An important part of enterprise asset management (EAM) systems, computerized Maintenance Management Software is commonly shortened to CMMS. Web-based and database-driven, CMMS captures and holds data about working plant, infrastructure and spares holdings. A competitive advantage can be obtained by using CMMS to reduce the costs related to downtime, parts ordering and storage and time taken by managers to report on issues that arise. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are enhanced by the use of data from the computerized maintenance management system.
Fed Up with Spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets are the usual starting point for businesses that place high value on cost-effective maintenance. These give a basic idea of the performance of plant and systems but the data is not easily manipulated, analyzed or presented. This is where a CMMS solution is ideal. Evidence to back up a case for investment in new parts or other change is easily acccessed and presented, often in graph form via the computerized maintenance software.
CMMS for Use in Specific Sectors
CMMS systems are used in a variety of niches, including machinery calibration monitoring, customer review and health and safety compliance. Many computerized maintenance management systems are available with extra modules suitable for specific niches or uses. These might include:
Asset tracking in CMMS
Monitoring assets effectively is a considerable part of any CMMS solution. Existing and new technologies play a key role here.
CMMS Enabling Condition Based Maintenance
CMMS allows maintenance managers to implement increasingly-sophisticated practices such as Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) which is a proactive predictive system of estimating the condition of a component and replacing it prior to failure. Condition based management or CBM modules store even more details than the general CMMS system, allowing even more accurate management of every componant.
The Ongoing Need for CMMS
Such CMMS-enabled planned environments are required by world-class organisations coping with:the race to compete globally and ever more expensive raw products and energy bills,hostile bids and merger of companies, hitting environmental targets,disposal costs of plant and materials. A well-implemented CMMS is therefore an essential component for maximising the Overall Equipment Effectiveness of a plant. To put a maintenance management system in place, click here.