Mitigating Vulnerabilities In Manufacturing With CMMS Systems

The manufacturing industry has faced several challenges over recent years, including inflation, supply chain disruptions, material shortages, increased transportation and fuel costs, and more. While the inflation rate has diminished, experts indicate that manufacturers will continue to face higher costs in 2025 due to the high price index for input materials and components and higher compensation costs. Talent challenges persist. And while supply chains have stabilized, they have not returned to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Higher U.S. investments in manufacturing, specifically clean-technology manufacturing, and lower interest rates are expected to help create new job opportunities and drive long-term growth. Yet, manufacturers will face continued challenges and uncertain business climates due to higher costs, policy changes in the US, and geopolitical instability. Specifically, changes to trade policy and tariffs could drive up material and component costs and cause disruptions in the supply chain.

Manufacturing environments are challenging to manage, from anticipating and planning for shifts in market trends to managing daily operations, which requires ensuring equipment reliability, workplace safety, and compliance. This is where advanced technologies are expected to play a critical role in helping manufacturers handle change. Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) like LLumin’s CMMS+ provide users with predictive analytics, real-time condition monitoring, and other automated inventory and maintenance management tools.

In this article, we’ll discuss the most common vulnerabilities in manufacturing, MRO management, and LLumin’s CMMS+ features that can help reduce risk. 

Mitigating Vulnerabilities in Manufacturing Using CMMS Systems

Manufacturing facilities operate in complex environments where equipment and operational efficiency, safety, and compliance are critical for success. Vulnerabilities in maintenance processes leading to unplanned downtime and compliance failures can significantly impact productivity and profitability. Manufacturers are seeing advanced technologies, such as AI-powered CMMS tools, like LLumin’s CMMS+, as the means to overcome vulnerabilities and help drive value in their organizations.

However, AI-powered technologies rely on collecting, interpreting, and storing quality data. While many manufacturers have recently increased their investment in data management to support AI-powered technologies and strategies, they can face challenges during implementation. For example, data management, such as contextualization and validation, can require initial and ongoing training and oversight from a trained CMMS provider to ensure successful deployment. 

This is why LLumin provides a honed implementation process and continued support to ensure manufacturers are prepared and capable of overcoming challenges and maximizing ROI on their new CMMS+ investment.

Manufacturers must continue identifying vulnerabilities in their daily operations and target opportunities to invest in and deploy automated AI-powered technologies to help improve efficiency and productivity and reduce costs. Leveraging LLumin’s CMMS+ can facilitate this process and help manufacturers improve maintenance, repair, and operations management (MRO management), address vulnerabilities proactively, and implement predictive and preventive maintenance strategies. 

Further, LLumin’s CMMS+ provides real-time data tracking, condition-based monitoring, automated work orders, and asset lifecycle management features, all of which can reduce the likelihood of unexpected breakdowns and costly repairs.

Enhance asset performance management to mitigate manufacturing vulnerabilities

What is a Vulnerability?

In the manufacturing industry, a vulnerability can be a weakness in a production process, a defect in equipment, or equipment failure. It can also be an inefficient operational workflow that leads to inefficiencies, safety hazards, compliance issues, or financial losses. It can also refer to external factors related to economic changes, technological advancement, or other disruptions caused by geopolitical influences.

LLumin’s CMMS+ can help mitigate some of these risks by helping organizations increase flexibility and resilience, specifically through the use of automated and predictive technology. In the section below, we will explore some of the main vulnerabilities manufacturers will continue to face.

Common Vulnerabilities in Manufacturing

In the section below, we’ve explored some of the most common and well-known vulnerabilities in manufacturing. We will also explain how LLumin’s CMMS+ can be used to overcome these vulnerabilities and improve outcomes. 

Common Manufacturing Vulnerabilities: Improving MRO Management with LLumin
Supply Chain Disruptions	LLumin provides real-time tracking of spare parts, materials, and historical usage, enabling better forecasting and proactive procurement to reduce delays.
Material Shortages	LLumin’s CMMS+ automated inventory management tools enable users to monitor stock levels and set alerts for low inventory levels. It also enables users to improve vendor management and ensure timely restocking at the best prices.
Unexpected Downtime and Equipment Failure	Unexpected downtime and equipment failure can lead to high costs due to lost productivity and emergency repair costs. LLumin can help manufacturers implement predictive maintenance to monitor equipment health in real-time, preventing failures before they escalate and result in unplanned events.
Increased Material Costs	LLumin CMMS+ helps users optimize procurement strategies by tracking supplier performance and identifying cost-saving opportunities.
Reactive Maintenance	LLumin can help manufacturers shift maintenance from reactive to proactive, using advanced technology, automated scheduling, and predictive analytics.
Inventory Surplus/Deficit	Manufacturers experiencing inventory surplus/deficits can use data-driven demand planning to optimize stock levels, preventing overstocking and reducing waste.
Limited Manpower	Using an AI-powered CMMS, like LLumin’s CMMS+, can enable organizations to automate work order management and maintenance scheduling. This allows teams to prioritize tasks more efficiently and properly allocate scarce resources, such as qualified personnel.

Supply Chain Disruptions

Supply chain vulnerability is a significant concern among manufacturers. While some challenges attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic have lessened, eyes remain locked on global supply chains, geopolitical events, U.S. policy changes, and increased transportation and logistics costs. Advanced supply chain management is crucial to helping manufacturers overcome potential risks, disruptions, delays, and elevated costs. 

Contributing factors of supply chain disruptions might include:

• Shipping delays caused by geopolitical events and tension, for example, Houthi militia attacks on cargo containers in the Red Sea and low water levels in the Panama Canal.
• Labor shortages that affect production, transportation, warehousing, and maintenance.
• Higher wages, material costs, taxes, and tariffs.

Investing in advanced digital tools can enable manufacturers to improve supply chain management, visibility, and collaboration with reliable suppliers. 

Material Shortages

Material shortages are a significant challenge for manufacturers. Shortages can lead to production delays, missed deadlines, and loss of stakeholder and consumer trust. Shortages can result from supply chain disruptions, leading to limited raw materials and components availability and fluctuating demand. It can also result from changing contracts and terms with suppliers.

According to data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QSPC), around 11% of U.S. manufacturing plants continue to cite material shortages as a key impediment to capacity utilization. Industries reported to be most affected by material shortages to date include Computers and electronics Products, Electrical Equipment, Appliances and components, Wood Products, and Textiles.

Unexpected Downtime and Equipment Failure

Unexpected downtime and equipment failures are an ever-looming threat to manufacturing plants. Industries that rely on business-critical equipment to meet production goals require proactive maintenance to reduce disruption risks and associated high costs. Prevention is key, as once mechanical failures lead to breakdowns and loss of function, an unfortunate series of reactionary control measures will be needed to get operations back up and running. 

Manufacturers require preventive and predictive maintenance strategies to address the early signs of equipment failure, deploy inspections, repairs, and maintenance at the right time, and keep costs from spiraling out of control.

Increased Material Costs

Manufacturers are facing higher costs due to labor and raw materials. According to a NAM 2024 survey, survey participants indicated that they expect wages and raw material prices to rise another 2.7% over the next year. Navigating and managing these costs carefully will determine whether an organization can remain competitive.

Reactive Maintenance

Keeping equipment up and running at high-performance levels requires proactive maintenance and vigilance. Delays in necessary inspections, maintenance, and repairs can escalate maintenance costs quickly. For those who rely on a reactive approach, maintenance costs can be double or more than preventive maintenance costs. 

While several contributing factors cause this, a lack of visibility associated with reactive maintenance is one of the main culprits. Advanced CMMS software can help ensure you have a high-level overview of your facilities and equipment, predict when maintenance should occur, automate necessary maintenance tasks, and enable maintenance managers to track their fulfillment.

Implement predictive maintenance to get the most out of your assets

Inventory Surplus or Deficits 

Manufacturing companies face many challenges that can negatively impact their ability to operate efficiently and remain profitable. Another vulnerability includes both excess and deficit inventory levels. A surplus of inventory can increase overhead and storage costs, tie up working capital, and lead to waste. Deficits can lead to delays in production. The goal is to manage procurement and inventory, preferably with automated, AI-powered CMMS software.

Limited Manpower

When an organization faces a problem of limited manpower or a skills gap, technology can help streamline, automate, and optimize several manufacturing processes to ensure that human resources are allocated in the best way possible. Automated AI technologies easily take over certain repetitive tasks. This enables an organization to ensure that complex tasks that require human oversight and management are prioritized. Further, the same technology can be used to improve team training.

Key Features of CMMS for Risk Mitigation

LLumin’s CMMS+ provides several crucial features and tools to help manufacturing companies mitigate risks, improve efficiency and performance levels, and reduce costs. They can also contribute to a more resilient and streamlined manufacturing process, helping an organization avoid costly disruptions. We’ve listed the key features for risk mitigation below.

• Preventive Maintenance Scheduling: Whether you’re deploying time-based or usage-based preventive maintenance or more advanced predictive maintenance, LLumin can support automated task creation, assignment, and task monitoring. This can help keep teams on track and accountable.
• Real-time Asset Tracking: You cannot effectively manage what you cannot see daily. LLumin enables real-time, condition-based monitoring of equipment performance and health. 
• Inventory Management: LLumin can enable teams to ensure necessary parts and materials are always on hand, reducing surplus and deficits. It can ensure you’re doing business with the right vendors at the right price and time. 
• Regulatory Compliance Management: Compliance with applicable regulations is essential to reduce risk and avoid legal penalties. LLumin can help keep your teams on track, support documentation of your efforts, and provide you with comprehensive reports to ensure your organization stays compliant. 
• Predictive Analytics: One of the most important features of risk management is the process of using historical data and AI to forecast potential failures and reduce downtime. 

Enterprise asset management software for industrial manufacturing

Case Studies: CMMS in Manufacturing Success Stories

LLumin CMMS+ Increases Maintenance Workforce Efficiencies and Operations Uptime for Caterpillar Plant“As a maintenance manager, using LLumin’s Asset & Maintenance Management Software suite allows me to understand my employees’ workload better and increase our service levels to the plant.”Read The Full Case Study Here

TenCate Leverages LLumin’s CMMS+ to Achieve Lean & Efficient Maintenance ProcessesUpgrading to LLumin’s CMMS+ allowed TenCate to identify previously undiscovered bottlenecks in the manufacturing process. Moreover, their previous solution was not user-friendly and thus was not utilized by TenCate staff. “We also found that our staff sometimes avoided the previous solution because using it was not intuitive—especially for non-computer savvy personnel.”Read The Full Case Study Here

Future-Proofing Manufacturing with CMMS Innovations

If you’re considering purchasing CMMS software, it’s essential to evaluate your solution for features that will ensure your organization remains efficient and competitive. There are many solutions on the market. However, not all will have core features representing the latest innovations experts suggest are specifically needed in the manufacturing industry.

Those features include:

• IoT Integration: Smart sensors can provide real-time equipment data and integrate with distributed control systems (DCS) and other operations management software and hardware to improve continuous monitoring and control.
• AI-driven Predictive Maintenance: AI-powered technologies using machine learning algorithms can identify failure patterns that indicate developing problems.
• Cloud-based CMMS: Secure, remote accessibility and scalability are necessary for this industry, especially when managing multiple facilities and plants.
• Mobile CMMS Apps: Ensure your software has mobile capabilities. This will enable teams to perform on-the-go and in-the-field maintenance management via smartphones and tablets.

Partner With LLumin

The manufacturing industry is expected to grapple with familiar challenges in the near future. Experts recommend using new approaches, technologies, and tools to improve efficiency and resilience and prepare for industry expansion. LLumin’s CMMS+ was designed to help manufacturers mitigate vulnerabilities, improve MRO management, deploy predictive analytics, real-time asset tracking, compliance automation, and much more. 

Further, when you partner with LLumin, you will receive the hands-on training and support you need to get the best ROI on your investment and ensure new processes have the best chance of user adoption and success.