Why a CMMS Software For Industrial Maintenance? Principal Functions

First of all, let us know that a CMMS software according to these acronyms is a tool for Computer Aided Management and Maintenance. It is a fundamental base in medium and large companies for the proper management of all maintenance work.

What is CMMS?

Computer  Aided Maintenance Management (CMMS) is software that maintains a database of information on the maintenance operations of an organization.

A CMMS software is the best solution to replace the manual processes that slow down the business and reduce the productivity of the team. The system automates the tedious tasks associated with maintenance, including administration and reporting.

A CMMS software can help you manage your assets, inventory, and work orders. A good CMMS software package comes fully equipped with a wide variety of maintenance management features.

Advantages of using CMMS Programs

Currently, production companies have automated processes which offer integration possibilities with different departments of the company . Being easy in these situations the integration of a CMMS software that integrates and is a suitable management tool for the maintenance department.

In general, the CMMS can be a decision-making support tool that allows:

• Control the costs of the facilities to be maintained.
• Guarantee the durability of the heritage.
• Optimize technical and human resources.
• Control the preparation of interventions, their planning and their costs.
• Optimize the management of the stock of spare parts to reduce its value, maintaining a satisfactory availability of the facilities.
• Inventory the technical installations and document them.
• Make the facilities reliable by analyzing the formalized and capitalized feedback through the decision and argumentation of action plans.

In current companies such as Industries 4.0 with a high degree of automation, which have management systems that involve all company departments, it would be a great advantage to be able to manage maintenance together with production management.

You can carry out a synchronization and look for gaps and suitable moments between changes in manufacturing processes to carry out adequate preventive maintenance, benefiting from the reduction and elimination of stops due to unscheduled breakdowns.

How to choose a CMMS?

To successfully implement a  CMMS  , a prior, detailed and precise analysis of the needs, a precise definition of the objectives, careful preparation of the participants and the involvement of all are required.

It is the companies themselves that, depending on their distribution, needs, requirements and both material and human equipment they have, will assess the CMMS software that best suits them.

Although these CMMS software have the particularity of being modular and extensible to be able to adapt adequately to a wide range of companies and sectors. For this there is great versatility and flexibility even from external companies that offer maintenance services and usually use these tools. We can document ourselves in the Association of comprehensive maintenance and energy services companies .

In addition, this must have the impulse of the management and the participation of the company’s personnel . These premises will allow, on the one hand, to make a pertinent choice between market proposals and, on the other, to reflect on more intelligent and efficient organizations.

The integration in existing systems in the industry is a point in favor to favor the integration. If, for example, we have SCADA control systems and HMI screens are used,  it may be easy to integrate new CMMS software screens for maintenance control into this system.

When selecting a CMMS software , we must know the operation of both the product process and the scope of the maintenance department.

• Know the human team and the qualification of this team.
• Know the tools and equipment you have.
• Know the jobs that require the equipment to maintain, as well as the time to execute it and the material and physical and human equipment that it requires.

Modules of a CMMS

CMMS  software is usually made up of several interconnected sections or modules, which allow executing and keeping an exhaustive control of the usual tasks in the Maintenance Departments, such as:

• Control of incidents, breakdowns , etc. forming a history of each machine or equipment.
• Programming of revisions and preventive maintenance tasks: cleaning, lubrication, etc.
• Control of Stocks of spare parts and spare parts, known as Warehouse Management or Control.
• Generation and monitoring of “Work Orders” for maintenance technicians.
• Spare parts warehouse management helping to implement product management, tools which we can associate to improve through the implementation of the 5S methodology

There is a large field of work and specialized maintenance service loan companies that have seen their performance improve by properly applying these CMMS software to carry out their work.

In the world of providing maintenance services and associated with a reduction in economic losses due to breakdowns as well as a reduction in economic losses due to energy waste, comprehensive maintenance and energy services companies proliferate. We can document ourselves in the Association for the development of engineering and maintenance.

Advantages of using a CMMS

Almost all companies agree on the advantages of a CMMS, including increased productivity, cost control and inventory optimization.

A CMMS software  puts an end to wasted paperwork and endless Excel sheets . Once all the information is entered into the software, it is very easy to find work plans, fault records, instruction manuals and other types of files.

With a CMMS,  each team member receives a notification every time a task is assigned to them . On the other hand, it facilitates the reporting of breakdowns to the technical team, which also reduces reaction time.

As with any change, there are always doubts and an adaptation phase. The trick is to choose the CMMS that best suits the company: it has to respond to your needs and integrate with the other software you already use.