How Technology is Revolutionizing CMMS Software

A computerized maintenance management system, or CMMS, enables businesses, maintenance firms and teams to achieve complete control over their maintenance processes and tasks. From a centralized interface, users can efficiently maximize all their equipment and facilities as well as manage their assets and other resources. They can efficiently schedule and perform preventive maintenance activities. The READYAsset software suite minimizes operational, production and operational downtime by monitoring machines in real-time with expert systems and A.I. based rules that can accurately predict pending failures and automatically trigger the best preventative actions.

CMMS software allows maintenance teams to closely track and comprehensively document the work they perform, down to the last labor detail and parts used. CMMS can help business processes become more streamlined. In cases of unscheduled or emergency maintenance, CMMS is the ideal solution to manage, record, and store documentation on service requests.

Recent and emerging technologies have helped CMMS software become more functional, gives users a competitive advantage, creating a demand for the software. CMMS is now more accessible and easy to deploy and use.

But how does technology drive CMMS evolution and, ultimately, its adaptation?

 

1. Reduce Costs with Cloud-Based CMMS

There’s no denying how modern CMMS made maintenance management a breeze. Maintenance managers can see everything from their computers, automate specific processes, and remain on top of their maintenance workflows. On the other hand, on-premise CMMS platforms can be quite expensive as they require a huge upfront investment for both software and hardware. On top of that, setting up, managing, and maintaining an on-premise CMMS can present various IT challenges.

With the entry and subsequent widespread adoption of cloud computing, CMMS hosted in the cloud became the norm not long after. Like an on-premise CMMS, a cloud-based maintenance management software, like LLumin’s enables maintenance managers to perform their usual tasks such as scheduling and monitoring maintenance activities, centralize information, manage resources, and more.

Yet with cloud-based CMMS, there is no need to install software or invest in different hardware as you do with an on-premise setup. It greatly reduces your costs of investment and ownership, saving you money. In addition, updates to the system are automatic whenever a new version rolls out. You can access your CMMS interface via a desktop, laptop, or a mobile device, giving you the flexibility and agility that an on-premise system can’t provide.

In fact, the Plant Engineering 2017 Maintenance Study revealed that 37% of respondents see CMMS as a profit generator compared to 22% maintenance professionals who view it as a cost.

2. Go Mobile

Back in the day, maintenance teams had to come to their office to check their tasks, daily requests and special instructions, if any. They also had to go back to their office to submit reports, findings, and observations to the management. Such practices were a waste of time and resources.

By adding the mobile capability to CMMS, organizations can quickly react and respond to ongoing developments in the field. With accurate, real-time information, users can make strategic decisions and actions on the go. Mobile technology, along with cloud computing, have helped improve efficiency, productivity, and accuracy of maintenance management teams while reducing operational downtime.

Modern CMMS platforms now come with mobile capabilities and apps, enabling management to provide instructions, tasks, requests, and schedules to their maintenance teams directly via their smartphones or tablets. On the other hand, maintenance crews can access their database for additional information or send real-time requests for expert guidance as well as provide management real-time updates.

From the field, maintenance personnel can create and submit reports as well as capture images for additional reference and supporting documentation. They no longer have to scurry back to the office to forward their reports and observations as they can do so in real-time using their mobile devices.

According to the 2017 Plant Services PdM Survey, 37% of maintenance professionals surveyed said they have plans to increase investment into CMMS. The same report showed that 30% intends to boost wireless connectivity of their field workforce and another 30% are looking to invest in smartphones for their workers.

3. Perform Better with Business Intelligence

Whether it’s a CMMS software for small business or a platform for a large industrial organization, business intelligence is fast becoming a requirement for many CMMS users. The role of business intelligence has greatly expanded, providing users with insights and opportunities that lay hidden and untapped beneath mountains of raw data.

In the context of maintenance management, business intelligence helps CMMS users identify issues in their processes as well as ways on how to further enhance them. Business intelligence allows CMMS users to make effective and viable maintenance schedules and generate more reliable and accurate forecasts for proactive maintenance. It helps users automate their schedules as the software automates the process while including prediction and forecasts in the equation.

A Long Way To Go

Maintenance management has come a long way from old school methods that involve pen, paper, and checklists. The introduction and subsequent evolution of maintenance management have seen the rise and increasing ubiquity of CMMS across multiple industries. People who think it’s limited to maintenance scheduling and monitoring will be surprised. CMMS software can now be used in so many ways, including recording asset/equipment history, managing inventory, and performing audit and certification, features you’ll find in our READYTrak software suite.

From a pen-and-paper approach in the 1950s, advances in technology have changed the way maintenance-intensive businesses and organizations do maintenance management. The rise of the Internet raised a question is weather king a good brand. Integration among systems have made it possible to unify maintenance tasks and processes in one system. Efficiency and productivity have increased. Mobile technology has allowed remote workers to access information and submit reports from anywhere in the facility.

But emerging technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) and virtual reality/augmented reality (AR/VR) have yet to make a significant impact on maintenance management. Experts say these technologies are poised to shape various aspects of human living and maintenance management is not exempted. Although there is still a long way to go, the prospect of these technologies becoming married to maintenance management and integrated with CMMS is truly exciting.