Author: Ethan Wilke

To minimize costly downtime, maintenance teams first treat the symptoms of failure in order to return assets to service quickly. While corrective actions may provide relief, they do not address the failure’s true underlying cause. Root cause analysis (RCA) allows organizations to uncover the origin of equipment failures.

What is Root Cause Analysis?

First, let’s address what is meant by a “root cause”.  According to the American Society of Quality (ASQ), a root cause is “the core issue […] that sets in motion the entire cause-and-effect reaction that ultimately leads to the problem(s).”  It is the main contributor to an asset failure.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic process for investigating why a specific incident occurred. Using various approaches, tools, and problem-solving techniques, RCA provides a structured way for organizations to fully understand the circumstances surrounding a failure, identify its root cause(s), and determine an approach for responding to and resolving it.

Compared to troubleshooting, which is a process of trial and error, root cause analysis is a formal, in-depth examination of physical, human, or organizational factors that may contribute to equipment failure.

Importance of Root Cause Analysis

Without determining a failure’s root cause(s), you cannot make the changes necessary to prevent it from recurring. You may simply perform corrective maintenance (CM) and consider the problem solved, only for it to happen again. Addressing the “symptoms” of a problem does not solve the root cause, even though a repair may provide temporary relief.

RCA provides guidance for determining why an incident occurred by exploring what happened and how. Based on your investigation, you can implement controls that prevent the incident, or similar incidents, from recurring. As a result, you organization can avoid unnecessary costs due to downtime, audits and regulations, and subpar asset reliability.

When to Perform Root Cause Analysis

What failure events prompt the need for a root cause analysis is ultimately your choice. However, you don’t need to perform RCA for every single failure, nor should you. Many problems are relatively minor, happen infrequently, or you already know their cause (e.g., a part that fails because it has reached the end of its useful life). The best candidates for root cause analysis are:

• Chronic failures that occur regularly and are not solved by fixing symptoms
• Failures in mission-critical assets for which there is no backup or way to mitigate the effects of failure
• Critical failures that have a significant negative impact on the organization or endanger the health and safety of employees

Also consider that proper root cause analysis requires a significant amount of time, manpower, money, and knowledge to complete. Important information is often missing because it is generally not possible (or practical) to monitor everything needed for RCA. When data is available, it can be onerous to construct a timeline of events and identify a root cause, of which there may be more than one. Further, it is simply not practical or cost effective to thoroughly investigate every failure, no matter how small.

Root Cause Analysis Tools and Techniques

Root cause analysis uses various approaches, tools, and techniques to determine the causes of asset failure. The International Organization for Standards (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) list multiple analysis tools and techniques in their risk management standard, ISO.IEC 31010:2019. For your convenience, the most common RCA tools are described below.

Keep in mind that no RCA tool or technique is foolproof – each has its own pros and cons. Also, some methods may be more applicable to certain industries or types of problems. Your organization should develop its own approach to root cause analysis.

The Five Whys Method

“The Five Whys” (5 Whys) is a popular problem-solving technique that originates from Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota Industries, in the 1930s.It is considered one of the easiest RCA tools. The main idea behind the Five Whys method is “by repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear.” However, five whys is simply a guideline – some problems can be solved using more or less why questions.

Below is an example of the 5 Whys method:

Problem: A blower motor is vibrating excessively

1. Why? The motor bearing failed.
2. Why? The motor bearing overheated.
3. Why? The bearing was improperly lubricated.
4. Why? The amount of lube being injected was less than the recommend amount.
5. Why? The grease inlet was clogged.

Possible Solution: Schedule a preventive maintenance task to clean the grease inlet.

Five Whys can also be applied to your maintenance process:

Problem: A preventive maintenance (PM) work order is overdue

1. Why? The activity took longer than expected.
2. Why? The required parts were not in stock.
3. Why? Parts were not purchased on time.
4. Why? Demand for the parts was unknown.
5. Why? Parts usage was not properly documented in the CMMS.

Possible Solution: Configure the CMMS to require users to enter quantities of used parts.

Fishbone Diagram Analysis (Ishikawa diagram)

An Ishikawa diagram, better known as the fishbone diagram due to its resemblance of a fish skeleton, helps organizations identify many possible causes of a problem. The problem or adverse effect is displayed at the “head” while causes categories are shown as “bones” feeding into the spine. Commonly used categories include:

• Man (People)
• Machine / Equipment
• Method
• Measurement
• Material
• Environment

Each possible cause makes up smaller “bones” that branch off of their applicable category. After all possible causes are identified, analyze each cause (possibly by using the Five Whys Method) and brainstorm solutions.

Fault Tree Analysis

Image derived from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_tree_analysis

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a top-down approach to problem solving that uses a graphical tree diagram to map the relationships between a fault and its related events using Boolean logic. The undesirable event is shown at the top of the diagram, and lower level events are connected through “logic gates” representing AND or OR operators.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is one of the most complex methods of root cause analysis. At the start of the process, a cross-functional team identifies all the ways in which an asset might fail, known as “failure modes”. Typical types of failure modes include:

• Premature operation
• Failure to operate at the prescribed time
• Failure to cease operations at the prescribed time
• Failure during operation
• Degraded or excessive operational capability

Next, the team conducts an “effect analysis” to systematically assess the risk each failure modes poses. Risk is quantified by generating a risk priority number (RPN), which represents a failure mode’s severity, probability of occurrence, and likelihood to be detected. Based on the RPN, the organization identifies failure modes that pose the highest risk to the organization and create a plan to prevent them or mitigate their risk. The ASQ provides an example of an FMEA procedure on their website.

Pareto Analysis

Pareto analysis is a decision-making tool that helps organizations identify which failure causes are the most significant. It is based on the Pareto principle, better known as the “80/20 rule”, which states that 80% of failures come from 20% of causes.

Using Pareto analysis, a Pareto chart is created to plot the frequency of causes and their cumulative effects. The Pareto chart is a combination of a bar chart and line chart. The bars represent the frequency of causes, with the most frequent on the left and least frequent on the right. The line chart shows the cumulative sum of each cause’s percentage.

Root Cause Analysis Process

The specific steps taken when performing root cause analysis differ based on the tools and techniques used. In general, the RCA process is as follows:

1. Define the problem:
   • Clearly and concisely define the problem.
   • Collect preliminary data about the failure, including specific symptoms and effects.
   • Create a problem statement.
2. Collect data: Gather all data relevant to the failure, such as what happened before and after, who interacted with the machine, and important details about the asset.
3. Identify causal factors: Create a timeline of events and examine any contributing or related causal factors.
4. Identify the root cause:
   • Use one or more root cause analysis tools and techniques to identify the root cause.
   • Determine the best solution to address the root cause.
5. Implement solutions:
   • Develop an action plan to address the root cause to prevent it from recurring.
   • Monitor and evaluate the solution after implementation.

Root Cause Analysis and CMMS

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is an invaluable tool for performing root cause analysis. It provides a way for maintenance teams to document and track critical asset and maintenance data that can be used when analyzing asset failures.

Work orders track what problems your assets have experienced and what resolved them. Organizations can quickly access important asset information, meter readings, and preventive maintenance schedules to provide context to the events surrounding failures. Some CMMS systems offer failure tracking and analysis through failure cause tracking. Read our series of articles about failure codes for more information.

When a root cause is identified, the CMMS can be used to easily create or modify preventive maintenance schedules, update PM task lists, attach supplementary maintenance documentation, and document new maintenance procedures. Maintenance reports help you monitor and track the results of any new or changed maintenance activities introduced to address the root cause.

Track Equipment Failures with FTMaintenance Select

The maintenance team is a key source of information for teams performing root cause analysis. Organizations must have a solution in place to store critical data about assets, work orders, and maintenance schedules.

FTMaintenance Select provides a centralized platform for documenting, managing, and tracking maintenance activities and creating a repository of information about asset maintenance and performance. Request a demo today to learn more about how to create a proactive maintenance plan and prevent critical failures with FTMaintenance Select.

A preventive maintenance (PM) program is powerful tool that helps organizations monitor equipment performance, prolong asset life, and reduce unplanned downtime. Despite its benefits, many organizations struggle to develop and maintain effective PM plans while balancing other maintenance management responsibilities. This article discusses multiple preventive maintenance best practices that will help you improve your PM program.

Preventive Maintenance Best Practices

While PM benefits organizations of all sizes in every industry, the most applicable preventive maintenance best practices should be determined by your organization. The goal of this article is to present multiple preventive maintenance best practices for your organization to consider. The results from implementing best practices will vary and selected maintenance practices may need to be changed, adjusted, or eliminated over time after trial and error.

While this article focuses on preventive maintenance best practices related to planning, scheduling, executing, and tracking, know that other aspects of maintenance management can affect preventive maintenance. For example, poor work order management or MRO inventory management practices make it more difficult to improve preventive maintenance.

Best Practices for Preventive Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

The planning and scheduling of preventive maintenance sets it apart from other types of maintenance, like corrective maintenance (CM). The following best practices focus on optimizing planning and scheduling.

Enter Preventive Maintenance Tasks into CMMS Software

Asset service manuals include comprehensive information about preventive maintenance tasks, including the task name, frequency, required parts, and even time estimates. Having hard copy versions of maintenance documentation is useful, but technicians waste valuable time searching through the maintenance library or tracking down manuals when they cannot be readily found.

Instead, collect PM task information and enter it into a preventive maintenance tracking system, such as computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. A CMMS provides technicians with a single place for accessing preventive maintenance information such as a task’s title, frequency, required parts, and estimated completion time.

A CMMS also allows you to upload digitized maintenance documentation, providing quick access to service manuals, schematics, and diagrams. Leveraging this digital maintenance library saves a lot of time during the maintenance process.

Further Reading: Pros and Cons of Different Work Order Management Systems

Prioritize Preventive Maintenance Work

Not all preventive maintenance tasks are created equally. Failing to properly prioritize preventive maintenance work often leads to wasted time, missed critical tasks, and unnecessary downtime. When scheduling preventive maintenance work, consider the following:

• Is the asset critical to production or operations?
• How complex is the task?
• How much time is required to complete the task?
• Are the required resources (i.e., labor, parts, tools, etc.) available?
• What is the risk associated with not performing the task?

Preventive maintenance for critical assets must be carefully prioritized with other tasks. However, you should have a system for determining the order in which other tasks are completed.

Visualize the Preventive Maintenance Schedule

Many maintenance organizations use bulletin boards, white boards, and spreadsheets to plan preventive maintenance work. A major drawback of these manual systems is they don’t communicate upcoming work in a meaningful way. That’s why many organizations prefer to use the preventive maintenance scheduling functionality of CMMS software.

Visualizing the preventive maintenance schedule in a calendar view is more effective and easily understood. Using a maintenance calendar, maintenance managers can assess monthly activity level and appropriately assign employees, better balance the work load, and identify opportunities for additional PMs or other tasks.

Schedule Preventive Maintenance Based on Equipment Usage

Owner’s manuals often include generalized time-based maintenance (TbM) schedules. While this approach may be useful in some situations, it does not always reflect actual equipment usage. As a result, seldom-used machines are often over maintained while heavily used equipment doesn’t get the attention it needs.

Usage-based maintenance solves these issues by prioritizing preventive maintenance towards machines that are more heavily used. It also eliminates unnecessary maintenance activities and frees up resources to complete other important maintenance work.

Best Practices for Performing Preventive Maintenance

Another focus of preventive maintenance best practices is improving the quality of maintenance activities. Maintenance teams must ensure that their performance is meeting the standards and expectations of the organization and any regulatory parties.

Standardize Preventive Maintenance Procedures

Inconsistent maintenance work can be counter-productive to improving asset reliability. Standardized PM checklists ensure that preventive maintenance work is performed the same way each and every time, no matter who is doing the work.

PM checklists communicate the exact steps that need to be followed and ensure that critical steps, such as lockout/tagout procedures, are not ignored or forgotten. Later, checklists can be used to audit whether the quality of maintenance meets set standards and hold technicians accountable for performing quality work.

The level of detail in checklists varies by organization. Tasks written clearly and unambiguously leave little room for misinterpretation. Also consider the skill level of your maintenance team. Trusted, veteran technicians may not require the same level of detail as a team made up of mostly novice mechanics.

Automate Reminders

Manually tracking when preventive maintenance tasks are due is nearly impossible for teams that maintain more than a dozen or so assets. CMMS software automatically reminds maintenance teams when preventive maintenance is coming due. This advanced noticed ensures that required maintenance is not missed and gives maintenance managers time to schedule maintenance when equipment is available.

Hold Your Team Accountable

Meeting your preventive maintenance goals requires accountability. When team members are aware of what is expected of them and to what standards their work is held, they are more likely to perform quality maintenance work.

Maintenance managers are responsible for setting expectations and monitoring employee performance. First, they must develop and document the responsibilities of each role within the maintenance team and clearly communicate them. Putting these expectations in writing is important for future reference or tracking when responsibilities change.

For example, PM tasks that include a time estimate hold technicians accountable for completing work in a timely manner. If completion times fall too far outside this estimate, investigate what caused the delay. When tasks are fully defined, assign follow-up responsibilities to an approver who can verify that work has been completed correctly and to defined standards.

Further Reading: Creating a Culture of Accountability with CMMS

Best Practices for Achieving Preventive Maintenance Goals

Preventive maintenance best practices extend into how you define, measure, and maintain success.

Measure Key Performance Indicators and Other Preventive Maintenance Metrics

In order to know whether changes to your maintenance operations are making a difference, you have to know where you are starting and where you want to be. Set specific and measurable goals to keep you and your team accountable for following your preventive maintenance plan. Then, determine and communicate the processes and procedures needed to reach those goals.

What metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) you track is up to your organization’s leadership. Our article How to Measure Preventive Maintenance Effectiveness discusses common preventive maintenance KPIs and how to use them.

Provide Ongoing Training Opportunities

Preventive maintenance success requires a skilled and experienced maintenance workforce. Ongoing training results in more well-rounded labor resources that can perform a wider range of tasks. What this leads to is more productivity, flexibility in scheduling labor, and accuracy of maintenance work.

Improve Your Preventive Maintenance Program with FTMaintenance Select

Preventive maintenance is the core of an effective maintenance program. Given its importance to asset reliability, organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve their PM processes. FTMaintenance Select provides a centralized platform for developing, managing, and tracking your preventive maintenance plan. Request a demo to learn more.

Key Takeaways

• Availability and reliability are related, though different metrics used to measure asset performance
• Availability measures the amount of time assets spend in production vs. being out for repair
• Reliability measures how frequently assets fail
• Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software, like FTMaintenance, tracks asset performance data used to calculate availability and reliability

Two meaningful metrics used to evaluate asset performance are availability and reliability. Though often used interchangeably, both terms have specific meaning in a manufacturing maintenance context. For the maintenance team, understanding the difference between availability and reliability ensures that maintenance activities effectively target issues affecting plant performance.

This article discusses the differences between availability and reliability, their relationship to one another, and how maintenance can address each.

What is Asset Availability?

We acknowledge that organizations define and calculate availability in various ways, depending on their process and performance goals. This discussion focuses on availability as it relates to production and examines equipment-related factors that impact availability, such as malfunctions and repairs.

According to The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), asset availability is “the percentage of potential production time during which equipment is operable, that is, operation is not prevented by equipment malfunction.” Put another way, asset availability measures the amount of time equipment was running and producing goods compared to the time production was stopped due to repairs.

Calculating Asset Availability

Refer to the chart in the previous section. As shown, asset availability considers three factors:

1. Potential Production Time: the amount of time equipment was expected to run, not counting non-equipment-related delays
2. Production Time: the amount of time equipment actually ran
3. Repair Time: the amount of time equipment was not running due to an unexpected malfunction and its subsequent repair

To calculate asset availability, divide production time by the potential production time, then multiply the result by 100 to express the value as a percentage.

Let’s look at an example: A production asset ran for 150 hours in a month, but experienced 20 hours of downtime due to a breakdown and waiting for parts. Therefore, out of 170 hours of potential production, actual production time was 150 hours.

Availability = (150 hours ÷ 170 hours) × 100

Availability = 0.88 × 100

Availability = 88%

Another way to think of asset availability is in terms of uptime and downtime. Uptime is generally defined as the time equipment is running; downtime is time equipment is broken down and/or being repaired. Potential production time, then, is considered the sum of uptime and downtime. The asset availability formula using uptime and downtime then becomes:

Further, uptime can be measured using the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) metric, which calculates the average amount of time equipment runs before failing. Downtime can be measured using the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) metric, which calculates the average amount of time it takes to make a repair. Therefore, a third way to calculate asset availability is to use the following formula:

However, since MTBF and MTTR are averages, calculating availability using this formula may be less precise than others. Read more about MTBF and MTTR in our article, 3 Important Asset Management KPIs and How to Use Them.

How Maintenance Can Improve Asset Availability

Availability is a performance metric traditionally tracked by production, not maintenance. However, maintenance teams impact availability because they are responsible for finding ways to minimize unplanned downtime and increase the speed of equipment repairs when failures occur.

To do so, organizations can equip maintenance technicians with the information and tools needed for effective troubleshooting. For example, work order history, failure tracking data, and owner’s manuals help technicians to quickly diagnose failures and develop solutions. In addition, indirect factors such as organized stockrooms, appropriate inventory levels, and effective labor utilization indirectly leads to more efficient maintenance.

Advanced organizations may also perform root cause analysis (RCA) and leverage failure codes to track equipment failures. RCA helps identify probable causes of breakdowns and provides data from which to build or tweak preventive maintenance strategies. Comprehensive failure tracking allows maintenance technicians to quickly troubleshoot issues, thereby reducing repair time.

Asset availability can also be improved by implementing a proactive maintenance strategy. Proactive, as opposed to reactive, maintenance lessens the likelihood of unplanned downtime events all together, thereby improving asset availability.

What is Asset Reliability?

Asset reliability, according to AMT, is “the probability that machinery and equipment can perform continuously for a specified interval of time without failure, when operating under stated conditions.” While availability measures whether equipment was operable or not, reliability measures the frequency of failures.

Calculating Asset Reliability

Reliability can be calculated in multiple ways, using either Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) or failure rate.

Using Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)

The Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) metric is the most often used measure of asset reliability. It measures how long assets run, on average, before experiencing a malfunction.

To calculate MTBF, divide the total time the asset was running by the number of failures it experienced during that time period. For example, a machine that ran for 3000 hours and experienced 5 failures has a MTBF of 600 hours.

MTBF = 3000 hours ÷ 5 failures = 600 hours/failure

Stated another way, the maintenance team can expect an equipment failure approximately every 600 hours.

Using Failure Rate

Another way to calculate reliability is to use the failure rate, which is the frequency at which an asset fails. To calculate failure rate, divide the number of failures by the total run time. Note that failure rate is the inverse of Mean Time Between Failure, and can be calculated by dividing 1 by the MTBF.

Let’s calculate failure rate using the same values as before:

Method 1: Using Run Time

Failure Rate = 5 failures ÷ 3000 hours = 0.0016 failures/hour

Method 2: Using MTBF

Failure Rate = 1 ÷ MTBF

Failure Rate = 1 ÷ 600 hours/failure = 0.0016 failures/hour

Because this value is so small, it is easier to think of reliability in more useful measures of time, such as years. Translate the hourly failure rate into a yearly rate by multiplying the failure rate by 8,760, the number of hours in a year. Therefore:

Failure Rate (per year) = 0.0016 failures/hour × 8,760 hours/year = 14 failures/year

How Maintenance Can Improve Asset Reliability

Improving reliability boils down to minimizing the frequency of unplanned downtime events. Organizations use a range of maintenance techniques to reduce the frequency of unplanned downtime including:

• Planned corrective maintenance (CM)
• Preventive maintenance (PM)
• Condition-based maintenance (CbM)
• Predictive maintenance (PdM)

The goal of these types of maintenance is to lessen the likelihood of failure by proactively servicing equipment. However, each asset has different needs depending on its age, condition, usage, and known failure conditions.

Maintenance teams must use an appropriate combination of maintenance activities to optimize the asset’s performance. Establishing this maintenance mix is one of the foundations of a higher-level maintenance strategy called reliability-centered maintenance (RCM).

Availability vs. Reliability

To briefly recap:

• Asset availability measures the amount of time equipment was in an operable state vs. being repaired.
• Asset reliability measures how long equipment performs its intended function (i.e., how often it breaks down).

So what is the relationship between the two metrics? Generally speaking, assets that are more reliable are also more available. Intuitively, it makes sense – the less equipment breaks down, the longer it can be used for production. However, this is not always the case.

Equipment has high reliability and low availability when repair times are long. For example, a machine component fails, causing a major breakdown. There is no obvious cause of the malfunction and it has not happened in the past. The maintenance team must investigate the problem, determine and test a solution, and possibly wait for parts to arrive. Though only one failure occurred within the time period (high reliability), it takes a long time to repair the asset due to its complexity (low availability).

Now let’s look at the opposite scenario. Equipment has high availability but low reliability when there are multiple failures, but each can be resolved quickly. For example, a machine is stopped multiple times for minor corrective maintenance that takes a few minutes to complete in each instance. While, the total repair time is low (high availability) failures are high (low reliability), which is undesirable.

Asset Management Software

One of the most effective ways to improve asset availability and reliability is to implement a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). CMMS software centralizes critical asset data, helping maintenance teams quickly identify common maintenance issues, troubleshoot failures, and access important maintenance documentation. The system also allows managers to create customized maintenance plans for each asset.

As a data analysis tool, CMMS maintenance management reports help organizations gain valuable insights into asset performance and maintenance operations. In terms of availability, a CMMS can be used to provide accurate repair time data to the production team, helping them identify other causes of stopped or slowed production. For reliability calculations, a CMMS helps organizations track important asset management KPIs including MTBF.

In addition, CMMS reports can be used to better understand equipment life expectancy, assess the effectiveness of maintenance activities, and set improvement goals.

Improve Asset Performance with FTMaintenance Select

Asset management is a key component of maintenance management. FTMaintenance Select is CMMS software that can be used to measure and track data used to calculate asset availability and reliability. Schedule a demo today to learn more about how FTMaintenance Select makes maintenance management easy.

To keep equipment running, maintenance teams frequently purchase spare parts or specialized services on the fly. While skipping formal documentation saves time up front, it can lead to costly issues related to missed deliveries, incorrect charges, or disputes with vendors.

Purchase orders (POs) formalize purchasing activity and provide a clear paper trail of what was ordered, from whom, at what cost, and when it’s expected. In this article, we provide an overview of purchase orders, including how they fit in to the maintenance process, and how a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) helps you better manage POs.

What is a Purchase Order?

A purchase order is a document your organization sends to a vendor that indicates the your intention to purchase goods. It is a legally binding document that specifies what items are to be purchased, and provides details such as item quantities, pricing, delivery timeframe, and payment terms. Purchase orders, at times, are used to purchase services, though the variability of project deliverables and timelines may prompt the need for additional service contracts and agreements.

Types of Purchase Orders

There are multiple types of purchase orders, suitable for different scenarios:

• One-time (or standard) purchase orders are used to make sporadic, infrequent, one-off purchases from a vendor. An organization may use a standard purchase order to purchase equipment or critical spares.
• Planned purchase orders (PPO) are used when the demand for goods in known in advance, but exact delivery dates are uncertain. PPOs specify what will be ordered and under what terms, and require organizations to issue a separate release for each delivery. In maintenance, PPOs are useful for recurring purchases of commonly used spare parts where consumption rates vary, such as filters or lubricants.
• Blanket purchase orders (BPO) are long-term agreements used to streamline recurring purchases. They allow organizations to order various items as needed, up to a specific limit, without creating a new PO each time. BPOs often do not include specific quantities or delivery dates, offering flexibility in ordering. Maintenance teams use BPOs to quickly acquire frequently used parts or consumables without redundant paperwork.

Purchase Order vs. Work Order

Though they may be part of the same workflow, purchase orders and work orders serve entirely different purposes. They’re often confused by people outside of maintenance or procurement because both can be triggered by maintenance needs, such as when a replacement part is ordered to complete a repair.

A work order authorizes the maintenance team to complete specific tasks or services, as well as documents exactly what was done, when, and by whom. It’s a flexible document that is expected to evolve during the job, allowing technicians to add parts, materials, or additional labor as needed. While work orders involve costs, they don’t represent formal purchasing activity.

A purchase order, on the other hand, is a formal request for goods or services from an external vendor. It’s a fixed agreement that must match vendor’s invoices exactly, or be adjusted through a new PO or amendment. Purchase order support maintenance by securing the resources needed to complete the job, but they don’t document the work itself.

Why Use Purchase Orders?

For busy maintenance professionals, paperwork simply slows them down. Often times, goods and services are purchased without formal documentation other than a vendor invoice. While convenient, vendor invoices only tell one side of the story. For example, what happens when there’s a dispute about payment, delivery, or accuracy?

Purchase orders provide many benefits to maintenance organizations:

• Clearly communicates expectations: Purchase orders are highly detailed and ensure that both you and the vendor agree on what’s expected.
• Reduces mistakes: Using a formal purchase order reduces mistakes that occur from misinterpreting handwritten orders or orders taken over the phone.
• Improves recordkeeping: Maintaining a purchase order history makes it easy for finance teams to see what was purchased and why it was needed.
• Makes orders easier to track: Purchase orders make it easier to track what was ordered and when it will arrive, as well as verify that you received what was ordered.
• Provides legal protection: Purchase orders are legally binding contracts that offer protection to your organization and the vendor. They are a record of exactly what was ordered and can be used as a point of reference if problems arise.

How Maintenance Purchasing is Different from Standard Procurement

While all purchasing generally follows a set process, maintenance purchasing often requires a faster, more flexible approach. The following sections compare a typical procurement workflow with the more reactive process followed by industrial maintenance teams.

The Standard Purchasing Workflow

The purchasing process at a given organization consists of multiple steps, and varies based on their organizational structure, workflows, and internal policies. However, a typical purchasing process follows these general steps:

1. The buyer identifies a need for a good or service.
2. The buyer creates a purchase requisition to request the goods and/or services, and sends it for approval.
3. The requisition is reviewed for budget, compliance, and authorization.
4. Once approved, the buyer issues a purchase order to the seller.
5. The seller reviews the PO and confirms their ability to fulfill it.
6. The seller accepts the PO and fulfills the order.
7. The seller ships the goods (or provides the service) and sends an invoice to the buyer.
8. The buyer verifies the delivery and invoice, and then pays the seller.

The process above works well from planned purchases like office equipment or bulk materials. Maintenance purchasing, however, is typically reactive and time-sensitive. When a critical asset fails, a lengthy purchasing process means increased downtime, lost production, and heightened safety risks.

The Maintenance Purchasing Workflow

Because of the unplanned, reactive nature of maintenance work, maintenance teams require a simplified, flexible purchasing process that prioritizes speed over cost savings. Compared to traditional procurement, maintenance purchasing follows these general steps:

1. The buyer directly orders a good or service from the seller. The buyer pays upfront or the seller issues an invoice to be paid shortly after shipment.
2. The buyer creates a purchase order to document the purchase for recordkeeping purposes.
3. The seller ships the order to the buyer.
4. The buyer verifies the order and immediately uses the part to make the repair.

To give the maintenance team purchasing flexibility and reduce administrative obstacles, some organizations bypass purchase orders and allow direct purchases using a company-issued credit card. While purchase orders can be created after the fact for recordkeeping, this practice complicates traceability during financial audits.

Purchase Order Management Software for Maintenance Teams

Maintenance teams have unique purchasing requirements unlike that of other departments. Therefore, traditional purchasing software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) or accounting software, often don’t accommodate the immediate purchasing needs of maintenance teams. That’s where the simplified purchasing functionality of a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) comes in.

A CMMS with purchasing capability provides an easy way to document purchases or integrate with other systems. CMMS software stores all asset, MRO inventory, and vendor information in one place, making it easy to create purchase orders in seconds. Some systems even automate purchase order generation based on inventory activity and support approval workflows to ensure POs meet internal policies before they are sent to vendors. Purchasing history and reports also track past purchases for review or maintenance audits.

Streamline Maintenance Purchases with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select helps maintenance teams effectively manage their purchasing process from requisition to receipt. Combined with robust asset and inventory management features, FTMaintenance Select allows you to easily create and manage purchase orders throughout their lifecycles. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select can help you simplify your maintenance procurement process.

The terms facility management and maintenance management are often used interchangeably, but there are key differences between them that can cause confusion and tangible problems if misunderstood. This article highlights the differences between facility management and maintenance management.

What is Facility Management?

Facility management (FM) is the coordination of physical workplaces, people, and support services in order to support an organization’s goals in the most cost effective manner. It includes a broad range of functions and activities that make a work environment more efficient and effective, thereby enabling the organization to reach its business goals.

Scope and Extent of Facility Management

The scope of facility management varies by organization and the industry in which the organization operates. In general, facility management services are divided into “hard” and “soft” services.

Hard facility services relate to the maintenance and management of the physical building and include:

• Planning, construction, design, and relocation
• Managing essential building systems
• Managing real estate and leasing
• Performing maintenance on building interiors and exteriors
• Making capital improvements

Soft facility services relate to improving the quality of life for people who occupy a building space. Examples of soft facility services include:

• Security
• Space planning
• Cleaning and sanitation
• Grounds keeping
• Responding to environmental, health, and safety issues
• Waste management

What is Maintenance Management?

Maintenance management is defined as an orderly process to control the maintenance resources and activities required to preserve assets at or repair them to an acceptable working order. It involves planning and scheduling maintenance work in order to maintain efficient production while minimizing unplanned downtime.

Scope and Extent of Maintenance Management

Like facility management, the scope and extent of maintenance management responsibilities differs from one organization to the next. Generally, maintenance management involves the following:

• Installing new equipment
• Maintaining functioning equipment to keep it in good working order
• Repairing failed equipment and returning it to an operable condition
• Replacing worn or failed equipment components to restore equipment function
• Continuously monitoring and inspecting equipment to look for signs of future or imminent failure
• Troubleshooting equipment failures

Difference between Facility Management and Maintenance Management

Understanding the difference between facilities management and maintenance management is important for making decisions about what tools, employees, and software are required to your organizational goals.

Scope of Assets Maintained

One reason that facility management and maintenance management often get confused is because both functions are responsible for performing some level of maintenance. However, the assets covered by either the facilities team or maintenance team differs.

Facility management is commonly associated with non-industrial settings, such as office buildings, apartment complexes, schools and universities, hospitals, and more. Sometimes, facilities refer to industrial factories as well. Facility assets include buildings and the land on which they are located. Maintenance activities are generally related to building interiors and exteriors; and major building systems such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and water and wastewater treatment.

In contrast, maintenance management is more closely associated with industrial settings such as production lines in manufacturing plants. Industrial maintenance assets include any equipment or machinery used in the production of goods. For service-based industries, assets include fleet vehicles and heavy equipment.

Value to the Organization

Facility management touches nearly every part of the organization, from the facility itself to the people within. Because they are so ingrained in day-to-day operations, facility management activities address both short-term and long-term needs. For example, facility management professionals are responsible for ensuring that fire safety equipment is up to code in case a fire breaks out, but must also develop a contingency plan in the event that disaster strikes.

In a manufacturing environment, maintenance management adds value by enabling organizations to maximize production and increase profits. Using a variety of maintenance techniques and tools, the maintenance team either reactively or proactively addresses equipment issues that lead to stopped production, waste, or underperformance.

Scope of Maintenance Skills Required

Maintenance work in a facility management setting typically consists of performing simple preventive maintenance and responding to service requests. For example, a facility management team may change light bulbs, paint, or perform minor electrical or plumbing work. These skills do not require extensive training to develop and can be picked up on the job. The facility management team requests help from the maintenance them or calls in a 3^rd party vendor for any maintenance work it cannot handle itself, such as HVAC repair.

For equipment maintenance, workers are more highly skilled and have more experience. They have the ability to perform more complex maintenance and repairs to production assets. In larger organizations, the maintenance team may include specialists within a certain craft, like HVAC or electric. Smaller maintenance teams are more likely to employ experienced “jacks-of-all-trades” that have a broad range of experience. At times, third party vendors may be called in to make repairs on specialized or unique equipment.

Spare Parts Inventory

The difference between facility management and maintenance management is apparent in the types and quantities of inventory held.

Inventory items for facility management are largely made up of spare parts for preventive maintenance, such as filters, lighting, cleaning chemicals, and other supplies. Inventory management is more lax because parts are less critical than those used in a production setting. Facility teams stock a larger quantity of a given part due to the multiple requests they receive from tenants, residents, or employees.

Industrial maintenance teams manage a large range of inventory items used for corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance needs. Inventories are likely to include critical spares, large quantities of high volume items, and safety stock to provide protection from unexpected demand. Since some maintenance activities are reactive, spare parts must be kept in stock, and therefore, inventory is more tightly controlled.

Ideal Software Solution: CAFM vs. CMMS

The tendency for organizations to use facility management and maintenance management interchangeably often creates confusion, especially when trying to identify an ideal software solution for managing facilities and/or maintenance (hence, why we wrote this article). Organizations that perform facility maintenance must often decide between computer-aided facility management (CAFM) software and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software.

While both solutions offer maintenance management features, CAFM software is designed to manage other aspects of facility operations such as space reservations; lease administration; health, safety, and environmental sustainability analysis; capital project planning and more. Buyers may find the maintenance management capabilities of CAFM to be somewhat lacking compared to CMMS.

CMMS software is more specialized to maintenance management functions including work order management, preventive maintenance, MRO inventory management, and asset management. There are not restrictions on what types of assets can be managed and tracked in the system, making it a good fit for facility maintenance.

Smaller organizations with limited resources may choose to invest in either one or the other, depending on their facility management or maintenance management needs. Larger organizations may need the functionality of both systems and use them together.

Further Reading: CMMS vs. CAFM Software

Automate Facility Maintenance with FTMaintenance Select

While there are many differences between facility management and maintenance management, each function is responsible for facility maintenance. FTMaintenance Select is a CMMS software platform that allows you to track maintenance activities on both production and facility assets. It provides a single system for organizing, managing, and tracking preventive maintenance on your critical equipment and facilities. Request a demo today to learn more about FTMaintenance Select.

Key Takeaways

• Tracking productivity helps keep employees accountable for their performance
• There are many common key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to track maintenance labor performance
• Understand how to interpret KPI results and how they might align with business goals

Labor performance tracking keeps employees accountable for completing assigned maintenance work in an efficient way. Organizations must have methods to measure the productivity and efficiency of their staff. This article discusses several labor performance metrics that you can use to track your maintenance team’s performance.

Maintenance Employee Performance KPI Examples

Every maintenance team is comprised of a unique set of individuals, with varying levels of experience and skill. The employee performance metrics you track depends on the business goals of your organization.

The following productivity metrics represent common key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked by maintenance departments. Note that many of these KPIs rely on the availability of accurate time tracking data, such as that stored in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Average Service Request Response Time

Average Service Request Response Time is the average amount of time it takes to respond to work requested via a service request. This metric measures how quickly the maintenance team responds to service requests, starting when the request is submitted up until work towards solving the issue begins.

To calculate the average service request response time, take the sum of the response time—the total elapsed time between service request submission times and their related work order start times and divide it by the number of service requests submitted in the reporting timeframe.

Keep in mind what unit of time is used for the response time. Converting the output of this calculation from hours to minutes or minutes to hours requires an additional step. Convert values in hours to minutes by multiplying by 60; divide values in minutes by 60 to express in hours.

How to Interpret Average Service Request Response Time

A low (short) response time means the maintenance team responds to requests quickly. However, shorter response times should be viewed in context of the types of repairs requested. Employees are more likely to contact maintenance personnel directly for urgent issues, rather than submitting service requests.

A high (long) service request response time can mean there is a backlog of requests that are getting pushed to the backburner. However, a backlog may not be unusual because requests have to be balanced with other important maintenance work. Long response times may also indicate that requests are submitted with incomplete information. Work request management software, like a CMMS, standardizes the information required to submit requests.

Note that multiple factors come into play when analyzing average service request response time. Some organizations immediately turn all service requests into work orders. Others assign personnel to review incoming requests and prioritize them accordingly. At times, more information must be gathered before work can begin.

These factors greatly impact how quickly the maintenance team responds, thereby affecting the average response time. When analyzing response time, you may wish to select a subset of service requests that are similar in priority or complexity.

Average Task Completion Time

Average Task Completion Time measures the average amount of time it takes to complete a maintenance task. It estimates how long it takes to complete a specific maintenance and is used by maintenance managers to improve resource planning and maintenance scheduling.

To calculate the average task completion time, divide the total time required to complete the task by the number of times the task was performed during the reporting timeframe.

How to Interpret Average Task Completion Time

The average task completion time primarily applies to planned maintenance activities, where a baseline completion time is known. Owner’s manuals typically include these time estimates. Therefore, a good starting point is to compare your measured task completion time to the values provided by the asset’s manufacturer.

High or rising average task completion times mean tasks take longer to complete than expected. A logical next step is to compare task completion times between employees to determine whether the issue lies with a particular person or team. It could be possible that task instructions are not clear and misunderstood, or that additional training is needed.

Average task completion times that are close to the benchmark value provided in maintenance documentation are ideal. It means technicians are skilled and informed enough to complete maintenance work in a timely manner. Still, expect some variance in completion time, within reason.

Low or falling task completion times mean that tasks are completed quickly. Though preventive maintenance work tends to be less complex and, therefore takes less time, it is normal to scrutinize suspiciously low values. It may be an indication that technicians are rushing through work, skipping steps, cutting corners, or underreporting their work time in an attempt to look more productive.

Work Order Activity

Work Order Activity tracks how many work orders are completed compared to past performance. This metric helps determines the maintenance team’s productivity.

To calculate work order activity, divide the number of work orders completed within a given time period by the number of completed work orders within an equal previous time period, and then multiply by 100 to express the value as a percentage.

How to Interpret Work Order Activity

The Work Order Activity metric compares performance between two time periods:

• If the result that is greater than 100%, more work orders were completed in the most recent period.
• If the result is or is close to 100%,  performance was consistent between the two reporting periods.
• If the result is less than 100%, fewer work orders were completed compared to the previous period.

Tracking this KPI over time allows you to analyze trends. Consistently increase values indicate higher, more efficient performance, while consistently decreasing values indicate that performance may be declining. However, employees are not always at fault for decreasing values.

The Work Order Activity metric does not account expose the reasons why productivity increased or decreased, however. For example, imagine that in the previous reporting period the maintenance team completed a large number of low priority inspections, part replacements, and work requests. This period, a high priority, relatively complex annual preventive maintenance job was completed over multiple days. In this scenario, work order performance may appear low, even though the annual work order held greater importance to the organizations.

Other possible causes of decreasing performance include:

• Understaffed maintenance teams
• Stockout occurrences that delay maintenance work
• Lack of equipment availability to maintenance
• The need to complete unexpected or higher priority maintenance work

The reporting period may also be to blame. The shorter the reporting timeframe, the more variability there will be in the result. For instance, comparing values week-to-week will show greater fluctuations than when comparing month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, or year-to-year. Longer time frames account for more natural variance in maintenance needs, and give a more accurate picture of work order activity.

Wrench Time

Wrench Time measures the percentage of time a maintenance technician spends manually performing maintenance work. It does not include time spent traveling to the asset, retrieving inventory parts from the stock room, reviewing maintenance history, and other tasks that don’t involve physically repairing an asset.

To calculate wrench time, divide wrench hours by total working hours, then multiply by 100 to find the value as a percentage.

How to Interpret Wrench Time

Wrench time can be tricky to interpret, even deceiving. Remember that the time physically performing work represents a small portion of someone’s day. To add a bit of context, experts estimate that world class wrench time is 55%. In reality, the average wrench time for most organizations is between 25%-35%. For the purposes of this discussion, high or low wrench time means that wrench times are outside of this range.

Low wrench time means that technicians are spending too much time doing something besides performing maintenance. However, low wrench time does not necessarily mean that time is being wasted. As mentioned earlier, retrieving items from a stockroom or troubleshooting a breakdown is within the scope of a technician’s work but doesn’t involve physically repairing an asset. Other causes of low wrench time include:

• Technicians not performing up to their true potential
• Poor maintenance planning and scheduling
• Asset not being available for planned maintenance
• Unexpected emergency maintenance events
• Waiting for parts and tools
• Inaccurate time tracking

If a technician’s wrench time is consistently low, review the jobs that have the lowest scores and try to identify the underlying problems.

High wrench time is generally positive. However, wrench time that seems too good to be true can be cause for concern as well. Depending on how wrench hours are recorded, numbers can easily be inflated so as to make an employee appear more productive than they actually are.

Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)

Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) is the average time it takes to repair an asset. Unlike wrench time, MTTR accounts for the total time a technician is actively working on solving the issue, including travel time to the asset, troubleshooting, performing the repair, and testing the solution. Though MTTR is typically used as an asset management KPI, it is impacted by the efficiency and effectiveness of labor resources.

To calculate MTTR, divide the sum of repair time (usually in hours) by the number of repairs in the reporting timeframe. Note that MTTR is calculated per asset or asset class.

How to Interpret Mean Time to Repair

Interpreting MTTR can be tricky because the number will rise and fall based on the types of repairs that were done during the time period. Therefore, it is best practice to calculate MTTR by the type of repair performed on an asset or asset class.

An MTTR value that trends higher over time means that assets are taking longer to repair. One possible cause for this trend is labor performance. Start by identifying who performs repairs on the asset and, using other maintenance productivity KPIs, determine if the cause is employee related. For example, a particular technician may not have the correct skills for making the repair.

It is important to look at low MTTR in context with other information about your assets and maintenance process. For example, aging assets are more difficult to repair than new ones. Unavailable parts cause long delays in maintenance work. Previously neglected preventive maintenance work leads to more critical, complex, and lengthy repairs.

MTTR values that trend lower over time mean that your maintenance process is optimized for speedy repairs. In terms of labor, low MTTR means that technicians are quick to respond to maintenance issues, well-trained, able to troubleshoot efficiently, and are not wasting time.

Track Employee Productivity and Maintenance Performance with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select is a powerful CMMS platform that empowers your team to stay productive by providing them with access to critical asset and maintenance information. Maintenance reports provide insight into your day-to-day maintenance operations and allow you to keep technicians accountable for how their time is spent. Request a demo today to learn more.

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.