Maintaining a profitable facility proves challenging for facility managers without CMMS software.
Many “paperless” systems were designed to help managers limit their stress and use of paper. But there’s one problem with this: They’re not paperless after all.
These systems reduce only a trivial amount of paperwork and they’re way too cumbersome to operate. As these systems continue to rely on paper, they create even more hassle and confusion for the maintenance team.
Activities get overlooked until the asset becomes a major liability. Your labor costs then become only a small expense of your facility’s total annual loss. Faulty equipment runs undetected, then it breaks. Man hours are overused and costs continue to rise.
Instead of managing your facility, you manage paper and the long trail of tasks needed to get the information from the paper into your computer.
CMMS software is the only way to get you out of the red and into the green.
Improving the Bottom Line Starts with Advanced CMMS Software
We’ve seen some a lot of software throughout the industry. Most systems are old-fashioned and problematic for facility managers to learn.
Extensive (and on-going) training is needed to use these systems. There’s no flexibility, and the need for paperwork when implementing the software is still prevalent.
Many managers use maintenance systems that are simply a hassle.
Legacy software and the need for paperwork are problems associated with antiquated, outdated solutions.
To move forward into the next era of facility management you’ll want to and will be able to…
- Entirely remove the use of paper from your maintenance efforts.
- Combine your efforts with automation of all activities and tasks.
We’re saying work orders, purchase orders and preventive maintenance: Paperless and Automated.
Transitioning from Paper-“work” to Paperless
Maintenance systems have progressed into high-tech systems.
They provide facility managers with the functionality and tools to improve all associated processes during implementation, resulting in a long-term reduction of dollars spent.
These are the type of systems that give you the value over time you need to avoid future losses. You can now say ‘maintenance software’ and ‘return-on-investment’ in the same sentence.
A valuable system will be a web-based solution. One that can be accessed via the internet from anywhere, anytime. A system that gives facility managers the ability to organize their system according to the needs of their facility.
Here’s what we’re talking about:
Your chief engineer receives a work order request from staff in Housekeeping. They’ve reported a broken light fixture.
The chief engineer can instantly add the work order details to the system. Directly from the details screen of the work order all the pertinent information can be added without moving to auxiliary screens.
While tracking the general details of the work order within the system, both departments will have a timeline of the work order from when it was scheduled to its completion.
Efficiency is a glorious thing…and so is peace of mind.
The Rudiments of Effective, Reliable Software
Efficiency is the key when moving your maintenance from a cost center to a profit center. Here are 8 traits of CMMS software that prove you can honestly enjoy using your system.
They’ll help you turn your maintenance efforts on autopilot and into high gear in no time.
Eliminate paper to eliminate maintenance related headaches.
Removing handwritten work orders should be a priority. It’ll bring your operation one step closer to success.
Eliminating work order reports with illegible handwritten notes can help you make huge strides and reduce the amount of files piling up on your desk.
Introduce this into your maintenance initiatives and watch your team’s performance spike as creating, tracking and automatically communicating work orders becomes much easier.
Creating work order requests is easy with online forms.
Eliminate the need for waiting. Provide your team with web-based forms.
It’ll allow them to quickly request work to be done. Create this web form for your maintenance operation to reduce the time it takes work to be completed. Time is money.
Employees can simply submit work orders for approval – directly into the software. Efficiency is an important trait of a proficient system. And web forms will help you along the way.
Conquer work order approvals.
Are work order approvals causing you more stress than you ever expected? Is the need to complete approvals slowing down your operation?
A unique quality of easy-to-use CMMS software is that it gives your team the ability seamlessly approve work orders in seconds.
Work orders are automatically enrolled into your facility’s chain of command as soon as they enter the system for an efficient, hassle-free line of approval. Who approves the work order is based on the type of work order and the amount.
With chain of command, two areas of your operation are quickly improved:
- Less time is spent worrying about and planning work to be done.
- Work gets DONE.
No-sweat preventive maintenance (PM).
If your preventive maintenance is troublesome or you don’t have one…it’s time to start researching one.
Stop losing money – get your PM up and running today. It’s vital. We can’t stress it enough.
Create your maintenance activities and tasks with ease. Use a system that allows you to track and monitor a calendar full of scheduled maintenance.
Checklists – you’ll want more and more of these.
Produce digital checklists and deliver them to your engineers and technicians. It’ll afford you the confidence that work will be completed the way you require it to be.
Using digital checklists ensures the consistency of all maintenance activities occurring at your facility. Consistency eliminates any questions resulting from stressful and ambiguous environments. It removes the barrier to getting the work done correctly.
Here’s an example:
- How do I perform this HVAC inspection? Check.
- Is this required for us to pass compliance? Check.
- Have all bases been covered during the life safety equipment inspection? Check!
Facility managers reduce stress with inventory tracking.
Schedule important notifications for managing your assets and inventory levels. Immediately know when your HVAC filters are low.
Properly managing your inventory levels helps you forecast your business needs. Peace of mind to know you have the resources you need – when you need them – is always good for business.
Notifications for vendor insurance and warranty expiration are your “insurance.”
If your warranties are expiring you should know, right? Expired vendor insurance could also lead to trouble for your facility.
You need a solution that allows you to set alerts and notifications. Know when warranties and vendor insurance expire. It’ll remove headaches so you can focus on ways to save time and money for your facility, like:
- Managing work orders and PM.
- Maintaining compliance and all life safety equipment.
Making crucial business decisions with ease using one-click reports.
If you frequently read our articles, you’re aware: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” However, we recommend you both measure and manage your maintenance operation with purpose.
We want to remove any facility management stress from your daily operation altogether. Have the valuable information useful to you when you need it.
Over to You
Implementing a progressive system will allow you to monitor key performance indicators so you can move your operation to a profit center.
Stop losing money and start enjoying peace of mind. It’s that simple.
