RCM Success Starts with CMMS

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems are known for their robust features that streamline and improve company operations. Despite this, maintenance teams rarely take advantage of all the functionality available in their CMMS. This article highlights some key CMMS features that maintenance teams should use to get more value from their investment, improve efficiencies, and save costs. 

Maintaining an interactive collaborative partnership with inter- and intra-departmental groups and outside groups is essential if a maintenance department is to be successful in delivering asset reliability and availability at a level suitable to achieve production throughput and quality targets. To achieve this, a maintenance department must understand the difference between "what it manages" and "what it controls."

Much has been written in the past about the implementation of maintenance software (CMMS systems). This article takes a slightly different approach in that it attempts to explain some of the pitfalls associated with first time implementation in SME's. It suggests a "try before you buy" approach, which stages the maintenance software implementation to reduce both risk and cost. Tales of failed implementations abound and failure rates of 40% to 80% are commonly quoted. Real statistics are hard to come by but the following data is both relevant and current.

For most companies, gone are the days when users were forced to conform to a rigid framework dictated by the CMMS vendor and strictly controlled by the Information Systems department. Users today enjoy freedom to customise the content, look and feel of their CMMS environment on a variety of devices, from handhelds to desktops. With modern computers and software, users are overwhelmed with choices.

Every modern operation—whether it runs on machines or on servers—depends on one invisible factor: uptime. In industrial settings, maintenance ensures that equipment remains reliable, efficient, and safe. In the digital world, cloud operations ensure that IT systems continues to deliver the same qualities for data, applications, and services.

Facility management personnel in all industries have waited a long time for computer technology to become applicable and affordable enough to implement in their respective maintenance efforts. In recent years, flexible, dependable and economical computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) have become available to help fight the never-ending struggle to operate and maintain buildings of all shapes, sizes and functions.

June 2024 marks National Safety Month, an annual occasion to highlight the critical importance of workplace safety and raise awareness about potential hazards. For industries that rely on industrial equipment and heavy machinery, proper maintenance practices and safety protocols are vital for preventing accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Continuously striving to improve workplace safety is not only the ethical thing to do, but also keeps facilities productive, reduces downtime, and protects businesses from legal action.