case, documenting inventory movement is essential for maintaining accurate records and preventing disruptions to maintenance operations.

MRO Inventory Control Tools

Historically, MRO inventory has been managed with spreadsheets, printed records, and basic accounting software. While these methods may work for smaller operations, they often lead to errors, inefficiencies, and a lack of real-time visibility as inventory stock grows.

A more effective and scalable solution is to use computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software to control MRO inventory. CMMS software centralizes inventory data, automates tracking, and integrates inventory control with the broader functionality of the system. A robust CMMS supports MRO inventory control in the following ways:

• Real-time Inventory Tracking: Monitor inventory quantities as parts are assigned, used, or received, including automatic stock level updates when items are consumed on work orders.
• Stocking Location Management: Know an item’s exact location within storerooms and storage locations, and track quantities when they move to new locations.
• Barcode Scanning Support: Use a barcode system to improve the accuracy of data entry or retrieval.
• Inventory Stock Notifications: Receive automatic alerts when stock level fall below predefined reorder points.
• Usage History and Reporting: Analyze usage trends to forecast demand and optimize stocking levels.
• Integrated Purchasing Tools: Generate purchase orders to replenish stock, and automatically receive quantities into inventory.
• Cost Management: Track inventory costs at the item level to better understand true inventory costs and improve MRO budgeting.

By leveraging a CMMS, maintenance teams can improve inventory accuracy, reduce costs, and ensure the right parts are available when needed. With better inventory control, organizations strengthen their entire maintenance operation and improve overall maintenance effectiveness.

Professional Development for Inventory Control

In addition to using software tools, professionals can benefit from formal education and certification programs focused on inventory and supply chain best practices. The following professional organizations offer learning opportunities and certification programs:

• Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), formerly known as the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS)
• Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)
• International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA)

Maintain Control over Your MRO Inventory with FTMaintenance Select

Inventory control is a critical maintenance management function that enables you to make strategic, data-driven decisions about your spare parts inventory. With the right tools in place, you’ll have more visibility of what items you stock, where they’re located, and their condition.

FTMaintenance Select is spare parts management software that helps you manage your spare parts catalog, automate stock updates, and maintain visibility into inventory availability across locations. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select streamlines MRO inventory control for your maintenance team.

Effective maintenance management relies on high-quality maintenance data. However, human error causes inaccurate data to be entered into computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software, compromising the usefulness of the information stored within it. Because of this, organizations often implement a barcode system to ensure accurate data entry and lookup. This article provides an overview of the many applications of barcodes in maintenance management.

Applications of Barcodes in Maintenance Management

Barcoding is a versatile technology that enhances many day-to-day maintenance management activities. The sections below describe common applications of barcodes in maintenance environments.

Asset Tagging

Asset tags are barcode labels that uniquely identify physical assets and are directly applied to asset exteriors for tracking purposes. In an ideal scenario, asset tags allow maintenance staff to walk up to an asset, scan the barcode, and perform some action using their CMMS. For example, the system might allow users to look up asset details, view maintenance records, or create a work order for the asset.

Asset tags are useful for organizations that have a large number of assets to maintain. Scanning barcodes reduces human error, ensuring technicians access and record accurate maintenance data for the specified asset.

Because asset tags are affixed to the asset, barcode labels must be able to withstand extreme temperatures, moisture, debris, and vibration without being compromised or lost. Incomplete or missing information invalidates the value of the barcodes. Organizations must choose the barcode printer and labeling materials that best suits their needs.

Read more: What is Asset Tagging?

Tool Tracking

Durable assets like tools are also commonly tracked via barcodes. This is because, unlike equipment assets which are largely stationary (except for vehicles), tools are mobile, shared among staff, and change location often. Barcoded tools allow the maintenance department to monitor exactly which tools are checked out, their current locations, and how many are available in inventory for use.

Tool movement is tracked through a check-in/check-out process using barcodes, similar to borrowing books from a library. When a tool is needed, technicians scan the barcode to check it out, reserving it for use. When the tool is returned, it is scanned back in to its storage location.

Read more: Mastering Tool Management with CMMS Software

MRO Inventory Management

Organizations typically stock hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands (or more) of MRO items within a stockroom. The sheer volume of unique inventory items makes it necessary to avoid misidentifying inventory items when completing work orders or replenishing the stockroom.

When applied to stockroom racks, shelves, and bins, barcode labels are useful for identifying the items stored there. This is useful for verifying parts pulled for maintenance work, adjusting part quantities when making kits, and performing physical inventory counts. Stockroom employees save time by scanning barcodes instead of manually typing numbers into the CMMS.

Alternatively, barcodes might exist in a master binder that lists all inventory items along with their corresponding barcodes. When the location of an inventory item is unknown, employees can look up its location in the CMMS by scanning the barcode information into a search field. The system then identifies the exact aisle, rack, shelf, and bin location of the item.

Read more: What is MRO Inventory Management?

Purchasing and Receiving

Barcodes are a useful tool when used with a CMMS’s purchasing and receiving functionality. When new inventory items arrive and need to be received, employees look up purchase order records by scanning a barcode on the physical PO form. From there, employees then update the status and quantities of incoming purchase order items. Having barcodes in place makes this process much faster and easier, especially when several items are received at once.

Organizations that track vendor item numbers are able to scan the barcode labels on incoming items and match it up with inventory records in the CMMS. Then, organizations are able to generate barcode labels that follow the organization’s internal numbering scheme for tracking and stocking purposes.

Barcoded Documents

CMMS software with barcode capability can generate barcoded paper documents, such as purchase orders and work orders. When these records need to be looked up and updated in the CMMS, all users need to do is click into a search field and scan the barcode. This is a huge timesaver when many items are received at once, or when a batch of work orders is ready to be closed.

CMMS Ease of Use

Depending on the CMMS, barcodes can provide shortcuts to valuable information. For example, clicking through multiple screens takes much longer than scanning a barcode. After the system recognizes the asset (or document), it can take the user to the record details or present the user with a list of options for what to do next.

Even if scanning a barcode only reduces user interaction by one click, those clicks add up over time. After all, the less time a technician spends clicking around in the CMMS, the more time he can spend actually performing maintenance work.

Benefits of Barcoding Technology in Maintenance Management

The applications of barcodes span nearly every major facet of maintenance management. Fortunately, many CMMS software solutions include barcode technology, thereby making it easier to incorporate barcoding into your maintenance process. As this article demonstrates, there are many advantages to barcoding:

• Reduced Human Error: Barcode scanning allows information to be entered into a CMMS using a scanned code instead of manual entry, thereby preventing mistakes and improving the accuracy of maintenance data.
• Increased Productivity: Once fully implemented, a barcode system allows maintenance workers to quickly locate information or take additional action using the CMMS. Wireless scanners and mobile barcode scanning allow employees to stay productive.
• Better Decision-Making: When using accurate data, maintenance organizations are able to make smarter decisions about asset maintenance, inventory purchasing, maintenance schedules, and more. This leads to more efficient operations and lower maintenance costs.
• Improved Return on Investment (ROI): Over time, organizations will be able to grow into using more advanced features of their CMMS. Combining powerful CMMS software with a barcode system provides additional long-term value to the organization, increasing the CMMS ROI.
• Increased User Adoption: Employees are more likely to adopt a system that is easy to use. Barcode scanning provides an easy data entry method for employees of all computer skill levels.

Improve Your Maintenance Operations with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select barcode capability allows for comprehensive management of your assets and inventory, and integrates seamlessly into your maintenance work order management processes. Contact us today to learn more about the FTMaintenance Select barcode system.