Maintenance managers are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that equipment and facilities are properly maintained. In organizations with a lot of maintenance work to keep track of, a maintenance manager’s job can be overwhelming without CMMS (computerized maintenance management software). A robust CMMS features tools that organize your maintenance operations, track problems and identify opportunities for improvement.
Organization is the key to successful maintenance management, and CMMS software helps you stay organized by keeping track of your assets, such as spare parts and machinery. The software stores a wealth of information about each asset, including information about warranties, manufacturers, vendors and life expectancy. Gone are the days of using spreadsheets, post-it notes and your own memory to keep track of your maintenance program.
Below are 5 important CMMS features for maintenance managers.
1. Work order tracking
One of the best CMMS features is the work order management module. By issuing and tracking work orders in a maintenance management system, you can monitor their progress every step of the way. This helps maintenance managers ensure that tasks are performed. If something goes wrong, maintenance managers can go back and determine who was responsible and what they did.
2. Reusable task templates
Maintenance managers can develop reusable task templates to easily create work orders for frequently occurring jobs. This reduces the amount of time spent entering instructions for work orders. In order to develop a reusable task template, a maintenance manager can sit down with a maintenance technician to put together detailed instructions on how a maintenance task should be performed using best practices.
A task template will enable new maintenance technicians who are unfamiliar with the task to get up to speed quickly. This ensures that the work is done correctly and helps prevent equipment breakdown. To put it simply, CMMS software enables you to capture the knowledge of your best and most experienced maintenance technicians and store it in your system so that it’s available for everyone in your organization to use.
3. Share statistics with upper management
Make it easier for upper management to keep track of maintenance operations by sharing statistics with them via a CMMS reporting module. Important statistics that upper management will want to keep track of include machine downtime, pending work orders, planned/preventive maintenance and more. Such reports will help the management team understand the state of your maintenance program and identify areas for improvement.
4. Generate equipment breakdown reports
Oftentimes, an organization’s maintenance problems and emergencies are caused by a small subset of equipment. Accessing equipment breakdown reports and viewing historical records of equipment issues and statistics can help maintenance managers identify problem equipment and replace it. This will help reduce equipment breakdowns and enable your organization to save time and money.
5. Give maintenance technicians quick and easy access to work orders
Maintenance technicians are always on the move, so it can be difficult to keep them up to date regarding work orders that have been assigned to them. If you use a web-based CMMS software system, maintenance technicians can access the system anytime, anywhere via a desktop computer. Mobile CMMS makes it possible for maintenance technicians to access work orders and information about assets and inventory using their mobile devices. Using a web-based system or mobile option, maintenance technicians can also close work orders from a desktop computer or mobile device. This makes a maintenance manager’s job easier because he or she doesn’t have to chase after technicians to see if they’ve completed work orders. Moreover, having an easy way to update the status of work orders frees technicians up to spend more time on maintenance work.
If you’re interested in seeing how a CMMS program can simplify maintenance management, get in touch with DPSI. We’re a leading maintenance management software vendor offering solutions that can help you effectively plan and manage the maintenance of equipment and facilities. Contact us today for more information about our products and services, or schedule a CMMS demo today.
