Why Web-Enabled CMMS is a Good Investment

Since the industrial revolution, maintenance of equipment has been a very challenging task for companies. And with more sophisticated and capital intensive equipment being brought in, companies faced still increasing levels of technical and logistics issues with regard to maintenance. And in response to these growing challenges, Maintenance Management has evolved into a specialized area.


Next Level Maintenance Management

A core strategy to automate the maintenance management function is the adoption of computerized and computer controlled techniques for maintenance management. Computerized Maintenance Management system (CMMS), otherwise known as Enterprise Asset Management, refers to software solutions that automate and simplify the management of key organizational assets.

And while the specialization and focused skill sets required for successful asset and maintenance management remain, companies have also realized that maintenance activities and especially, the information and data flow within the asset management process, must be visible in real-time for those departments and personnel that would benefit. Similarly, organizations are also realizing that maintenance staff and teams must also have knowledge and data from other groups and functions within the enterprise.

One key technology that has vastly improved the perpetualization of this enterprise view of maintenance management strategy is the web-enabled CMMS. This technology offers certain key features that make it more beneficial than other commonly used asset management solutions:

Asset Tracking

A full featured CMMS provides a wide range of asset tracking capabilities, including tracking of initial asset cost/value, depreciation, current value, retirement value, etc. It also tracks cradle-to-grave usage and incident history, attributes, operation procedures and technical features. A web-enabled CMMS provides the ability to expose this information on any authorized device via a simple web browser interface. This includes mobile devices, such as laptops, tablets, and PDAs. In addition, a web architecture dramatically facilitates data exchange using web services and XML protocols and therefore can expose this critical asset management data to systems such as ERP, GIS, DCS, and HMI.

Preventive Maintenance

Enterprise asset management software has the capability to transform the maintenance department from a reactive mode to a proactive/preventive mode. CMMS platforms based on web architecture offer superior features including the initiation of a condition based maintenance strategy via web services interfaces to DCS and HMI systems. In addition, work orders generated can be more flexibly scheduled and managed via a browser enabled calendar utility that is integrated with the enterprise calendar system - such as Microsoft Exchange.

Maintenance Management

From labor allocation and scheduling and the tracking of work order requests and labor time to replacement parts allocation, cost allocation, repair procedure maintenance and work order life cycle management, most web-enabled CMMS solutions provide numerous features that facilitate effective maintenance management.

Reporting and Analysis

Not only can web-enabled CMMS software track asset management activities, but some solutions in the market also possess remarkable reporting and analysis capabilities - all exposed to authorized personnel via a simple web browser. Automatically generated reports on asset value, usage and repairs, asset productivity, work order schedule, labor productivity, work order maintenance history, etc., can be either emailed to designated personnel on a periodic basis, or exposed via secure portals and dashboard views, displayed upon proper system login.

While maintenance management and the investment in maintenance management technology has long played a crucial role in business productivity, the unique features offered by web-enabled CMMS software can bring an even higher ROI, while decreasing obstacles to enterprise wide adoption and deployment.