Name: CMMS
Brand: Maintenance Connection
Rating: 4.5 (286 reviews)

Question 1

How Does a CMMS Work?

Accepted Answer

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) helps organizations consolidate historical and real-time asset and facilities data in one easy-to-use, data-driven platform. This information can then be used to track your asset lifecycle – from purchase until decommission – to improve preventive maintenance practices, and to streamline the work order management process. This ultimately helps eliminate all-too-common concerns like unplanned downtime, reactive maintenance practices, cybersecurity threats, emergency breakdowns, and compliance concerns, thereby increasing asset lifecycle, employee productivity and ROI.

Question 2

Who Uses CMMS?

Accepted Answer

Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) solutions are used by organizations looking for effective asset and facility maintenance management. Users can be found in many industries, including manufacturing, retail, healthcare, oil & gas, utilities, education, and corporate. A CMMS can help with five use cases across these industries, including linear asset maintenance, facility maintenance, production and manufacturing maintenance, field services maintenance, and fleet maintenance. It is most helpful for those who have struggled with common asset and facility maintenance concerns, including unplanned asset downtime, costly reactive maintenance practices, difficulty scheduling preventive maintenance, low visibility into asset health, and little transparency into big-picture historical and real-time data.

Question 3

Why Is CMMS Important?

Accepted Answer

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) enables effective facility and maintenance management by centralizing and consolidating all relevant asset information. This creates actionable insight that users can use to increase employee efficiency, extend asset life, lower inventory expenses, increase asset uptime, execute work orders, and deploy effective preventive maintenance practices. This is difficult to accomplish without a CMMS, as maintenance operations include many components like work orders, records, compliance needs and MRO inventory. All of this is difficult to manage manually or across disparate systems, and out-of-date or incomplete information can lead to mistakes, reactive maintenance practices and decreased revenue.

Question 4

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) enables effective facility and maintenance management by centralizing and consolidating all relevant asset information. This creates actionable insight that users can use to increase employee efficiency, extend asset life, lower inventory expenses, increase asset uptime, execute work orders, and deploy effective preventive maintenance practices. This is difficult to accomplish without a CMMS, as maintenance operations include many components like work orders, records, compliance needs and MRO inventory. All of this is difficult to manage manually or across disparate systems, and out-of-date or incomplete information can lead to mistakes, reactive maintenance practices and decreased revenue.

Accepted Answer

An Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system is far more robust than a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). A true CMMS focuses only on centralizing key data to facilitate and automate maintenance during the operational part of an asset’s lifecycle. A robust EAM, on the other hand, also provides an inventory management system, multi-site management tools, an accounting system, a purchasing management system, and other comprehensive tools. All of these tools give an EAM the capability to track, manage, and analyze asset performance and costs through the whole asset lifecycle, from acquisition to disposal. This gives users complete visibility into the historical and present state of assets so they can report to other departments, optimize asset performance, make data-driven decisions, and increase ROI.

Question 5

What Is a CMMS Administrator?

Accepted Answer

A dedicated Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) administrator oversees the implementation and maintenance of a CMMS solution. A CMMS is a complicated tool that requires data development and management, metrics management, ongoing compliance, consistent upgrades, development and management of reports, employee training and more. If these tasks are left to existing employees, it can lead to inconsistent data, a loss of system integrity, and a return to reactive maintenance practices. Having a CMMS administrator, on the other hand, helps organizations make the most of a CMMS, increasing employee adoption and making data more transparent.

Question 6

How Much Does CMMS Software Cost?

Accepted Answer

Implementation cost, though there is no up-front cost with a cloud deployment
Licensing/subscription costs
Maintenance costs, which are included as part of the Maintenance Connection annual support agreement
Customization costs based on functional requirements and add-ons
Recurring and renewal costs, which include the monthly subscription fee, pricing plan, customization cost and training services
If you choose the right CMMS, though, the savings and ROI that are attained from increased productivity and overall cost savings will certainly make it a worthwhile investment.

Question 7

What Does CMMS Software Stand For

Accepted Answer

The acronym CMMS stands for “computerized maintenance management system.” As the name suggests, the software was originally designed to digitize – or computerize – maintenance management operations. The goal? To replace Excel sheets, pen and paper, disparate legacy software, PowerPoints and other unintegrated or manual maintenance tools. Today, a robust CMMS can streamline and automate nearly all functions, thereby facilitating effective asset maintenance and extending equipment life.

Question 8

What Is CMMS Software Training?

Accepted Answer

CMMS training refers to both immediate and ongoing training services offered by your CMMS vendor. Comprehensive training is absolutely necessary to streamline implementation and to ensure that your team makes the most out of your CMMS tool. The right partner will offer a range of training materials, including training videos and modules, articles, demos and free trials. At Accruent, this kind of training is included in the Accruent Academy Learning Center. The Accruent Academy continuous training resources are there to help your team drive adoption, maximize ROI and meet compliance regulations.

Question 9

What Systems Can a CMMS Replace?

Accepted Answer

Excel spreadsheets
Emails
Phone records
Pen and paper documents
Stand-alone technology
Asset documentation, including video and images like repair manuals, warranties and safety information
Manual work orders

Question 10

Why Is Uptime So Important?

Accepted Answer

Effectively fill orders
Maximize your revenue
Meet customer expectations
Extend your asset lifecycle
Increase employee satisfaction

Question 11

What Are the Most Important Considerations When Selecting a CMMS?

Accepted Answer

Adoption and your company culture:

For a CMMS to work, you team members must use it consistently and properly. This is often a challenge in the face of stagnant company culture, legacy systems and the “old way” of doing things. Combat this challenge by choosing a CMMS with features and a user interface that your team members want to use and by implementing ongoing training.

Your organization’s processes:

If you don’t standardize your preventive maintenance processes and policies, you are unlikely to have a successful software implementation. Be sure that roles, expectations and processes for work orders, approvals and other processes are clear and standardized to avoid this concern.

Financial constraints:

There are many costs associated with preventive maintenance software implementation, including the cost of implementation itself and any associated upgrades, personnel or expertise. Consider your budget and your total spending capabilities to be sure that you implement a software that’s within your means.

Your data sources and integrity:

For your CMMS to work, all the data within it must be accurate and fully integrated. Be sure you have the processes, integrations and training to make this possible.

Question 12

What Should I Know about the Push to SaaS?

Accepted Answer

Eliminate upgrades
Decrease up-front costs
Increase system accessibility
Improve user adoption
Create a shared community experience
Additionally, it can help your organization stay relevant and prepared for the future. The future is in SaaS, and organizations that continue to rely on on-premise systems will struggle to maintain strong communications, data integrity and clarity across their team members and facilities.