CMMS: The pros of using maintenance software
Once relegated to the background, maintenance is now seen as a strategic, cross-functional function that industries need to optimize.
In today's fast-moving economic climate, where the demands of productivity and competitiveness are relentless, manufacturing industries can no longer afford even the slightest downtime or malfunction on their production lines. In addition to the financial losses incurred by such failures, their brand image may also be tarnished in the eyes of trading partners.
It is therefore essential to adopt a proactive preventive maintenance strategy using a dedicated software solution. An appropriate CMMS is the natural choice for optimizing maintenance operations on production sites.
Let's take a closer look at the advantages of such a tool.
What is a CMMS solution?
A CMMS (for Computerized Maintenance Management System) is software dedicated to the planning and optimization of all maintenance activities within an industrial company.
In detail, this maintenance management tool centralizes all production equipment, intervention histories, preventive maintenance plans and spare parts inventories in a database.
The CMMS solution takes the form of an intuitive user interface, enabling each department to enter or consult the information it needs.
Thanks to this global, up-to-date view of maintenance operations, a CMMS solution is a real decision-making tool for improving industrial productivity while rationalizing costs.
Why implement CMMS software?
1 - Improving productivity
The productivity of production machines depends directly on their availability rate. A CMMS solution makes it possible to control key indicators such as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair). By optimizing maintenance, the aim is to minimize periods when equipment is unavailable.
Thus, the implementation of programmed preventive maintenance, instead of purely corrective maintenance, ensures better control of unplanned production stoppages.
What's more, CMMS provides maintenance teams with all the information they need to intervene effectively in the event of a breakdown. Intervention histories, parts inventories and detailed operating procedures can be consulted in real time.
In fact, thanks to systematic preventive maintenance and optimized interventions, equipment availability has improved significantly. Tangible productivity gains.
2 - Increase equipment lifespan (preventive maintenance)
A CMMS solution can increase the lifespan of equipment in a number of ways:
- A systematic preventive maintenance program, based on the manufacturer's recommendations, ensures rigorous machine upkeep.
- The centralization of service history and technical data facilitates the detection of recurring points of failure. Proactive measures are then possible.
- Compliance with the operating procedures entered in the CMMS prevents handling errors during troubleshooting, limiting the risk of damage.
- The ability to set automatic alert thresholds based on wear and usage indicators means greater responsiveness in the face of drift.
This global optimization of maintenance significantly increases the life expectancy of production equipment.
3 - Reduce costs
The use of CMMS software enables you to rationalize expenses linked to maintenance activities, thus significantly reducing costs.
Firstly, as we have seen, scheduled preventive maintenance limits the number of production incidents. Costly unscheduled stoppages are reduced. What's more, planned preventive operations maximize equipment life and defer costly replacement investments.
At the same time, centralized management of spare parts inventories avoids over- and under-stocking. Orders are optimized according to actual consumption and anticipated needs. Losses due to parts obsolescence are also reduced.
What's more, CMMS makes it easier to track the cost of each intervention, thereby rationalizing expenditure. It becomes possible to act upstream on the most costly items by maintaining or developing certain procedures.
By reducing unscheduled stoppages, ensuring rigorous inventory management and reinforcing control, the implementation of a CMMS generates substantial savings on production equipment maintenance costs.
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4 - Improving the quality of work
Implementing a CMMS solution also improves the quality and reliability of maintenance operations.
The integration of detailed, illustrated operating procedures into the CMMS software ensures that trouble-shooting and preventive maintenance operations are carried out correctly. Technicians follow standardized, optimized procedures for each type of equipment, limiting the risk of errors or omissions.
In addition, enhanced traceability of operations carried out, together with systematic feedback on points of difficulty or potential improvement, facilitate ongoing optimization of interventions. In this way, maintenance ranges and methods are regularly enriched by staff feedback.
What's more, the skills management system integrated into the CMMS solution ensures that each technician has the necessary authorizations before working on sensitive equipment. This enhances safety and preserves the quality of interventions.
5 - Reduce response times
Last but not least, the use of industrial monitoring software also significantly reduces maintenance response times in the event of breakdowns or incidents on production equipment.
The software centralizes all the information needed to act quickly and efficiently in the event of a machine failure. Technicians have access to detailed, up-to-date machine histories, adapted operating procedures and spare parts stocks, without having to laboriously search for scattered data.
What's more, the computerized management of service requests in the CMMS tool ensures that requests from production lines are processed smoothly and rapidly. Once the fault has been identified, the right team can be mobilized without delay.
In addition, forward planning of periodic maintenance operations enables us to anticipate staffing requirements and smooth out the workload of intervention teams. As a result, contingencies are better absorbed, thanks to improved resource allocation.
What features does a CMMS offer?
As we've seen, a CMMS offers a number of advantages for industry. But how is this solution designed? The software also includes modules for :
- Equipment management: this function enables you to reference all the equipment to be maintained, with its technical characteristics and associated drawings and diagrams.
- Maintenance management: this module ensures the planning of preventive maintenance operations and the follow-up of breakdown interventions. History and costs are centralized.
- Intervention request management: all requests from production are computerized, qualified and forwarded to the teams via the CMMS for efficient processing.
- Inventory management: spare parts and consumables are inventoried and stock levels automatically maintained.
- Purchasing management: supplier orders are drawn up by the CMMS according to anticipated maintenance parts requirements.
- Indicators and dashboards: performance indicators are used to monitor the efficiency of the maintenance function and equipment availability.
CMMS for which industries?
Industry
Of course, in industry, a CMMS is a must. As we have seen, it enables you to plan operations on production equipment, monitor costs, and maximize the availability of your production facilities.
Environment
In the environmental sector, a CMMS solution helps optimize the maintenance of water treatment or waste management facilities, for example.
At the same time, it ensures high availability, compliance with HSE standards and enhanced traceability of operations.
Real estate
In the real estate sector, CMMS software supports Facility Management players by ensuring the performance of buildings and installations, while facilitating rental and regulatory management.
Public authorities
Local authorities and public administrations are also deploying CMMS tools for their road network infrastructures, real estate assets and vehicle fleets.
This facilitates budget tracking of maintenance costs, enabling these structures to optimize their expenditure in a context where public spending is a major issue.
Health
In hospitals, CMMS is used to manage technical, biomedical and IT equipment. It responds to the sector's new constraints, and promotes the satisfaction of care services through optimized management of interventions.
Personal safety, an essential requirement, has also been reinforced.
How do you set up a CMMS in your company?
Successful deployment of industrial tracking software within teams requires rigorous change management based on training and day-to-day support.
It is essential to prepare employees in advance for the arrival of this new tool, which introduces new work procedures. Users must quickly see the concrete benefits they will derive from this tool, and the facilitation of their tasks thanks to a centralized, shared database.
Customized training sessions are therefore essential to ensure effective use of the CMMS solution: step-by-step use of the various modules, practical exercises on real cases, evaluation of acquired skills...
Subsequently, the presence of "CMMS" referents and user assistants in the field guarantees local support to help teamsassimilation new functionalities over time. This support enables us to respond to requests for assistance or upgrades to meet user needs as closely as possible.
Finally, a system for monitoring indicators and collecting user feedback, such as K-Value, precisely measures tool adoption and changes in working practices. Areas for improvement are then rapidly identified to accelerate the digital transformation of maintenance.
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Conclusion/CTA
Ultimately, the advent of CMMS software solutions marks a decisive turning point for maintenance activities within industrial and critical infrastructure organizations.
These digital tools enable the maintenance function to assume a strategic position at the heart of overall operational performance.
Over and above the obvious operational and financial gains, CMMS solutions also act as a lever for cultural transformation among field teams. They promote new collaborative practices that break down organizational silos, and enhance collective intelligence.
These software innovations applied to maintenance 4.0 are the beginnings of an ongoing transformation towards the intelligent, resilient plants and infrastructures of tomorrow.
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