How to Find the Best Maintenance Management Software (CMMS)

Maintenance management software also known as

computerized maintenance management software
(CMMS) is a fairly mature software category. A good
maintenance management software product will help
one manage both unplanned/ breakdown maintenance
as well as plan for preventive maintenance. Being able to
collect data on maintenance done and analyzing it is
extremely helpful in identifying areas for improvement
and reducing maintenance costs.

There Are Too Many Choices!

Are you responsible for finding suitable maintenance management software for your organization?
There are hundreds of different maintenance management programs available. However, the very
variety of available products makes it difficult for most users to identify the product that is the best for
their needs. The following set of questions with explanations can help you narrow down the field to the
candidates you should consider.

15 Questions to Help You Find the Best Software

1) Where will the system be used and who will use it?
You should consider the size of the maintenance team, the number of locations being managed and the
level of integration required with other company systems. Very large maintenance teams spread across
multiple locations may require an enterprise class system if you will need to consolidate all maintenance
data. If a high level of integration with other company systems is needed an enterprise class system may
be needed. Typically most ERP packages offer maintenance modules and provide integration with other
systems. The downside of such enterprise class systems is they are very expensive to purchase & deploy.
Substantial training, consulting services and ongoing support will be required.

2) How will the system be used?

For small- to mid-sized maintenance teams (under 50 people), an enterprise-class system is frequently
overkill. A packaged CMMS targeted for small- to mid-sized teams is often the best choice. Packaged
CMMS products could be hosted on a vendors web site as a service or as software that is installed and
maintained by the customer.

3) How well are you protected from the future?

It is recommended buying a package that you can install and run on your own computers. This protects
you from vendor failures, arbitrary licensing changes, protects confidential data and gives you full
control over your maintenance data. Try to find products that charge a one-time license fee (perpetual
license). Avoid vendors that require you to pay a monthly/ yearly charge to use their software since you

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will be on the hook in case of any arbitrary price changes or product retirements (e.g. you are forced to
upgrade since the vendor no longer supports the product combination you originally purchased). Be
wary of such potential problems and possible organizational issues with cloud based Software As A
Service (SaaS) type CMMS package vs. an installed on-premises system (see the Additional Resources at
the end of this guide).

4) How will you setup the system?

Consider how easy it is to setup the system and to import/ export your data. The benefits of a low
license cost may be completely lost if there is a big charge for software installation & setup. Systems
that are designed to be user setup and managed are best.

5) Does it allow you to define a maintenance task library?

Good CMMS systems allow maintenance managers to create standard maintenance procedures for
different types of equipment. For example, an HVAC system may need a monthly service to replace
filters, as well as a semi-annual service to check heating/cooling systems. Once the templates are
created, they can be associated with the different equipment and reused. In this case, the specified
HVAC tasks can be associated with all the HVAC equipment that may need this service. Having such a
library reduces data entry once they are set up as well as makes it easier to consolidate & track the
different types of maintenance work being done.

6) How can you schedule maintenance work orders?

Good CMMS systems provide the ability to schedule work orders by different criteria (e.g. day of the
week or month, changes in a meter reading, alarm conditions, completion of a prior work order, etc.).
For example, the ability to schedule a work order based on the completion of a prior work order can be
very useful when handling a complex job that may need to be done by multiple sub-contractors. Once a
work order for one contractor is completed, the work order for the next contractor is scheduled, and so
on.

7) Can it handle maintenance on both equipment & locations?

Scheduling and managing maintenance on both equipment and locations is very useful. While most
maintenance is typically done on equipment, being able to schedule maintenance by location(s) makes it
easy to support any location-related maintenance that may be needed (e.g. at assembly stations,
storage areas, loading docks and more).

8) Does it support calendars with holidays/ non-working days?

Support for maintenance calendars enables users to create different work calendars for different
equipment and maintenance technicians. The system can use the calendar to adjust job schedule dates
or provide warnings when personnel will be unavailable to complete a job.

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9) Can it handle both unplanned (breakdown) and planned preventive maintenance?
CMMS systems should allow maintenance managers to create and manage both preventive and
unplanned maintenance work orders. Having a single interface to manage both types of maintenance
makes it easier to keep track of what is going on in the maintenance system and to capture all relevant
data.

10) Does it have a planning function?

This is a crucial function that can make or break maintenance management software. You should be able
to create daily/weekly plans of maintenance due. Being able to generate all work orders due and
distributing them to different maintenance personnel makes it easier to handle maintenance work and
make sure it gets done! The planning function can also provide warnings if a work order might clash with
another work order, people will be unavailable or working on a prior scheduled work order, parts are
running out of stock and so on.

11) Does it provide good alerts & reminders of jobs that need to done?
Easy-to-see reminders/reports can let personnel know about work orders that are past due and may
have been skipped. The system may also offer the ability to review current and future maintenance
work, and provides options to balance them out. This can help avoid having days where too much work
is scheduled and other days during which very little is done.

12) How well does it keep track of maintenance inventory & usage?
Good CMMS systems can keep track of maintenance-related parts and spares, enabling maintenance
managers to associate parts with maintenance tasks and track their use as work orders are created. The
software can help track inventory, let personnel know when to restock items, and quickly identify parts
that are no longer required in situations where the equipment is retired. In addition, being able to track
the unusual use of certain parts is helpful because it can help identify potential pilferage or inefficient
maintenance practices.

13) Can it manage vendors of parts & equipment?

The system can also keep track of vendors for parts and equipment, which makes it easy to reorder
parts or contact vendors for any equipment-related questions. Good systems support multiple parts
vendors and allow users to rate vendors so that they can decide which to use the next time a part needs
to be reordered.

14) Does it have the important reports you need?

A variety of reports is also available to analyze the system and keep track of system health. While
many complex statistical analysis reports can be created, most are not very useful for maintenance
personnel. Important reports include key maintenance statistics; work order analysis to check the
maintenance plan; compare unplanned vs. planned maintenance work over time; compare equipment

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maintenance costs/duration against similar or other equipment; the use and costs of parts/spares; part
reorder reports; maintenance costs; and work order duration by category, location, equipment, etc.

Reports on maintenance statistics can be quite varied and confusing. What sort of data should
be collected? You will find a variety of ratios and numbers being provided e.g. MTBF, MTTF, MTTR,
downtime, backlog, estimating accuracy and so on. The most important of these maintenance statistics
would be work order backlog, average days to complete work orders, work order completion percent,
equipment downtime, preventative vs. breakdown time spent, equipment with the most cost and task
estimating accuracy. For more details on what these statistics mean you can see the following blog
article Key Maintenance Management Statistics for Maintenance Planners
(http://info.smglobal.com/blog/bid/132982/Key-Maintenance-Management-Statistics-For-
Maintenance-Planners ).

15) Do you need to accept work requests?

If a lot of non-maintenance personnel/client requests need to be processed, you may find work request
management very useful. Email/SMS alerts when a work request is submitted/ processed can also be
beneficial.

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In Conclusion The Benefits You Can Expect
Selecting a maintenance management software product
may seem like a complex and confusing task, especially
considering the variety of available product choices.
However, the benefits of buying and using a maintenance
management product are well worth the trouble.
Improving maintenance inventory management reduces
the costs of holding spares/parts. In addition, access to
better statistics regarding maintenance needs, as well as
information on failures, can help identify areas for
improvement.

A good system can help reduce the frequency of equipment downtime and maintenance
personnel burnouts because of better work order tracking and helpful analysis of collected historical
data. Establishing and recording best practices provides better maintenance at lower cost. Maintenance
reports created by the system may also be useful to achieve certification and comply with local health
and safety standards. While the costs of such a system may look high at first glance, the multiple savings
opportunities and benefits can result in a payback period of six months or less. Many maintenance
management software vendors offer a trial of their software (you can find our 30-day trial of FastMaint
CMMS in the Downloads section of http://www.smglobal.com). Once you find software that looks like
it may meet your needs, you should be able to download a trial to confirm it will work for you.

Good luck!

Additional Resources:
You can also visit our Maintenance Software Blog (http://info.smglobal.com/blog) for articles and
advice on maintenance management software, for example:
1. CMMS Software Reviews How Good Are They?
2. Mobile Phone Support In CMMS/ Maintenance Management Software
3. CMMS/ Maintenance Software Setup Tips For First Time Users
4. Benefits Of Installed On-Premises CMMS Software vs. Cloud Based Maintenance Software

For more information, contact SMGlobal Inc. at 5448 Apex Peakway #308, Apex NC 27502; call +1.919.
647.9440; email sales@smglobal.com; or visit http://www.smglobal.com to download a fully functional
30-day trial of FastMaint CMMS for Maintenance Management.

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