Savvy Businesses Leverage Asset Tracking with CMMS Software

All businesses that rely on a building to operate also depend on various types of equipment to ensure the building’s safety and efficiency. Whether it’s production machinery, HVAC systems, or network infrastructure, when a vital tool fails, it can put a halt to business. There are a lot of tips on managing your company’s machinery properly, so you need to do your due diligence.

Facility managers deal with many aspects of asset maintenance, from servicing equipment or utilities whenever faults develop to keeping the cost of repairs and replacement components as low as possible. The key responsibility is to ensure assets are in good working condition and remain that way for as long as possible.

Given these supervisor responsibilities, it’s necessary to continually track vital parameters about managed assets’ status and output. Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) can help achieve this by relaying real-time data from machinery to management and technicians right to mobile devices. We talked about the need for businesses to use asset management strategies in the past, so we felt it was time to focus on a specific tool: CMMS software.

Your business should see tremendous benefits from using these CMMS tools.

CMMS Function

A CMMS automates all aspects of the asset maintenance process, from tracking equipment’s status to managing the staff involved in generating management reports. A few specific tasks a CMMS handles day-to-day are:

• Scheduling maintenance tasks and assigning them to technicians— CMMS can automatically send notifications to the designated engineer to ensure prompt servicing from new work orders.
• Organizing maintenance staff work shifts— These systems can work for time tracking by managing clocking in and out. Some may even track repair costs.
• Collecting and storing information about all the organizational assets, including equipment make, model, serial number, and location— More importantly, the CMMS will store statistics concerning the equipment’s performance and its history of failures and repairs.
• Analyzing data collected to outline trends on asset availability and performance— These insights are utilized to generate reports to support purchase or repair decisions.

Asset Management

One of the key advantages a CMMS offers is continually monitoring your assets without a technician’s presence on the ground. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors attached to utilities and equipment relay information to the CMMS database hosted in the cloud. This feature has proved especially useful in light of governmental restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19. Managers or other team members working remotely can retrieve this data from mobile phones.

With the collected information, your organization can adopt a more strategic approach to asset management, making substantial savings in the process. For instance, parts can be ordered in bulk instead of individually whenever a breakdown occurs. Sourcing for parts well-before a crisis allows ample time for price comparison to find the most cost-effective supplier.

Statistics on the performance and fault history of equipment can help management decide if it is viable in the long-term to repair it or replace it. CMMS can even automate requisitioning to ensure there are no gaps in production.

Managing assets will become easier and more accurate with CMMS software such as FMX’s or another reputable option. Details about each piece of equipment, such as its manufacturer, model number, age, and storage location, can be filed in a central location that all concerned staff can access. Technicians needing information from repair manuals can access it remotely on mobile devices, wherever they’re servicing utilities or components.

How Does CMMS Software Track Assets?

A proper CMMS can help you keep tabs on your assets in several ways by collecting vital statistics and making them available in real-time. This information is useful for the following:

1. Tracking Downtime: As your CMMS collects and stores data on breakdowns of equipment and the amount of downtime the breakdowns have caused, it will formulate a maintenance schedule to reduce the occurrence of such failures. This has the dual effect of helping you spend less on repairs and making your assets serve you longer.
2. Measuring Mean Time to Repair: Tracking the time between which a piece of equipment is functioning and needs repair can greatly help with scheduling. If there is a part required for this, it can be budgeted for and ordered in advance to prevent delays and reduce costs.
3. Gauging Equipment Effectiveness: If statistics indicate that a piece of equipment is breaking down frequently, management can assess the trend and decide if it will be more cost-effective to replace it.
4. Scanning Manufacturer Information: You can create QR codes to help you easily store and access information about all your assets. In addition to static information such as the name of the equipment’s manufacturer, its serial number, and model, QR codes can help you track dynamic data such as service history.

Investing in Your Assets

After devoting a considerable chunk of company resources to acquiring assets, management may be reluctant to invest in a system to assist in tracking wear and tear. However, a CMMS is a worthy investment that will ensure your organization reduces maintenance costs and extends equipment lifespan.