Maintenance Management Software

Maintenance management software enables organizations to manage all aspects of their daily maintenance operations. It gives teams a way to organize reactive and preventive maintenance based on current work levels, technician skill set, priority, and more.

Maintenance management software often tracks inventory in real time, adjusting levels when technicians note usage when closing out work orders and PMs.

More sophisticated software systems will allow you to forecast large capital expenditures and build replacement plans that fit within your annual budget.

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a specific type of maintenance management software. It allows organizations to centralize all maintenance tasks, dispatch them to their team, and execute them.

CMMS software is known for reducing unnecessary downtime with routine maintenance and predictive maintenance, which can flag failures before they occur.

Organizations typically begin looking for maintenance management software when their current process (typically pen & paper, spreadsheets, or phone calls) becomes untenable. For some teams, this may look like a growing backlog of work, and for others, it may look like a growing list of failing assets.

Either way, maintenance management software gives teams a way to collect work orders, prioritize tasks, assign work to their team, and execute on the most critical items in a timely manner. This typically leads to reduced downtime, extended asset lifespans, and faster response times.

When searching for a CMMS, it’s important that the system has the basic functionality necessary to manage your daily maintenance needs. This includes the following features:

• Work order collection, distribution, and execution
• Time- and meter-based preventive maintenance
• Real-time parts inventory management
• Capital planning and forecasting

Beyond these basics, ensure that you select a vendor that offers a configurable solution. This makes setting up approval processes, automated work order scheduling, reorder points, and more a breeze.

It’s also important to ensure that the software you select is easy for your technicians to use. If they’re unable to easily pull up and close out work orders or PMs in the field, then they’ll be reluctant to use it. And a system that’s not used is equivalent to no system at all.

Finally, select a vendor with exceptional customer service who will ensure your needs are met during implementation and beyond. Many vendors will offer training for new staff members as you expand.

Maintenance management systems support all types of maintenance from basic work orders to time- and meter-based preventive maintenance tasks to predictive maintenance with sensor monitoring.

Whether you’re scheduling preventive maintenance for a large manufacturing plant or inspections for your school’s playground equipment, most maintenance management systems are flexible enough to fit your organization’s processes.

It depends on the system you purchase:

• Many free systems limit the number of assets, work orders, and PMs you can track.
• Most paid systems allow unlimited assets, work orders, and PMs.

Paid systems that don’t limit these options offer greater flexibility, historical trend analysis, and growth with your organization.

While there are free systems that offer very basic work order management, most comprehensive maintenance systems come with an annual subscription and implementation costs.

If your operations team is lean and your maintenance needs aren’t complex, a free system will likely suffice. However, larger teams with more sophisticated operations needs will need to purchase a system with more functionality.