What is it?
Maintenance software is a tool to help manage and
administer the maintenance functions at a commercial property or
facility. A major function of maintenance software is to help with
the successful execution and reporting of work performed by
maintenance technicians, vendors and other maintenance
staff.
One size does not fit all!
There are many different types of maintenance
software applications with varying levels of complexity, each
having its place within a particular industry. The selection,
sizing, and proper implementation of the software are critical
aspects of a software initiative.
Maintenance software goes by many
names:
- CMMS– Computerized Maintenance
Management System
- EAM – Enterprise
Asset Management (Software)
- CAFM – Computer Aided Facility
Management (Software)
- Facilities
Maintenance Software
- Work Order Tracking
Software
What does maintenance software
do?
Maintenance software handles five key aspects of
property and facility management. Each one is described
below.
- Work Management
- Preventive Maintenance
- Inventory
- Purchase Orders
- Reporting
Work Management
The primary
function of maintenance software is work management – the
management of scheduled or unscheduled activities performed by the
maintenance, engineering, or operations departments.
- In most maintenance software
applications, a work order is created for each activity
performed by maintenance personnel.
- Labor, vendor and parts costs
incurred to complete a work order can be assigned to the work
order and allocated to the department or customer for which the
work order was created.
- Some maintenance software
applications allow Supervisors to actively manage and distribute
the maintenance work to technicians, based on their current
workload.
- Examples of unscheduled maintenance
work requests are:
“Too hot in the office.”
“Leaking sink
in the restroom.”
“Lights are out in the conference
room.”
“Need furniture moved in the office.”
Preventive
Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance or PM is a
pre-determined maintenance procedure to be performed at a regular
interval on a specific piece of equipment or other asset. Most
maintenance software applications allow users to setup a specific
preventive maintenance activities that initiate a preventive
maintenance assignment each time the predetermined interval is
reached. Examples of preventive maintenance activities
are:
- Quarterly filter changes on air
conditioning units
- Semi-annual elevator inspection
- Annual fire-safety inspection
- Monthly carpet shampoo
Inventory
Maintenance software
enables accurate recording of spare parts (light bulbs, air
conditioning filters, etc.) used in the maintenance process. By
providing accurate information on parts usage, quantity and
location, organizations can make better purchasing decisions. Most
maintenance software applications allow for a standard cost to be
assigned to each spare part. When a part is used to complete a
specific maintenance work order, the cost of the part is assigned
to the work order.
Purchase Orders
Many
maintenance software applications have a purchasing module
available with which users can create, track, and report purchases
for materials and services. When a part
or service is required to complete a particular work order, the
purchase order price is automatically applied to the appropriate
work order. By tying this function to the parts inventory
function, the maintenance software can be used to automatically
initiate purchases when item quantities reach some predefined
reorder level.
Reporting
Maintenance software
is a central storage repository for operations information and
maintenance history. With the information contained in maintenance
software, building and facility managers can get reports of all
maintenance activity. The reports can include:
- Summary of total costs for
maintenance
- Summary of itemized costs for
maintenance (Labor, Parts, etc.)
- Budget planning and equipment
replacement reports
- Summary of work performed for
specific tenants/customers
- Billable work preformed for
specific tenants/customers
- Work history and failure analysis
for specific equipment
items
Facilities Management
Software Experts