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Have you ever wondered how the heart of an industry beats? For the oil and gas sector, it's not in vast fields or towering derricks but hidden within lines of code. Picture this: intricate networks working tirelessly to keep machinery running smoothly, downtime minimal, costs low, safety high - that's a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for you. Think about your car dashboard alerting you when maintenance is due. Now imagine this on a grand scale where any disruption can cost millions; quite nerve-wracking isn't it? That’s how CMMS revolutionized the oil and gas industry. Don't sweat it! We're going to break down how these intricate systems are making maintenance a breeze and keeping us in line with regulations. You'll get the hang of this tech that's revolutionizing our world. The Current Status of the Oil and Gas Industry Despite global energy shifts, the oil and gas industry remains a significant player. Key to its operations are complex pieces of equipment that extract resources from deep beneath our feet. Oil wells aren't just dug - they're engineered masterpieces that keep economies fueled up. It's a massive undertaking where every second counts, downtime is not an option, and safety can never be compromised. This demanding environment has driven many gas companies to use Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS). These systems plan, track, and enhance maintenance activities in this equipment-reliant sector. They have become increasingly popular due to their ability to optimize resources while ensuring maximum uptime for critical machinery. Maintenance: A Core Pillar for Operational Efficiency In any operation as large-scale as oil extraction or natural gas production, regular inspections ensure everything runs smoothly without interruptions. However, it isn't only about avoiding stoppages but also prolonging equipment lifespan by detecting potential failures before they happen. CMMS plays a vital role here with predictive analytics capabilities which anticipate issues before they cause costly downtimes. Beyond preserving machinery health, though, these platforms contribute significantly towards overall operational efficiency too, helping control costs whilst enhancing productivity across boardroom floors and field sites alike. This makes them indispensable tools within modern-day business practices surrounding petroleum extraction industries worldwide. The Rising Adoption of CMMS in The Oil & Gas Sector A recent report showed widespread adoption among top-tier players operating under both offshore and onshore settings alike. It's no surprise then when considering all the advantages they bring to the table, especially in areas such as inventory management and preventive measures implementation, thus further driving the industry's growing reliance on such platforms. CMMS tools are now more than just a luxury - they're an operational necessity. The impact of these systems is tangible, with companies reporting significant cost savings through optimized maintenance strategies and streamlined processes. Especially in the gas industry, they've been pretty swift to jump on the CMMS bandwagon. Key Takeaway: The oil and gas industry is keeping pace with the times, harnessing the power of Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) to optimize operations. These systems are essential for managing complex equipment maintenance, boosting safety, reducing downtime, and enhancing overall efficiency. As a result of these benefits, CMMS adoption has surged in both offshore and onshore settings alike. Challenges Faced by the Oil and Gas Industry The oil and gas sector grapples with a plethora of challenges, from unpredictable equipment failure to time-consuming downtime. This is an industry where equipment reliability can make or break financial success. Unplanned hiccups in operations often lead to significant losses that ripple through every corner of these vast organizations. Beyond the immediate concern of operational disruption, there's also the issue of high costs. Running oil wells isn't cheap; maintaining them can be even pricier. Maintaining machinery and complying with regulations are both essential to ensure smooth operations. The Impact of Safety Audits Safety audits are critical for operating efficiency within this dynamic landscape. But they aren’t always straightforward. Their complexity frequently creates another layer of challenge for those managing these industrial giants. Routine safety audits are as much a part of reducing costs as effective maintenance schedules—perhaps more so because they help avoid costly fines and reputational damage linked to non-compliance issues. Audit results must be analyzed meticulously—a process akin to searching for a needle in an information haystack—but it pays off when companies can proactively address potential risks before they become actual problems. Navigating Regulatory Compliance Issues Finding your way through regulatory compliance hurdles isn't unlike attempting a marathon on stilts: challenging but necessary if you want to stay upright. While rules vary across regions, their common goal is ensuring safe practices that protect workers' health and minimize environmental impact from operations such as drilling or fracking. Navigating the oil and gas industry is no easy feat, requiring a courageous spirit to endure issues like broken machinery, prolonged pauses in activity, and meeting regulatory standards. But with every challenge comes an opportunity to innovate, adapt, and overcome. How CMMS Addresses Maintenance & Asset Management Challenges The world of oil and gas is complex, with a lot riding on equipment reliability. Enter the superhero - Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). This powerful tool can save companies over $243k through preventive maintenance alone. That's not pocket change. The Role of CMMS in Equipment Maintenance Maintaining a well-functioning machine requires diligent upkeep. It needs regular check-ups and TLC to keep running smoothly. A key feature of CMMS tools is work order management. This feature lets managers schedule tasks, assign personnel, track progress and ensure timely completion of jobs. Imagine trying to do all that manually. With such capabilities at hand, reducing downtime becomes achievable. No more guessing games about when the last maintenance was done or which parts were replaced – it’s all there in black and white within your CMMS platform. The Impact of CMMS on Spare Parts Management Ever had one tiny part bring an entire operation to its knees? Or ever bought spares you didn’t need because no one remembered we already had them? Well kiss those days goodbye thanks to automated inventory procurement from our friend Mr. CMMS. An efficient system will give alerts when stock levels dip below a certain threshold so replenishing never gets forgotten again while avoiding unnecessary purchases. This way managing spare parts becomes as easy as pie leading towards significant cost savings for businesses across the oil and gas industry. Superhero alert. CMMS is saving the oil and gas industry $243k+ with preventive maintenance alone. No more guessing games or unnecessary spares, just smooth operations and cost savings. #CMMSRevolution Desired Solutions for Maintenance and Asset Management A CMMS is an invaluable tool for oil and gas operators to effectively manage maintenance tasks, such as preventive maintenance. A CMMS can make all the difference in managing maintenance tasks effectively. For starters, one significant challenge that operators face involves preventive maintenance. Ensuring equipment stays up-to-date with its servicing needs prevents unnecessary downtime, costly repairs, or even catastrophic failures. Here's where our friend CMMS comes to play - acting as your very own crystal ball predicting potential issues before they happen. A solid preventive maintenance program, powered by a robust CMMS system, allows you to schedule routine check-ups on your machinery just like doctor visits. This kind of proactive care keeps your assets healthy while ensuring smooth operations throughout. The Benefits of a Mobile CMMS Solution In this digital age we live in; mobility has become more than just convenience—it’s necessity. Mobile-friendly software lets teams access critical data from anywhere at any time—whether on an offshore rig or during lunch break at HQ. Schedule maintenance? Done. Need quick information about work orders? You got it. The ease-of-access that mobile solutions provide cannot be overstated—they are simply revolutionary. We're not talking only about accessibility here. We also mean security—the peace-of-mind type of security knowing your valuable asset data won't go missing because someone left their paperwork out in the rain—or worse yet—in plain sight around prying eyes. That's another win for mobile CMMS solutions. Remember, time saved is money earned. And with the cost-saving capabilities of a good CMMS in place—think $243k savings through preventive maintenance alone, it's clear that this tool isn't just nice-to-have; it’s need-to-have. Key Takeaway: Think of CMMS as your secret weapon in the oil and gas sector, streamlining maintenance management like a pro. It's akin to owning a predictive crystal ball that schedules regular machine check-ups, helping you dodge pricey repairs. In our tech-savvy world today, having mobile-friendly CMMS solutions isn't just handy; it's essential - giving you access to crucial data anytime, anywhere. How CMMS Enhances Employee Safety in the Oil & Gas Industry The oil and gas industry is no stranger to hazards. From flammable materials to heavy machinery, employee safety is paramount. This is where a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) steps into play. A well-implemented CMMS for the Oil and Gas Industry serves as a game-changer by enhancing workplace safety. It ensures that employees have access to crucial safety manuals at their fingertips, reducing the chances of mishaps. Immediate Access to Safety Manuals Gone are the days when workers had to sift through physical documents or binders looking for specific procedures during emergencies. With a CMMS system, all necessary information like safety protocols can be easily accessed digitally on any device. This immediate availability helps ensure that every worker knows what needs doing in case of an emergency - something as vital as oxygen masks onboard an airplane. By having these resources readily available, we're not just ticking boxes but saving lives too. Scheduled Equipment Checks for Preventive Measures Maintaining equipment regularly isn't just about cost-saving; it's also about keeping your crew safe from potential dangers posed by faulty machinery. A good maintenance schedule keeps everyone out of harm’s way while increasing equipment uptime – it's hitting two birds with one stone. In fact, according to data, preventive maintenance alone could save over $243k, emphasizing how much weight this simple yet effective strategy carries in terms of financial savings and ensuring staff wellbeing. Promoting Compliance Standards Consistently Maintaining compliance in the oil and gas industry is essential for avoiding legal issues as well as providing a secure workplace. Adhering to standards not only prevents legal complications but also guarantees a safer working environment. CMMS helps keep track of all regulations, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. This way, everyone stays safe while staying within legal boundaries - talk about walking on eggshells without cracking any. In essence, CMMS is like having an extra pair of eyes watching over operations constantly, making sure everything runs smoothly and safely. Key Takeaway: CMMS in the oil and gas industry is a game-changer for safety. It gives employees instant access to vital safety manuals, promotes regular equipment checks, and helps uphold compliance standards consistently. Not only does it save money by preventing mishaps but also ensures everyone stays safe while meeting legal requirements. The Role of CMMS in Regulatory Compliance for the Oil & Gas Industry When it comes to meeting regulatory standards, a well-implemented Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is like a secret weapon for oil and gas companies. But why? Let's dive into that. The Influence of CMMS on Decision Making A good CMMS isn't just about scheduling maintenance tasks or managing inventory; it's also an information goldmine. With accurate data at their fingertips, decision-makers can navigate the labyrinthine world of regulations with confidence. Imagine you're sailing through murky waters. Wouldn't you want a reliable compass guiding your way? That’s what having a robust CMMS tool feels like when maneuvering through complex compliance requirements. It provides clear visibility over equipment status, ensuring necessary safety measures are taken promptly to prevent any regulatory violations. So instead of scrambling around during surprise audits, you’ll be welcoming them with open arms. Safety First: More than Just A Slogan In this industry where high-risk operations are commonplace, prioritizing employee safety isn’t just ethically right but crucial for regulatory compliance too. A powerful feature within many modern-day CMMS systems, such as access to safety manuals and procedural guides help ensure employees always have the needed knowledge at hand while performing potentially hazardous tasks. This doesn’t only minimize risks but strengthens adherence to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards—another win-win situation. Meeting Environmental Regulations The oil and gas industry, like any other sector, is bound by environmental regulations. Non-compliance can lead to hefty fines or worse, operations being shut down. A well-configured CMMS system offers preventive maintenance features that help keep equipment in top shape—reducing the risk of leaks or spills which could have detrimental effects on the environment. Key Takeaway: With a well-implemented CMMS, oil and gas companies can navigate regulatory standards like pros. It's more than just maintenance management—it's a data goldmine that aids confident decision-making in compliance matters. It enhances safety measures, helps meet environmental regulations, and prepares you for surprise audits—turning high-risk operations into win-win situations. The Future of CMMS in the Oil & Gas Industry CMMS, or Computerized Maintenance Management Systems, are a big deal for the oil and gas industry. These software solutions have already revolutionized maintenance processes by making them more efficient and effective. However, the potential for CMMS to offer even more advantages in this industry is far from exhausted. With advancements in technology like AI and machine learning, we could see even more benefits from CMMS in this sector. Maintenance Program on Steroids A good maintenance program is crucial to keeping oil rigs running smoothly. But with advanced CMMS tools at their disposal, companies can take their programs to new heights. The result? More equipment uptime (which means more productivity). Having the info right on hand with mobile gadgets makes it simpler than ever to monitor all that's going on at your location. Taking Compliance Standards Up a Notch We know how critical meeting compliance standards is for oil and gas companies – slip-ups here aren't just costly; they're potentially dangerous too. That’s why any tool that helps meet those regulations gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from us. An advanced CMMS does exactly that – offering real-time insights into operations which help maintain safety protocols while also improving efficiency. Finding Solutions through Machine Learning Incorporating machine learning capabilities within CMMS would mean predictive maintenance becomes commonplace rather than aspirational- spotting potential problems before they become full-blown crises. Now if that doesn’t sound revolutionary... To sum up; It's clear as day: The future of CMMS in the oil & gas industry is bright and promising. Organizations continually search for methods to enhance their processes, so they're certain to take full advantage of these developments. FAQs in Relation to How CMMS Revolutionized the Oil and Gas Industry What is CMMS in the oil and gas industry? It tracks equipment health, schedules repairs, and manages spare parts inventory, ensuring smooth operations. What industries benefit from CMMS? Beyond the oil and gas sector, manufacturing plants to hospitals all gain from a CMMS. Any industry that relies on machinery can use it for effective maintenance management. What is CMMS and explain the purpose and benefits of using CMMS? A CMMS organizes maintenance activities digitally. The key benefits are reducing downtime through preventive upkeep measures while optimizing labor resources efficiently, leading to cost savings overall. What are the benefits of predictive maintenance in the oil and gas industry? Predictive maintenance flags potential failures before they happen. This reduces unexpected downtime in the oil & gas field, resulting in increased production uptime which boosts profits. Conclusion Revolutionizing maintenance, that's what CMMS did for the oil and gas industry. We dove into how these systems keep machines humming along, cut downtime to a minimum, save on costs and boost safety. Keeping track of all components is essential for successful maintenance. That means efficient work order management, inventory control done right and proactive preventive maintenance strategies - it's quite something! Take control of your maintenance today with CMMS technology. Let us help you keep your machines running smoothly, minimize downtime, cut costs, and enhance safety. Learn More

If you're reading this, you've probably heard that Overall Equipment Effectiveness calculations, or OEE calculations for short, are all the rage in measuring your equipment performance and production. But how useful are those calculations really? Just like your buddies at the gym, many decision-makers in the industry choose to put a number on their performance. And if you've been at the gym, you know that you can never trust the number a lifter tells you he can lift. Your assets aren't any different. Measuring production and potential performance is all fine and dandy, but you want to understand the use cases for the OEE formula to know the wheels are actually turning. Otherwise, it'll be all sweat and no muscle. So let's discuss how you calculate your equipment's OEE performance, look at examples and see where the equation helps you improve quality standards, and where you might want to use another tool instead. Put your equipment to the ultimate strength test When we think of manufacturing or industrial settings, we often imagine workers at the production line being trained to handle technical equipment. In the first few weeks of onboarding, the shift supervisor visits the rookie every now and then. Think of him as a trainer benchmarking the new guy's reps and weights against the routine handles of his veteran team. Now, we puny humans may celebrate a round of pushups. But if you consider the workload we put on industrial machines, it's no wonder we apply the same logic to test their effectiveness over time. And the most common performance metric used in manufacturing and industrial settings is the OEE calculation. The factors going into an OEE calculation Since we're benchmarking machines, we can be a bit more rigid with our parameters than with the human co-worker – at least until the robot revolution. OEE considers three main factors to calculate an asset's performance: Availability: No piece of equipment runs 24/7. So this factors in planned downtime, either because of scheduled maintenance or the potential availability loss due to breakdowns and changeovers. Performance: Since we can compare assets and parts more easily than humans, we consider their expected maximum potential. Don't think of hidden potential; this is your net run time. We're talking actual production time, cycle times, speed loss and outages. Quality: Just because a machine is running non-stop, that doesn't help your overall equipment effectiveness. After all, you could be throwing out every other product. So as a final step, we measure the quality loss in output, considering defects, quality rate or rework. Think of yourself as the general manager in Moneyball trying to assemble a winning team, except you're assembling a smart factory. Still, you're boiling down otherwise complex decision-making to one number, striving for total productive maintenance – a world without downtime, outages or reworks. You're doing this to max out equipment performance and effectiveness, to identify otherwise unnoticed quality loss and to continuously improve your manufacturing performance. It also helps you to cut costs and benchmark your OEE value against stronger competitors. Potential disadvantages of relying on OEE calculations That said, reducing complicated business decisions to the OEE metric alone can have its disadvantages. Its simplicity is both a curse and a blessing. It shows you gaps in equipment performance, but it doesn't provide you with the underlying reasons, for instance, if a worker lacks the training to operate it. Also, it treats your production shop as a vacuum. No supply chain disruption, scheduling issue or customer complaint is factored into that equation. So it's certainly useful for evaluating productivity, but it's worth noting that you shouldn't rely on OEE alone to judge your machinery's performance. Let's take a look at an example to see where it might provide value. The OEE calculation = availability x performance x quality Usually, you multiply all factors to receive a percentage value for your OEE calculation. Now, don't sweat it. We'll coach you through this. Let's say you've lost an hour of run time on a machine that keeps overheating. Until now, your machine runs 16 hours a day and produces 5,000 units an hour, 15 of which need to be redone. You've reserved 2 hours for maintenance so far, but you plan to increase that by 30 minutes. To see how exactly your plan works out, you only need to plug the numbers into the formula: Availability: 15 hours - 2.5 hours / 15 hours = 83.33% Performance: 5,000 units/hour = 100% Quality: 4,985 good units/hour / 5,000 units/hour = 99.7% OEE = 83.01% While this is a strongly simplified example, you can see how it aids you in making informed decisions. Based on this formula, you'll be able to judge whether increasing maintenance time is more helpful than reducing the overall output of units — even slight increases in rework could affect your bottom line. Depending on your niche, you may need to calculate work output differently. For some industries, product quantity is the way to go. Others rely on service completion, work hours or even generated value. Remember that this is just one arrow in your quiver. While it helps to adjust the formula to your specific needs, endlessly adjusting it to reflect all details of your real-world scenario misses its purpose. How to improve asset performance with your results While an OEE calculation can help you make judgment calls and fine-tune your planned production time, it doesn't factor in a range of real-world factors, from vendor delays and power outages to shift changes and product mix variations. So tracking your OEE is certainly valuable, but, just like at the gym, you don't want to track numbers solely for the sake of it. Even though raising scores has something satisfying about it, a too-narrow focus can actually hurt your business. And you want your business to be jacked, don't you? Thankfully, there are more comprehensive solutions to help you manage your assets and keep track of equipment life cycles, like our enterprise asset management (EAM) platform. Start your free trial today! We can show you how it works and how you can use it to level up, not just on your OEE score but on overall productivity and efficiency as well. Book a demo with one of our MicroMain experts today, and we'll help you crunch the numbers!

Industrial maintenance helps you break down the silos, do more with less, and take your business to the next level. Did we mention enough business buzzwords? OK. We just wanted to point out that industrial maintenance has absorbed so many tasks and meanings, it's getting bigger than "boiling the ocean." From AI and automation training to welding and motor control – it's in there. But we still need it to stay competitive and prepare our enterprises for the wave of future innovations in mechanics and IT heading our way these days. So let's break it down and see what an industrial maintenance technician's job looks like and how you can guard your team against those changes. Don't worry; we're here to help you. In this post, we'll go over: Different types of maintenance and the purposes they serve. Every strategy and skill an industrial maintenance mechanic should master. How the applied technology will change in the midst of the AI revolution. The role technical maintenance plays in guaranteeing smooth operations in manufacturing. Ready? Then start your engines. Types of industrial maintenance When we distinguish among different types of industrial maintenance, we usually don't mean machinery repairs or troubleshooting fluid power. Squeaky wheels are no fun, but we're referring to the goals which various kinds of maintenance address. That splits all efforts into two large categories: corrective and preventive maintenance. With preventive maintenance, you establish a regular schedule for machinery inspections to avoid any longtime outages and failures during production. As such, it's a condition-based approach, that is, machine squeaks, mechanic runs. Sometimes, these techniques can be supplemented with predictive maintenance, the crystal ball of maintenance, only without incense and laying on of hands. Here, the technician uses applied science such as labor statistics, data analysis and machine learning to predict patterns in your machines' temperature, vibration or fluid power. That way, inspectors can tell how your equipment will perform ahead of malfunctions. Then we've got corrective maintenance, which requires more flexibility and planning because your team will only act when equipment is already failing. Here, you're focusing on overall reliability rather than the current condition, and you're trying to identify the most critical repairs necessary to get the system back up and running. Industrial maintenance technicians: Skills and training Now is probably the point when we'll tell you that industrial maintenance technicians need technical knowledge, right? Well, duh. Obviously, a technician should know their way around industrial technology such as electrical and hydraulic systems, heavy machinery and sometimes even robotics. The type of knowledge they need will naturally depend on their employer and the industrial equipment they work on. But there are some general skills every technician needs. For example, it doesn't hurt to have a good grasp of technical diagrams, schematics and instruction manuals. This also means being able to distinguish the necessary information from the superfluous while under time pressure – a bit like trying to win a shell game during a hurricane. So troubleshooting and problem-solving skills are a big plus, and if you can evaluate several technical options or improvise mechanics solutions, even better. Since every technician will be running routine inspections and maintenance tasks, it's crucial to have decent time management and prioritization skills. And while we're throwing those management buzzwords out there, being adaptable under changing priorities and technological innovations will go a long way. Handling tools and calibrating equipment is just the ice pigging on the pipe. Finally, you should be able to override your left and right brain hemisphere. As a technician, you'll analyze loads of data and diagnose highly technical problems. However, once you've done that, it's important that you can effectively communicate your findings to supervisors and operators. Scotty may have fixed the Enterprise, but he was a tad grumpy for a role model. Industrial maintenance technology and the future of maintenance OK, your technicians are speed-reading technical manuals, and they even get along well with their wrenches — how can you prepare them for future changes? Given that they're already skilled and flexible, you don't have to perform miracles here. For the most part, you'll need to redefine what being flexible means. These days, every industry is right in the middle of a technological revolution, with the Internet of Things, augmented reality, robotics and automation changing the rules. If your team is only following your industry, you could be missing out. Every technician not only has to stay on top of their niche; they also need to educate themselves about emerging technologies across industries, be it through workshops, industry conferences or online resources. Maybe this continuing education even opens the door to cross-industry collaboration. Either way, expect a continuous time commitment from your entire team, not just your industrial mechanic, and make it part of your official plans so that production doesn't suffer from the research that keeps it running. Even today, being a technician is no longer about mechanics alone. That's why it's best to integrate constant learning and digital literacy into your company culture to incentivize your technicians to acquire the necessary programming and data analysis skills. While some industries might get away with taking a broad approach to all those new technologies, each technician should sooner or later specialize so they can physically manage the ever-faster innovation in their respective field, whether that's IoT maintenance or AR-assisted reparation. What's the role of industrial maintenance in manufacturing and production? Imagine your whole business running smoothly with no technical problems at all. No outages are interrupting your workflow, your workers have only heard about rumors of accidents and you've even optimized your assets to perfection to squeeze out the last bit of productive time. That's basically what mechanics and technicians can do for your business if you let them off the chain. Apart from automation and overall strategies like condition-based maintenance, skilled technicians will also borrow tactics from other fields to keep your business afloat. One example of this is lean maintenance, where your entire team focuses on optimizing workflows to reduce non-value-adding activities and waste. Such transformative initiatives can make you look at the technician's job through new eyes. Another tool in your arsenal against downtime is a reliable computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). Once your technicians have run through everything we discussed, they can organize and schedule maintenance tasks, manage spare parts inventory and so much more. As it happens, we've developed a great CMMS tool here at MicroMain, and we'd love you to give it a try. We've been supporting the maintenance management industry with our specialized solutions for over 30 years, and we continue to keep learning in order to serve our customers in tackling tomorrow's problems.

You love your assets. We know you do. When something's wrong with them, you don't want to scramble to find the perfect fix. That's why MRO inventory should be a clear, consistent concern for your business. Forgetting about it won't just catch you with your pants down but your surgical gloves off, too, lost on a dusty shelf you barely remember. MRO stands for maintenance, repair and operations inventory control. It can determine whether you're bringing equipment back to peak performance or letting it slide into poor health, simply because you're missing the tools you need. Think of it this way: You're a surgeon with a patient on the table. Some sensitive, life-or-death surgery is waiting to be performed, yet you're rummaging for the right scalpel, forceps or scissors. The nurses are clueless. The patient has been lying there so long, the anesthesia is wearing off; they're impatiently tapping a hand. Meanwhile, another five operations are scheduled that same day, and they'll all have the same problem. You might as well take some gardening shears to the unfortunate asset in your care and hope for the best. Then, there's the reverse when you know exactly what's available (and where) for specialized maintenance. Data guides your choices on purchase orders, delivery dates for resupply and safety standards for the staff working under you. That patient on the table is smiling dreamily, glad to be back on their feet again soon. Your organization stays on track with assets that are constantly repaired on schedule. So, put the shears down! Learn all about MRO inventory and its implications for parts, material orders and the delicate balance of supply chain concerns while running and optimizing your facility. What is MRO inventory management? Exact MRO specifications vary across industries. Essentially, though, they're the activities, items and processes that keep your assets ticking over and making a profit. We're talking belts, fans, screws, spanners, wrenches, drills or anything else that brings an asset back to full working order — either a tool or spare component. Additionally, an MRO inventory should tell you how many supporting materials and goods you have in stock: the kind that help staff do a thorough, safe job. However, it's not only a question of what you have ready for urgent or preventive maintenance, but also whether you're spending enough or too much on your inventory. Cost control is a killer oversight. The Boston Consulting Group estimates that MRO inventory services and parts spending can swallow up to 4.5% of revenue in the manufacturing sector. And, that's important because in a tough economy, pennies saved are pennies earned. We'll talk about holding costs and the like later, but for now, just understand that inventory management keeps an eye on your finances as well as your profitable assets. So, how do we approach smart MRO inventory control? What do you need to know for a better management strategy? First, it's worth defining four main inventory types: Maintenance equipment (motors, gears, valves, repair tools, lubricants, general spare parts, etc.) Cleaning supplies (brushes, cloth, disinfectants, buckets, etc.) Safety equipment (visors, gloves, boots, PPE, durable overalls, etc.) Office supplies (desktops, mobile devices, paper shredders, pens and paper, etc.) Since some of these elements are consumable and others aren't, you should have a system for categorizing and tracking their use. If, for example, only certain cleaning supplies can be used for some maintenance equipment, then you have extra guidance for the arsenal you'll put together for a new work order. We also recommend splitting regular and emergency maintenance inventory. Why? Because emergency repairs are probably going to be a lot more urgent and specialized; there's less time to dither. It's the difference between punctually booking in a hospital patient for scheduled appendix removal or rushing them into the OR after it's already burst. One situation has a lot less room for error, right? Likewise, you need to have the right skills and spare parts close to a critically damaged asset, which determine where you direct specialist technicians or stock amounts of emergency inventory. Finally, learn the difference between direct and indirect costs. They paint a truer image of what you're gaining or losing from inventory. Direct spending These are mainly costs associated with procuring goods and services (the latter includes using a third party for maintenance or inventory management). If you manufacture anything in the inventory yourself, lump that production capital in here, too. Indirect spending Indirect expenses encompass your direct purchases, somewhat like an associated charge. Common examples include materials depreciation, insurance coverage, warehouse rentals, energy costs and security fees. They're not actively contributing to a maintenance task, but they're tied to your people and equipment. The big benefits of your maintenance plan We've hinted at them; you've probably worked out a couple already. Still, let's be crystal clear about the advantages MRO inventory control lends to your asset maintenance. It's a no-brainer once you really crack the code … More precise, prepared workflows Maintenance workflows rely on three things: guidance, priorities and the people who can perform them. Of course, though, those people require the tools and parts for the job, otherwise their talents can't be put to use. And, when that happens, you're risking serious downtime. Solid inventory management ensures your technicians and contractors have what they need at the exact moment they need it. If you can synchronize inventory and workflow data within a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), then your real-time list of supplies, components and safety equipment will be there for everyone to see at a glance. Task notes explain what's wrong, how severe the problem is, which tools or parts are due and where to find them. There are fewer questions and mistakes. Your employees can get straight to work. A fully stocked, economical inventory Routine maintenance should never be short of equipment, or else you'll be risking more delays as workers wait for the right parts. By tracking what you use and how regularly you use it, restocking becomes much less of a guessing game. You have reliable asset and maintenance data to inform your direct inventory purchases. This also means you're less likely to overspend or underspend. Leaving stacks of equipment that are depreciating in value — with hefty storage charges — isn't ideal. Inventory optimization narrows your focus on the investments that are paying off, so you can make more of them where appropriate and save cash on superfluous or outdated supplies. Extra time on your hands We're referencing digital inventory management here, but it really is the only way forward for a competitive business that won't butcher its asset strategy. Some software lets you automate inventory checks with a barcode scanner, leaving paper-based updates behind for good. You just hover a smart device over each part, tool or material, and it adds the data to your system. Eliminating the tedious work associated with MRO inventories gives you countless hours to grow the business and guide the maintenance work itself. Additionally, you can bring up reports on demand, allowing you to compare costs and consumption across weeks, months or even years. Automated inventory management is great for wider business insights as well as making the most of your workday. Counting a smarter inventory's cost Once you start operating on asset classes with more planning and care, you'll spend less cash on worthwhile maintenance. But, while we've already covered some of the costs you can save, the true benefits to your bottom line run much deeper. After all, a doctor wants to bring home the bacon as much as they enjoy seeing patients do backflips again. So, let's put said bacon under the microscope. How else does a streamlined MRO inventory allow you to become cost efficient? You'll reduce carrying costs Buying necessary material and equipment is only one part of the inventory puzzle. You also have to consider the fees swirling around these investments. Carrying costs encompass some of the indirect expenses we've discussed and a whole lot more. Even when you purchase useful maintenance inventory, those expenses should be analyzed and reduced wherever possible. Examples include: Vehicle, fuel and handling payments for transport. Taxes paid on equipment, parts and supplies. Replacing an item that's no longer safe or usable. The cost of servicing your inventory e.g., cybersecurity or performance tests. Warehouse storage beyond rent payments e.g., heating, lighting, refrigeration or theft and damage insurance. A complete, real-time view of your inventory highlights carrying costs across the breadth of your business. You can work it out as a percentage, too. This is the equation: Total carrying costs ÷ total inventory value x 100 = carrying cost % If you're seeing high carrying costs for some items, it's worth rethinking how you're storing, servicing or consolidating your inventory. For instance, setting up a just-in-time (JIT) inventory system — in which you only order the exact supplies you require for preventive maintenance — is a popular method for reducing holding and overhead fees. Improving your supply chain relationships MRO procurement means you'll have to negotiate with companies all along the supply chain, and that raises a host of questions. Are you getting a good deal? Are the items depreciating too quickly? Can your supplier consistently deliver on schedule? If you're extracting a lot of value from their inventory items, can you ask for bulk order discounts in future? Sharing insights with your supply chain partners can do wonders for making relationships work better for both of you. You might find that a few suppliers aren't quite passing muster; their components and equipment are faulty, perishable or too expensive. Maybe your business needs will change as well, leaning toward some assets over others. In any case, reviewing inventory costs and profitability puts you on firmer ground for working with the suppliers that are properly and affordably suited to you. Don't bleed out — 4 things to look for in inventory management software By now, we bet you're keen to have a finely calibrated array of instruments at your beck and call for asset maintenance. No more hand wringing. No frantic shouts for extra assistance. If an asset could walk and talk and afford a bouquet of flowers, they'd probably be just as appreciative of the tools you're about to have in store. A CMMS is the final thing you'll have to worry about. There's much riding on the search for a platform that can kick MRO inventory management to life in all the ways you expect and deserve. Therefore, you have to be aware of what's out there. Here are four traits that separates the ultimate CMMS software from the rest: Automatic parts and inventory levels updates: A first-class digital hub not only records and monitors what you have in stock, but also sends alerts to you and your team when levels fall below a desired benchmark. This makes inventory easier to replenish and adjust before potential issues have a chance to snowball. Classes and priorities assigned to the asset: Again, automation should be able to designate asset maintenance based on what these tasks require and how soon preventive maintenance should take place. Workflows update in seconds, giving technicians a working schedule that outlines what they must do and where they need to be through the day. Assignment time tracking: There's every chance that maintenance problems aren't caused by the inventory, but rather the people or approaches used alongside it. CMMS time logs reveal who might be taking longer than expected to complete work, which helps you investigate poor or insufficient maintenance more closely. Inventory scanning codes: While barcodes are useful for cataloging your inventory items, QR codes are a fantastic choice too, especially if the original barcodes have faded or been torn. Search for a digital platform that can print QR images you can stick on supplies for impeccable additions to your database. We can't leave you without mentioning that CMMS is merely the lighter version of asset and inventory management. Discover the fuller capabilities of an enterprise asset management (EAM) platform for a total hold on material and equipment life cycles. In fact, we can show you how it works. Book a demo with a MicroMain expert, and we'll unbox more potential for your inventory — slicing straight into the heart of your objectives, sans screaming.

Picture this: You're a seasoned private eye, not unlike Jim Rockford circa The Rockford Files, and you've been tasked with solving a case that's got everyone stumped. Only this time, it's not a classic whodunit. Instead, you're on the trail of genuine, serious failures lurking within the bowels of your asset facility. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to employ the art of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to expose the true perpetrators of these dastardly defects. The Mystery of the Hidden Root Cause – The Pursuit Begins RCA is the sleuthing technique that allows you to drill down into the systematic cause of a failure or problem. Its purpose is to systematically identify the underlying factor that contributes to a problem or failure, rather than merely treating each symptom. After all, a detective who only focuses on symptoms will always be chasing shadows. You may be wondering, "What's the difference between a cause and a root cause?" Well, imagine a faulty pipeline leaking oil. The leak is a cause, but the actual root cause might be shoddy construction, poor maintenance or a design flaw. The root cause is the prime suspect, the true mastermind behind the crime, and your target in this ongoing investigation. So, when should you whip out your magnifying glass and perform root cause analysis? Whenever there's an adverse event, a hiccup in your operations or a defect that's got you scratching your head. In these situations, you'll want to get to work on continuous improvement by unearthing the elusive root cause. You may encounter various symptoms during your investigation, like a decrease in productivity or an increase in downtime. But remember, symptoms are just the breadcrumbs, not the smoking gun. They're mere clues that hint at the presence of a more sinister, underlying cause. Taking risks of failure down the road is the last thing you want to do. Decoding the Enigma – Methodologies for Unearthing Root Causes Now that you're hot on the trail of those elusive root causes, it's time to dive into the methodologies that'll help you crack the case. Just like a detective has a variety of tools at their disposal, you too have an arsenal of root cause analysis techniques to choose from. Each method offers a unique perspective in uncovering those flaws that harm productivity or the customer experience in large or subtle ways. Let's take a closer look at three of the most effective techniques for your root cause analysis: Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) A fault tree is like a map, charting the course of possible causes that lead to a particular failure. FTA is a top-down approach, where you start with the main problem and work your way down through the hierarchy of potential causes. This systematic method helps you identify the contributing factors, making it easier to pinpoint the root cause(s) and take corrective action. It's like retracing your steps to find that one key piece of evidence that unlocks the whole case. The 5 Whys Method The 5 Whys technique is the classic interrogation method for root cause analysis. Like a relentless detective, you ask "why" repeatedly, tracing incidents back through cause and effect to reveal the root of the problem. For example, you may ask "why is the boiler not working?" and the answer might be, "Because the temperature sensor is broken." Then again you ask, "why is the temperature sensor broken?" and you might get, "Because it was installed incorrectly" and so on. Typically, five rounds of questioning will lead you to the true culprit, but don't be afraid to go beyond if the situation calls for it. The 5 Whys method is a simple yet effective way to dig deep and uncover the hidden truth. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Now, let's talk about FMEA, the meticulous method that assesses potential failures and their consequences. It's like profiling a suspect, examining every possible angle to determine the risks and weaknesses of your asset facility. In FMEA, you identify failure modes, analyze their effects and prioritize them based on their severity, occurrence and detectability. Armed with information, such as Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), you can devise strategies to prevent or mitigate those losses and ensure your operations run smoothly. These root cause analysis techniques are your trusty companions in the quest to solve the mystery of asset facility failures. Whether you're chasing down possible causes with FTA, interrogating the problem using the 5 Whys or assessing risks with FMEA, remember that every successful investigation requires a combination of methodical thinking, keen observation and perseverance. Charting the Path to Success – The Root Cause Analysis Process Once you're well-versed in the art of root cause analysis methodologies, it's time to explore the general process that'll guide your investigation. Like a reliable roadmap, these five steps will lead you to uncover the hidden factors and devise effective solutions to prevent problems from recurring. Let's navigate through the root cause analysis journey together. Step 1: Define the Problem The first step in any investigation is to define the problem at hand. Identify the symptoms, gather data and document the details of the issue. In this initial stage, your maintenance team is like a group of detectives, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses (if necessary) and piecing together the puzzle. This foundation will set the stage for the entire investigation, so it's vital to be thorough and accurate in your documentation. Step 2: Identify Possible Causes Next, brainstorm possible causes for the problem, using your knowledge of the asset facility and the insights gathered from your trusty RCA methodologies. List all potential factors, even those that may seem far-fetched, as they could still be vital clues in your investigation. For example, an air conditioning unit could be the culprit of a water leak. However, your team might further discover that the leak was caused by a clogged drainpipe that was built too close to the HVAC system. Step 3: Determine the Root Cause(s) It's time to put your sleuth skills to the test and pinpoint the true culprits behind the problem. Analyze the possible causes you've identified, and use a systematic approach to determine the root cause(s) of the issue. This stage requires critical thinking, diligence and a sharp eye for detail, as you eliminate suspects and zero in on the true perpetrator(s) of the problem. By narrowing down the number of possible causes, you'll be able to develop a more accurate solution. Step 4: Develop and Implement Solutions With the root cause(s) in hand, you can now devise solutions to address the situation and prevent it from recurring. Collaborate with your maintenance team to develop an action plan, secure the necessary resources and implement the corrective measures. This step is crucial, as it's where your detective work translates into tangible improvements and safeguards for your facility's future. Step 5: Monitor and Review Lastly, keep an eye on the situation and review how effective your solutions prove to be. Continuously monitor your asset facility and ensure the problem has been resolved. Should any new issues arise, be ready to jump back into action and repeat the RCA process. Remember, the quest for improvement never ends, and a vigilant detective is always prepared for the next challenge that comes their way. Root cause analysis offers numerous benefits, such as improved asset reliability, reduced downtime and increased efficiency. By following the five-step process and employing the various RCA methodologies, you'll be well-equipped to tackle any issue and steer your facility toward continuous improvement and success. Powerful Allies – Tools and Technologies for Root Cause Analysis In the world of root cause analysis, even the sharpest of detectives can benefit from the assistance of powerful tools and technologies. These allies not only help you perform RCA more efficiently but also ensure that your corrective actions are well-documented and easily accessible for future reference. Let's follow the footprints into the world of data, documentation and maintenance software that can make your root cause analysis journey smoother and more effective. Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS): A CMMS not only streamlines maintenance tasks but also simplifies inventory management and resource allocation. This versatile software automates and prioritizes work orders when repairs or replacements are due, guiding your technicians to resolve issues before they snowball, improving overall asset uptime and reliability. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Software: EAM solutions facilitate strategic decision-making through performance benchmarking and risk management features. By integrating financial, operational and maintenance data, EAM software enables you to holistically assess your assets' health and develop targeted strategies for optimal resource utilization and long-term sustainability. Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Software: PdM software goes beyond traditional maintenance approaches by leveraging the power of real-time monitoring and advanced analytics. This enables you to identify emerging trends and pinpoint potential areas of concern, ultimately reducing unplanned downtime, extending equipment lifespan and minimizing maintenance costs for a more efficient and resilient facility. Root cause analysis is essential to keeping your assets in good working order, and these powerful tools and technologies lay a solid foundation for growth and success. By harnessing CMMS, EAM and PdM software, you can drive collaboration, streamline workflows and unlock new levels of efficient maintenance. These technologies help you make better decisions with data for backup and solve problems proactively, empowering your team to tackle challenges with confidence and skill. Therefore, the question is no longer if you should implement these technologies, but how you can leverage them to continuously improve your RCA process. Why Choose MicroMain as Your RCA Partner? Leveraging powerful tools and technologies, like MicroMain's CMMS, can further streamline the root cause analysis process, making it easier to gather and analyze data, manage documentation and collaborate with your maintenance team. With the support of MicroMain's comprehensive maintenance software, you'll be able to solve even the most complex problems, ensuring your facility's smooth operation and long-term success. MicroMain offers a user-friendly interface, customizable features and exceptional customer support, making it the ideal partner for your RCA endeavors. By choosing MicroMain, you not only gain access to a top-tier CMMS solution but also benefit from their expertise and commitment to helping you achieve your maintenance goals. Moreover, MicroMain's dedication to continuous innovation means that your RCA process will always be supported by the latest advancements in maintenance software technology. This ensures that you stay ahead of the curve and can adapt to new assets and processes— something that's especially important as you look to expand your operations and take on more complex maintenance challenges. With your trusty toolkit of root cause analysis techniques, your keen sense of observation and your unyielding determination to uncover the truth, there's no problem too complex, no failure too devious and no factor too obscure for you to solve. And, with MicroMain as your trusted partner, you'll have the support and resources you need to unravel the mysteries of your asset facility — one root cause at a time. Keep your magnifying glasses polished and your wits sharp, because any maintenance manager will vouch that another repair will rear its head before you know it. But first, start your free trial of MicroMain's CMMS software.

Are school days genuinely the best of our lives? Depends whether you miss being jerked awake by the class bell, or catching your finger on a compass blade, or trying to wash down cemented clumps of mashed potato with strawberry milk. We tend to overlook the annoying parts in favor of what we actually loved, which was often just the sheer thrill of learning so much alongside our peers. The thing is, school's never really out; not if you embrace specialist learning programs. CMMS training is one such example. You can enroll your maintenance professionals in a course designed to hone their skills with software that's going to make their job a lot easier and more rewarding. A CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) ties all of your asset, inventory and maintenance data together in one centralized hub. Your workflows improve. Preventive maintenance is much simpler to carry out. Technicians have what they need to perform each task, and you have the necessary oversight to support and review their performance. It's a huge win for everyone in your organization. Read about CMMS software here if you're still new to the concept. Right now, we want to focus on why CMMS training is essential for the transformation ahead. With the right guidance, demonstrations and format, your maintenance team will not only be able to do more with the platform you choose, but also feel inspired about what's next for your business. Why is CMMS training a smart investment? Maintenance software is an incredibly powerful upgrade to how you track, strategize and care for the assets you depend on. However, it doesn't click with every administrator and technician immediately. Like any digital tool, there are user issues to overcome. Proper training ensures that your employees (regardless of their age or technical affinity) know what to do with CMMS software. They won't run into trouble on site or have to ask someone else for help. Ultimately, training means you have far more confidence in the platform's ability to increase efficiency and reduce downtime — because, after all, software is only as good as the people who use it. Training will likely involve: Learning how to establish, view and update work orders for preventive and emergency maintenance. Understanding the work order itself i.e., the information and priorities that determine where a work order lands in a maintenance schedule. Discussing how CMMS data paints a picture of asset performance relative to whether repairs or replacements are successful. Exploring tips for management when it comes to checking and updating inventory through CMMS software. Discovering which sources can provide further direction on asset classes, safety controls and the location of the maintenance due. Full training, then, educates users on the platform's nuts and bolts before revealing how CMMS data provides insights that can be used to continuously improve business processes. Maintenance lessons to look for Alright, so, what might those lessons entail, more specifically? A good course isn't shy about the details. You'll want to make sure a CMMS program covers: Keeping data clean Several factors affect whether data is reliable or potentially misleading. Take naming conventions, for instance: the standardized formats for assets, inventory, equipment and metrics. These must be consistent across your workflows, or some information will be missing when you gather it all together for a comprehensive, granular analysis. CMMS data also needs to be captured accurately. Without training on this topic, you might make bad decisions based on poor datasets. Recognizing tickets and alerts Every technician should be a pro at viewing, categorizing and enriching CMMS information. At the most basic level, they must be able to retrieve all the details for an automated maintenance request and recognize what is a priority and what isn't. This is especially vital for emergency repairs, which might demand special skills or equipment. Logging parts and supplies An inventory manager must know what they have at hand for any maintenance task, and also where those records live in the CMMS platform. It's another UI element that can cause huge mistakes in the wrong hands. Users should be proficient at cataloging and tracking the supply and use of materials, components and spare parts. Furthermore, swish data logging skills inform new orders, too. Crucially, your team must learn how to determine which vendors operate assets themselves or specialize in providing parts for repairs or replacements. Tracking overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) When all's said and done, OEE is the major metric you'll worship when it comes to optimized maintenance management. It's the number that shows you what an asset is currently producing or servicing compared to its peak availability, quality and performance. When OEE is falling, you'll have to change either the assets you're using or their maintenance work. But, how do you measure, track and input OEE? Proper training makes it simple. Put the MicroMain training feather in your cap We can't offer an actual graduation hat or even an end-of-year prom (fingers crossed for next year's budget), but we can provide a CMMS training course that's up there with the best on the market. MicroMain's CMMS software is already a leading platform for many asset managers, but we've continued to pay close attention to what our customers have asked and said over the years. That's why we've developed an intensive training course to get your technicians qualified and ready for impeccable asset maintenance. There are three main options to choose from: Global: Study from the comfort of home! Over two days, we'll run remote seminars and encourage virtual networking, with training materials anyone can access on demand. HQ: Come and visit our headquarters in Austin, Texas for a deep dive into MicroMain with our experienced software gurus and simulated work orders. On-site: We'll visit your workplace instead! By training your team steadily over three or more days, we can use your own proprietary data for more tailored walkthroughs. Each of these formats covers the key information we've talked about here, such as naming conventions, user configurations, responding to alerts, inventory and equipment control, OEE measurement and integrating CMMS software within your operations. Want to find out more? Head to our training hub with upcoming calendars and curriculums. Trust us — the glory days are still to come.

Okay, we all have our favorites — the assets we pat on the back with affection every day. They're often the brightest, shiniest or newest pieces of equipment, the ones you want to show off to friends and life partners. Maybe they light up when you touch them, giving that love back. But, the thing is, these assets might not be as important as you think they are. Or, at least, despite your best efforts, they're less reliable than they could be. An asset criticality assessment reveals any faults or downtime risks. It's an impartial measurement that stacks your equipment side by side and asks, "What will really put me on the back foot first if something goes wrong?" Subsequently, you have guidance for what asset management to prioritize and which other parts of your workflow are necessary but not quite as urgent. Asset criticality, then, doesn't let you play favorites unless there's a reason, saving you from more costs, frustrations and offline consequences for the equipment that has the biggest impact on your business. It's one of the most useful metrics we have for planning preventive maintenance. Follow us to learn about failure and reliability in the asset lists that may be riskier and more vital than you realize … Scoring failure and reliability risk When we consider the challenges to ongoing maintenance, it pays to think holistically. An asset criticality assessment hangs beneath an umbrella of interrogations you should carry out to determine whether equipment is performing well and how it affects your processes. We call this FMECA: a failure mode, effects and criticality analysis. Kind of like gathering all of your friends in a room and asking when they let you down, but less brutal. Generally, FMECA seeks to understand why machines and components fail, what potential consequences their failure has and how you can step in earlier or with more appropriate technical skills to solve the problem before it snowballs. You don't have to conduct an FMECA regularly (once a year is fine), although it's advisable if you're welcoming a fresh asset, using an asset in a new way or introducing additional processes to your organization. Some business methodologies, such as lean manufacturing, take advantage of FMECA more regularly, in the case of lean because any waste is reassessed and marked for elimination during short production sprints. FMECA is excellent for asset management because it allows you to: Grade potential failure and downtime severity. It's not just about what might fail first, but also what is likely to happen when that asset does break down. Perform maintenance earlier, with more targeted work, on the most critical equipment. Avoid as many similar issues from happening again because faster, appropriate maintenance means a critical problem doesn't have a chance to worsen. Solve headaches and misdirection with a maintenance team spread across multiple sites and disciplines. Everyone has a clear sense of what to do first and why it matters. A thorough analysis points to a failure mode i.e., the systemic or preventable reason that your asset performance suffers. It could be rust, a breakage, a leak or any definable degradation. Think of this as the slight annoyance that holds you back from asking a friend for a coffee date, because they tend to flake or bring up their ex every time. That failure mode has corresponding, quantifiable effects on the business as a whole and other asset classes. In short, with FMECA, you have a firm idea of what to maintain, how to achieve that maintenance and which tasks have the largest impact on safety and commercial value. RPN and criticality analysis We'll show you how to calculate equipment criticality soon. But, as a quick tangent, we should mention the risk priority number (RPNs). They might be your preferred method for finding criticality scores — as long as you have enough data to use them with reasonable confidence. An RPN calculates the criticality of three factors: 1) The severity of potential risks. 2) How often these issues tend to occur. 3) How well you're able to detect those defects. You can score each of these on a 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 scale based on your maintenance reports and ongoing tracking over months or years. The full formula is: Risk priority number = severity x frequency x detection Anything with the highest score is deemed to be first in line for maintenance before failure is due to occur. They're your diciest investments, straining the most to stay functional. Let's hope they're worth it! Severity can take many forms and will depend on how the asset functions within your processes. Trace maintenance costs, lost revenue, downtime periods and energy consumption for a firm idea of how severe disruption might be. Probability is fairly easy to measure as well, using your mean time to failure (MTTF) and mean time between failures (MTBF) metrics. These tell you how frequently an asset will break down, on average, in a given period and whether that frequency is rising. Detection, however, is trickier. Many businesses don't have accurate or up-to-date detection logs, at least in terms of when the problem occurred versus when it was identified. If you have advanced maintenance management software, it's far simpler to find accurate detection stats, but if not, then the third part of the equation becomes guesswork. For that reason, it could be simpler to skip RPN, if only to begin with. What does sound asset FMECA look like? Alright, we're getting close to the full review treatment: putting you in the hot seat while assets explain why you're made for each other. Before we get into the specifics, here's what helps your criticality analysis stand up to scrutiny and stay successful: Strong reports How are you determining what equipment fails and how often it breaks down? Do your maintenance teams conduct regular checkups or simply just react to issues instead of preventing them? A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) goes a long way in ensuring you have a constant view of asset status, inventory and any performance tests that are due. It's often the deciding factor between good or bad data. Excellent component knowledge A failure mode is impossible to find unless your technicians know how the asset works. From engines, belts and motors to sprockets and springs, the maintenance team must draw effects from each cause of failure, recording their findings in accessible logs. Again, a CMMS solution is perfect for the job, because it lets the specialist add their findings to a digital, centralized hub. Design and process awareness Similarly, you need to have a grasp of the asset's design flaws, i.e. whether cause for downtime is expected or unexpected thanks to how the machine has been assembled. Don't discount a solid understanding of your processes, either. Reviewing the severity of reliability issues rests on linking one failure to a business outcome to ascertain whether there's a direct loss or mild impediment to other processes. An emergency response plan Some assets are bound to fail out of the blue, and when they do, it's wise to give technicians enough guidance for rapid repairs that must be done with an eye on safety and potential reasons for the outage (e.g., an overloaded circuit or water damage). Have emergency plans ready, including relevant manuals, photos, diagrams, troubleshooting tips and contacts for extra help, if necessary. Got everything in place? Awesome. Let's look at the most basic equation for performing a criticality analysis. How to carry out your criticality analysis We mentioned RPN earlier, and the less intimidating spin on risk mitigation is almost the same. All you have to do is remove the "detection" variable. That leaves us with a calculation of: Asset criticality = severity x frequency As we've explained before, score both variables on scales of either 5 or 10, with higher scores for more severe or frequent failures. This builds a criticality matrix — a chart that grades low, medium and high-priority risks on set criteria. On a 1 to 5 scale, the criteria might be: Score 1 - 4 (low risk) Score 5 - 9 (low-to-medium risk) Score 10 - 14 (medium risk) Score 15-20 (medium-to-high risk) Score 21+ (high risk) Assemble your scores in a table and color code them, moving through green/yellow/orange/red for every bracket that's more critical. There! You have a very basic criticality analysis dataset. It's the foundation for scheduling preventive maintenance more sensibly. Prioritize deep or light red assets, leave orange and yellow assets as your second and third priorities and focus on green assets last. Wherever possible, use maintenance logs and investigations to discover failure modes. If you don't currently have any of this information, make time with your technicians to walk through every critical asset type, listing potential damage that can afflict the system. The four most common causes of failure are: Corrosion. Erosion. Fatigue. Overload. From here, it's a matter of finding the right solutions to help form best practices which your team can take forward for future maintenance tasks. With alerts for preventive maintenance as well as digital access to supplementary details, they'll have a workflow that stays accurate and never leaves them lost for answers. So, maybe some of your old favorites are soaking up too many resources or actually less valuable than you assumed they were. The opposite might be true, of course: You have more data, context and comparability to treat them with additional care when the moment calls for it. Either way, MicroMain's CMMS is an essential step in criticality analysis. Our incisive platform watches over every asset you have, automating maintenance requests in the perfect order, preparing the right people for what's ahead. Book a demo and see where our software can take you. It just might be a new favorite, too.

Okay, let's be real — failure is a part of life. Losing a button in the frantic shirt tug to look good for a meeting? Failure. Trying to remember a story so badly you mix up the end with the middle and forget who you're talking to? Double failure. Laying a bottle of wine so carefully like a newborn baby in your shopping bag but a pack of eggs cracks, unloved, on the way home anyway? Well, that's still a success, to be honest. Whatever you do, it's important to recognize that failure is all around us. Especially if you're in charge of asset maintenance. Plenty of machines, tools and equipment last for a set amount of time before they break down. These failures are inherent. You can't avoid them. However, you can make them less frequent and impactful. A solid maintenance strategy can tell which assets are likely to stop working and whether repairs or replacements are paying off. Ironically, then, you can fail at dealing with failure. Or succeed. We're going to show you how — all with a pivotal metric, Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). Soon enough, the only thing cracking will be those eggs in the bag, instead of your asset protection. MTBF, MTTF and why they're important What does Mean Time Between Failure reveal? You guessed it: The average time it takes for an asset to cease functioning properly. MTBF tracks the number of hours you have before there's a serious issue. And, remember, we're talking about failure. That means the issue will prevent the asset from operating safely or completely. MTBF only applies to assets you can repair, laying the groundwork for preventive maintenance that can fix the problem prior to breakdown. In this sense, it's different from Mean Time To Failure (MTTF), a metric that measures your assets' finite (and irreparable) operational lifespan. MTTF is used to calculate when an asset must be retired or replaced. Therefore, by contrast, MTBF suggests that a piece of equipment can be used again with the right repairs, adjustments or new parts. MTTF doesn't. Think of MTBF as signs en route to a destination, whereas MTTF shows you where the last stop is. Nobody wants a low Mean Time Between Failure rate, because it proves either that your maintenance management plan isn't working, or the asset itself might require too many hours or resources to maintain. On the other hand, a high MTBF suggests that you're fixing equipment promptly, it's running well and the maintenance work is satisfactory and reliable. How to calculate MTBF Finding a failure rate is fairly straightforward. You just have to divide the number of failures by the asset's total operational hours in a given period. This generates an average figure. Calculate MTBF with: Mean Time Between Failure = time the asset was active ÷ X amount of failures Let's use an example. We have an industrial press running for 10 hours a day, five days a week. In three months, it fails four times. The formula would look like this: 600 hours ÷ 4 = 150 You can apply MTBF to one asset or groups of assets, assessing how they perform side by side. This is a great technique for understanding what a healthy rate of failure is for certain types of equipment. So, if we return to our industrial press and add five more presses — all working through the same period, but with 16 failures in total — we arrive at: 3,600 hours ÷ 16 = 225 That's a higher MTBF on average for the entire asset class compared to 150 hours for just that first asset. What does that tell you? Something's wrong with the first asset's preventive maintenance, or it's suffering a more terminal operational decline. A quick word on Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Before we move on, we must mention another metric: OEE. You might've heard of it. As Lean Production explains, OEE measures "the percentage of planned production time that is truly productive." In other words, it shows which assets are delivering the most usable output (whether that's materials, goods or interactions) during the hours in which they're meant to be active. Ideally, you want a 80-90% OEE rate or higher. Downtime will, of course, reduce output and make your assets less profitable. MTBF, then, is often linked to OEE. By inadequately preventing or dealing with failures, you're harming productivity. When MTBF scores are higher, you should expect OEE to rise, too. Common causes of poor failure rates We've alluded to a couple of reasons behind a low MTBF calculation. But, here, let's examine what a high failure rate can tell you about your asset and component maintenance. There's more to investigate than you might think. You aren't conducting the right repairs on schedule Keeping equipment humming reliably depends on knowing when it's about to break and what should be done to fix it. Your maintenance team requires a precise, prioritized workflow to step in and repair the asset according to best practices. When there's a low MTBF, it may reveal that you're conducting maintenance too late before the asset shuts down, or your technicians are making mistakes. The asset isn't worth keeping Alternatively, the fault may lie with the asset — a damaged, defective or low-quality tool that doesn't justify your investment. This is why it's crucial to have a baseline for assets from one supplier: It helps you compare singular performance against the rest of the assets' Mean Time Between Failure rates. That being said, the same machines or equipment could be failing regularly en masse, which calls for extensive replacements. Your inventory isn't sufficient Maintenance personnel need the correct tools for the job. If assets are failing more often, your repair inventory — including any component for small, internal replacements — might be emptier than you realize. Subsequently, you should check with technical experts or asset manufacturers to see whether you have everything you need for reliable maintenance. Your processes demand newer models The ways in which you work, even if some of them are tried and true, can influence MTBF. That's because you might be mixing new and old processes, trying to keep up with the sprint to Industry 4.0. Reliable machines must withstand extra strain as your productivity climbs. With a low MTBF rate, you have the necessary evidence to make smarter business decisions, reinvesting across the board in the latest equipment that can handle additional operational pressure. Or, maybe your processes need tweaking instead. How to improve MTBF At some point, you'll have to wave goodbye to your assets and let them go. Until then, dry your eyes. There are plenty of routes you can take to boost a Mean Time To Failure rate throughout your business. Here are several methods we've gleaned after decades of consulting with manufacturers, leisure centers, healthcare providers and other maintenance clientele. Finetune preventive maintenance The better you're able to forecast when an asset will break, the earlier you can repair it without too much downtime. For example, you might discover that a gym cross trainer lasts for 280 hours on average before demanding maintenance. In that case, schedule your repairs for the 250-hour mark. You'll cut inactivity to a minimum and retain peak performance. Conduct deeper inspections What's the problem? Why did it occur? Is this something you expected, or is it something you didn't plan for? Thorough tests and root cause analysis may bring unknown factors to light. For instance, you might find out that a component causes more failures and then choose to restock your inventory with a superior alternative. Or, your technicians aren't following the asset manual to a T. Consider retraining them. Another metric, Mean Time To Resolve (MTTR), is handy in this instance to gauge whether useful repairs are being made too quickly or slowly. Close the gap between failures and alerts When an asset breaks down, you should know about it straight away. Real-time alerts are a key part of the maintenance equation. They tell you when planned and unplanned failures occur, launching your maintenance squad into action. Modern maintenance management software keeps you in the loop 24/7 about which assets are functioning, due for a repair or shutting off completely. Maintenance teams are also alerted automatically with zero delays. More on that soon! Separate MTTF assets Trying to maintain equipment with a defined shelf life is pointless and sucks manpower from repairs that actually have an effect. So, if you haven't already, identify the assets that will fail forever at some point after sustained use — those that count toward MTTF. By making full replacements at the right moment instead of wasting time on futile repairs, you can focus on improving MTBF elsewhere. Try to correlate an increasing failure rate In many cases, assets begin to wear out after years or decades of use. This decline — rather than a manufacturing or maintenance error — can account for an increasing failure rate. If you're seeing trends emerge for older assets, pay attention to them — they could signify that equivalent replacements are on the cards now, instead of much later. Everything we've just discussed relies on tracking the equipment in your care, how it's behaving and what maintenance work is done day after day. So, how do you do it? As always, the answer lies with data collection and clever workflow controls. It's about time we introduced ourselves … Take your asset management up a notch Too much failure will bite into your profits, safety record and brand's reputation. However, with MicroMain, you'll never suffer these misfortunes again. Our software treats asset failure as a fact of life but helps you manage it, every hour of the day. MicroMain's computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) absorbs all the asset information you have and monitors their performance. Piece by piece, it builds a complete maintenance log. Whenever there's unplanned downtime, the software uses that data to calculate MTBF for you. It's immediate, automated and 100% accurate. Other metrics such as MTTF, MTTR and OEE are integrated, too. You have a single dashboard in which you can see them all, displayed in various charts and tables. Similarly, we've designed our CMMS to record supplementary info: corrective and preventive actions, for instance, and root cause analysis. You can set a pinpoint maintenance workflow that notifies technicians when they should conduct a repair, then receive their reports when they're done. This creates an ongoing digital library of the steps you're taking to perform maintenance tasks and how effective they are. Every work order has an assigned priority level along with a list of the necessary tools and components, so you know whether your inventory is up to scratch for the job. MicroMain also lets you clone asset categories for simpler, faster organization. There's no limit on the number of assets you can group like this. As a result, you can test MTBF trends for specific machines or equipment, generating a more granular analysis. Whether you're seeking sharper reliability predictions or a firmer grasp of your assets and service teams' efficiency, it makes sense to embrace CMMS. What's more, MicroMain ties together multiple sites for a unified view on maintenance activity. If you're going through a growth spurt or struggling to stay on top of several facilities, our software is worth a try. Book a demo! We want to make failure work for you instead of against you. Then, when an asset does eventually expire, you'll know you've done all you could to keep it in good health. Don't break down over breakdowns. There's a better way.

So, you're running a business with dozens or hundreds of assets at your feet. How are they operating? Are they healthy? Does one piece of equipment impact a specific process in ways you've scarcely imagined? Asset maintenance can be a daunting task. It's your kingdom, after all. In terms of generating value and revenue, no part is too small. Cue Elton John. While we don't want to Disneyfy your management strategy, acknowledging your assets' true state is akin to the opening scene in "The Lion King" when Simba is presented to his subjects. You need to be able to see the ecosystem below you with piercing clarity — the large machines, the tiny components; the full facility in the context of breakdowns and optimized repairs. It's the asset lifecycle: an ever-changing perspective on what you should fix or replace at just the right time. Like Mufasa dispensing pearls of wisdom as your asset management matures, we want to explain how to master the environments you're in charge of, reducing downtime, repair costs and production or performance issues on any scale. There's one phrase to solve it all: EAM, or Enterprise Asset Management software. Join us as we analyze what EAM represents, why it's unique and how a modern EAM system tends to work in practice. Don't worry. There aren't musical numbers — just the regular kind. EAM software: The truest view on your maintenance The more you know about your assets in real time, the better you can optimize them. Enterprise asset management software is used to control and care for your machines and equipment. In a nutshell, it tackles preventive maintenance across your entire inventory. You'll see how every asset behaves, runs and stays at peak output, which allows you to set a precise maintenance schedule workflow. Whether you're a facility manager handling several sites or a line and safety supervisor in a complex production environment, you need this technology to improve results, avoid accidents and limit maintenance expenses. EAM software, therefore, reveals the ongoing status of your assets from the minute they're first activated through to their eventual decommission. That's why we mention the lifecycle — aggregated, ongoing asset data reporting on faults, risks, maximal performance and the results of your maintenance team's work until the asset isn't useful anymore. There's more to it, though. An EAM solution should consist of: Real-time asset lifecycle information visualized in graphs, charts and tables on a simple dashboard. Predictive analytics to forecast repairs or replacements. Work order management to notify technicians when maintenance is due. Cost controls for inventory and repair tasks. Contract management for additional specialists when you need them. More data surrounding work order costs, project budgets and integrated financial platforms. Ultimately, then, you aren't just overseeing assets but controlling everything that makes maintenance effective and affordable. EAM software sheds light on the tools, skills, money and information required for optimal repairs, as well as tracking trends for iteration. With EAM, you can set priorities for technicians and alert them to new repairs, giving them more context and guidance. It's the end-to-end platform that never leaves anyone in the dark. Where it differs from CMMS management You may have heard of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), or already use one. It's similar to EAM software, but there are key differences. They might decide the course of your next asset investment. CMMS has been around for almost four decades, primarily serving manufacturing and specialized plants. Like enterprise asset management, it automates your maintenance schedule, creating detailed registers with work plans and component data. The software sets tasks, priorities and alerts for your engineers, directing them towards critical projects or telling them when inventory drops below a desired level. It also generates reports on all maintenance activities. However — and here's that phrase again — CMMS doesn't monitor the asset lifecycle. In other words, you have a centralized database and automated task manager for maintenance, but can't see how these endeavors tie back into performance, budgeting, compliance or some aspects of human competency. For example, a good CMMS tracks how long an engineer takes to finish the job, yet it doesn't share perspective on whether the repair brought your asset back to optimal functionality. It can't link asset uptime to profitability. That means you might be fixing a piece of equipment over and over, unsure whether the time, effort and funds are worthwhile. Equally, you're missing procurement and disposal details, which suggest when and how the asset should be retired, as well as how much a modern replacement might cost. CMMS doesn't account for warranty periods, either. That being said, there are situations in which a CMMS might be preferable to EAM: CMMS is generally more affordable upfront: If you have limited funds for preventive maintenance, or want to test the waters before committing to a larger investment, you might favor this platform. EAM suits enterprise business: While EAM is incredibly useful for any organization, it becomes more effective when you have a huge spread (hundreds or thousands) of assets on your hands and complex costs to weigh up. CMMS helps you manage a handful of asset vendors: More vendors bring additional agreements, warranty conditions and invoicing demands on your business, which EAM is well-placed to support. Side note: You may have also come across the term Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This refers to software that helps you manage all business activities e.g., maintenance and beyond. Finance, sales, HR, marketing and other disciplines are guided from a single data center. Since ERP supports more, broader use cases, it's less essential for asset-heavy businesses. Of course, you can integrate both platforms; this is a common method for installing EAM. Insights for Professionals has a great explainer on the split between ERP and EAM and their mutual benefits. How EAM software works Okay, so let's get to the nitty gritty. How does enterprise asset management software launch and start tracking everything in your facilities? Installation and integration At MicroMain, we have a clear six-step process for bringing your EAM online. We get to know your current system, the premises you're managing and the outcomes you're looking for. Step #1: We'll schedule a kickoff call to discuss the project's timeframes, deliverables and requirements. Afterward, we'll send you Excel data templates and documents to make the transition more seamless. Step #2: Next, we offer pre-data import consultation, improving data transfer by discovering how you work and what systems support it. You'll have a database engineer and Software Implementation Specialist (SIS) for guidance throughout this meeting. This is when we'll start to fill out those Excel templates together. Step #3: The asset data is imported after you've done the final sign off Step #4: We'll arrange a meeting to review the quality and consistency of the data we're transferring. If anything appears false or needs to change, we'll resolve it. Step #5: In our penultimate step, the SIS provides a three-day on-site consultation and training service, so your key maintenance personnel get a grasp of EAM. Step #6: That's it — we're ready to go live! Real-time data collection Once the EAM software is active, it'll gather data across your organization: equipment, sensors, IoT devices or whatever else reveals your assets' condition. Additionally, it'll receive information from existing CMMS or ERP software. Geographic data, meanwhile, helps the EAM pinpoint necessary asset maintenance activity at several sites. All of these details are immediately analyzed and displayed to your users. MicroMain's EAM solution uses several core metrics for variables like the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) across the asset lifecycle. Asset groups Maintenance is easier when your machines and equipment are sorted into neat and tidy boxes, each grouped under custom parameters. For instance, you might want to view a particular type of physical asset in one location. High or low-performing assets can be separated, as well as those undergoing or due for maintenance. Grouping assists inventory management, too, digging into the specific tools and materials you have on hand at any given time. Automatic alerts and updates EAM software constantly looks at asset performance indicators and plans maintenance for you. When a repair is on the cards, you don't need to do anything. The platform will alert the relevant team members and map out their workflow, reporting on what they're doing and when it's complete. Throughout the process, you have a digital paper trail for compliance standards, which can also be used to benchmark vendor quality. Finance support Remember when we talked about financial insights? They live here, too. Enterprise asset management software stores reports for your finance department, informing cash flow and expense claims. From the dashboard, you can set alerts around your budget, discovering when repair tasks or replacements are creeping over the line. That's the grand overview, but there's much more to explore once your EAM is up and running. For now, let's explore the advantages you can look forward to, making your maintenance kingdom a bountiful place for decades to come. What maintenance mastery brings to your business Once a choir starts singing and you're a grownup Simba surveying the asset landscape (metaphorically speaking), your business has a lot to celebrate. For starters, every asset will be working more consistently and effectively. Preventive maintenance leaps to action ahead of time, so you're almost never caught off guard for repairs. That doesn't mean that surprise breakages won't happen — they're inevitable. But when sudden asset downtime does occur, you have the confidence and awareness to send the right technicians out to fix it. Since these professionals have defined workflow orders, they know what to do, which tools to use and where they need to be. Therefore, you'll return to peak production much faster than you would without an EAM. If several repairs aren't showing good results, however, then something's wrong. Either the asset has a severe malfunction or your maintenance teams aren't using the appropriate techniques. This opens the door to further investigation. You might want to retrain the technicians on best practices, use third-party specialists or replace the asset altogether. One metric in particular, Mean Time to Failure (MTTF), reveals how long machines or components tend to last before they're irreparable. Are you seeing a high number of low MTTF rates? It's probably wise to reinvest and switch suppliers, because these assets are costing your business more than you may realize. Either way, the burden of responsibility is taken off your hands, letting you focus on other tasks while the schedule continues and reports on maintenance activity. As EAM data piles up, you'll make stronger business decisions based on your most profitable assets. It's a cost/benefit equation. In effect, you're working smarter, not harder. Future investments have much firmer ground for a positive impact on your business model. So, you'll optimize output, repair tasks, inventory management and investment strategies. What about the customer experience? Better maintained assets allow you to meet product quotas and delivery deadlines. If you're a customer-facing business (a gym or sports center, say, or remote working environment), then preventive maintenance chases gremlins out of your system before they become a problem. With less asset downtime, people place more trust in whatever product or service you're providing to them. Customers aren't let down or frustrated. Steadily, you'll strengthen your reputation in key markets. Customer, supplier and wholesale relationships improve, leading to repeat orders, subscriptions or memberships. We can't leave without mentioned health and safety, too, both for employees and anyone visiting your sites. Restoring or replacing your assets before an issue occurs limits the risk of a serious injury. It's another mark in your favor for trust, accountability and consistency. And even though we're Lion King fans here, "hakuna matata" has no place in our maintenance philosophy. We should worry about the assets in your care. Squaring up to the reality of the asset life cycle — and all of its complexities — improves your stake in a competitive industry. With MicroMain, you have the only EAM software you'll ever need. We'd be happy to show you a demo or discuss your asset goals. Okay, Elton. You can go home now.

There's no doubt about it — property maintenance can feel like you're marshaling a team onto the soccer pitch, except the goal moves now and then. By the time someone's ready to score, they look up and it's shifted again, a few feet to the right. Timing (and good boots) are everything for keeping a venue in pristine condition, along with the whole squad knowing where to aim. Maintenance on a sporting facility can be especially tough. Not only do you have to check walls, floors, lights and heating, but an array of athletic installations must be kept safe and clean. From lobbies and changing areas to shared outdoor courts, property management is a never-ending contest: It's you versus the building, and the score resets every day. So, why not give your team a performance enhancer? The totally legal kind. Let's discuss the host of environmental challenges facing you, and how you can act faster — with more precision — to make property maintenance a winner. Property maintenance defined If property management is about finding tenants and clients before collecting their rent and service fees, then property maintenance is the essential treatment that ensures your facility is sought-after. That means basic upkeep: the inspections, repairs, replacements and cleaning routines making it gleam like a trophy for new and prospective members. Property maintenance basically upholds the quality, safety and practical functions of the space you're managing. Sometimes, it's included within a property management service, but these are subtly different. Management is your overarching control over a facility's admin, accounting and operations, whereas maintenance is the grunt work that retains its looks, feel and functionality. They still have a lot in common. Both require a work order for what to do and when to do it. They give skilled employees a role to enact at the perfect time. You're looking at everything overhead, assigning and documenting tasks that keep members happy and generate more business. However, a sports center has way more maintenance considerations at play than many other spaces. Examples of facility management include: Fixing, repainting and polishing floors, walls and ceilings. Cleaning and checking courts and astro turf. Testing gym equipment so it isn't faulty or dangerous. Providing safe athletic gear such as nets, trampolines, crash mats and punch bags. Cleaning pools and changing rooms. Making any necessary exterior repairs (for leaks, erosion, wind damage etc.) Guttering, draining and landscaping. Getting rid of mold. Conducting electrical, gas or network repairs. Taking care of trash and pest control. Checking smoke detectors, security systems and other protective measures. With a good maintenance team, you'll prevent assets from breaking or causing harm, or jump in to fix them immediately — an important thing when people are testing their limits at your site, en route to becoming superhuman. Preventive maintenance is the golden goal. Inspection schedules can flag any issues before they get out of hand, so you can spend the right costs and manpower on a quick solution. It sure beats reactive maintenance, where you're responding to a service request on the fly. But you'll always deal with these issues too. A-game maintenance handles the preemptive and fast-acting restoration of a property and its assets, with the best data to guide those decisions. How property managers are like GMs Okay, bear with us. You might not stalk the edge of a pitch in a black coat. Your hair may be entirely real, and you don't clap every 30 seconds when someone's legs move. Yet a property manager analyzing maintenance demands is very much like a general manager. You're in charge of a formation, a group of individual talents. They have to come together seamlessly or drop the ball on game day. Which is every day, pretty much. Creating a work order, for instance, is no mean feat. Someone has to collect details for the maintenance task: the asset's condition, issue and benchmark for optimal performance. Then you have to send the right specialist to perform the job. Meanwhile, a repair order must be logged, stored and describe the activities carried out. Doing this properly relies on strategic thinking and fine attention to detail. More generally, though, you need a full asset inventory — not only showing what you may have to clean, replace or repair, but the available tools for the task. Cataloging every asset helps you flex a team around the resources you have and the challenges inherent in one or several sports facilities. With that knowledge, you can bring players (employees) on or off the bench, alerting the most appropriate property maintenance staff to their next duty. And of course, a manager doesn't just want to win when the whistle blows — they want to succeed at upholding a brand's legacy. Keeping to a strict maintenance schedule and dealing with service requests at lightning speed makes the facility so much safer and more appealing. Property management and maintenance attracts more members, who'll spread the word about how amazing your space is. They might not have their own team scarves (yet) but they'll associate your brand with unmatched quality, indispensable when you're expanding to new sites. So, now that you're imagining soaking up the cheers of a thousand fans, can we reveal what's going to transform your facility management forever? It's simple, really: property maintenance software that smashes the opposition. Same game, different property maintenance software Collating, arranging and tracking maintenance responsibilities becomes far easier with the latest CMMS software. MicroMain is your platform for doing more with less. Its features will kick your facility management into another league, with unrivaled implementation support for backup. MicroMain monitors everything you'll depend on for property management and maintenance activity: pricing, equipment, asset lists, incoming requests and inspection schedules. It automates every work order using data to pinpoint and prioritize key tasks. Wave goodbye to last-minute leadership with staff who aren't sure what they're doing or where they're meant to be. Our software alerts teams for regular and ad hoc maintenance requests, generating reports so you don't have to. These reports are sent to regulatory agencies as well, giving evidence for compliance. It also creates asset condition reports for better cost control and lifecycle awareness. This lets you know which assets are due a makeover or replacement soon — for example, applying a fresh coat of paint on your sports hall, mowing your golf club's grounds or consigning a rowing machine to history. You'll gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each asset class. Then, when the work is due, you can customize each service request so it fits the exact shape of your organization. More information leads to appropriate pricing. MicroMain bends with you, like a sympathetic sports therapist. Along with asset tracking, our CMMS software observes how long it takes to solve a service request. As this data builds, you can estimate a realistic repair timeframe and reward good work. These maintenance management features come into their own anywhere, rolling the same system across your sports venues. The result? More freedom to wrap up accounting, billing, member or tenant screening, rent collection and maintenance costs. Sounds like an open goal, no? Take a free MicroMain trial to master a work order and push your team forward like never before. We can set the property maintenance management software up in no time and walk you through basic and advanced functionalities. Otherwise, read our FAQs for CMMS breakdowns, or chat to our specialists today.

A Corrective Maintenance Object Lesson with Tacos When you're a maintenance manager upkeeping your facility, equipment eventually breaks down - sometimes it just cannot be avoided or prevented. Corrective maintenance fills this need to restore critical systems that break down, but it's often viewed as a last resort to earlier forms of preventive equipment care. That's an easy misconception. Corrective maintenance has its place and, when used correctly, it can be a huge value-add for your maintenance operation. Allow us to explain why corrective maintenance action works with an analogy of a taco restaurant. Think of equipment maintenance as a kitchen Imagine your favorite taco stop. You know what the street looks like, the music that's playing and the sounds of the kitchen as you wait for your order. You can smell the spices, the produce and the grill at work. Great, now everybody's hungry. Similarly, there are plenty of applicable identifiers and imagery when it comes to your facility. It may not be nearly as fun to describe what a conveyor belt sounds like, but you're getting the idea. Just as there are many approaches to preparing a taco, corrective maintenance is working with what you find in your kitchen. That can lead to something great you wouldn't have considered before. Corrective maintenance, also commonly known as reactive maintenance, is good to plan for when working with a variety of equipment, systems and facility processes. It often is needed when preventive maintenance just won't do, whether due to cost, time or resource scarcity. Let's give a few examples of what this looks like: Two of your forklifts breakdown in a day An HVAC filter expires early, leading to heating problems A bird invades the facility and takes down a critical light structure Servos on the production line wear down resulting in unplanned maintenance or corrective repair Corrective maintenance is about sustaining a peak operational condition as long as possible, and then scheduling a maintenance task when absolutely necessary. Say you're walking into your favorite taco shop. You know your order, you know what to expect and you know what type of salsa you want. You reach out to grab your usual lime Jarritos soda except they're out. You look up in disappointment, and they confirm that not only are they out of lime soda, but there's a recall on a lot of the ingredients they use with this taco. Your go-to order is not available. Do you leave? Or do you trust the restaurant enough to try out something different? You ask what's available, and due to the mass recall, they've got this really quirky fusion thing of chicken, mango and fried avocado. This isn't remotely what you're used to eating when you come here. But hey, y'know what, you've got an hour for lunch, you're already here and this place has proven itself time and time again, so why not? You grab a different Jarritos, maybe guava or mango. You wait, enjoy a few sips of your soda, taking in the same sounds and the same smells and then they deliver your tacos. And it is one of the best things you've ever eaten, maybe not as much as you love carne asada, but it was worth trying out. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but it ended up being worthwhile" is the best-case scenario when it comes to corrective maintenance. A corrective maintenance plan originates out of necessity, and often with two key distinguishers: A run-to-failure strategy. An asset is allowed to run until failure and then is replaced or scheduled for repair Condition monitoring. Condition based maintenance and monitoring are performed as an aspect of preventive maintenance, as both are attempts to identify problems before asset failure Corrective maintenance may often be a fallback plan. However, if you know when to identify and implement corrective action instead of other forms of maintenance, it can result in major benefits. The pros and cons of a corrective maintenance strategy Corrective maintenance activities can be random and unexpected, but getting equipment back up to speed after failure can be effectively planned for. Asset management means considering these kinds of advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of having a reactive maintenance strategy can look like the following: Cost-effectiveness for non-critical equipment. When you plan for corrective action to be taken after failure, it can save you from excess maintenance costs by only paying for equipment failure. When it's something less critical, costs can be way lower than scheduling preventive maintenance. The benefits may be less inventory and time spent on unnecessary maintenance Time saved on planning. Time is often your most important resource. Knowing that you run a particular asset until it can't anymore helps you save time. You and your operation know what non-critical equipment is down and how to plan around it. Maintenance doesn't kick in until it's absolutely necessary, which saves you mental energy Straightforward per case. Did it break down yet? No? Okay, wait till it does. Your maintenance team can focus on other priority tasks and then pivot back to re-establish resources when it's necessary. Deferred corrective maintenance can be the best solution in certain situations, setting aside cash and time in run-to-failure But like with most strategies, there can be holes in this approach. Understanding weaknesses is what helps your maintenance operation improve. Potential disadvantages of corrective maintenance often look like these: Safety issues. If a run-to-failure strategy is used on the wrong asset, it could be dangerous. You can't send out food with E. coli. Corrective maintenance is about controlling what you can Different compliance standards. If you're not hitting compliance standards, it can compound safety issues. Standards change across the board and if you aren't careful, it can lead to problems for your operation Uncertain expenses. Depending on the asset, costs can fluctuate quickly. Knowing what your running-to-failure strategy will typically cost is how you mitigate large purchases. When it's a bad idea to outright replace or repair an asset, that's when you correct it with a predictive maintenance strategy Preventive maintenance — or a surplus of ingredients While it can be fun and lead to worthwhile value, you can't run a restaurant entirely on makeshift ingredients. Plenty of customers come in looking for their lime soda and carne asada and if they can't get it, they're likely to find some other shop that will. Some advantages of preventive maintenance that corrective maintenance doesn't usually offer are: Fewer disruptions on essential equipment. Giving the essentials the attention they need keeps your operation running smoothly Reduced maintenance costs with regular repair. Your essential equipment is likely more costly if you implement a run-to-failure approach. When you do little fixes along the way, you can cut down those purchases immensely Less energy consumption. This can be both physical energy and mental energy of your staff. When you have a schedule of little fixes, it can prevent breakdown of both your facility and your people. Maintain both to gain better performance Preventive maintenance is like a fully stocked kitchen with more insights on the front end - but it can cost you a whole lot more money. You may have all the ingredients you need from the offset but this may lead to excess food waste if you're not taking regular inventory. A preventive maintenance plan has a lot of the same components, such as scheduling routine fixes or implementing run-to-failure on non-critical equipment. Some unintended consequences of preventive maintenance can include: More resources spent. You're doing a lot of leg work in the beginning, stocking the kitchen and making sure everything is operating well above capacity. You don't want to run out of ingredients or spare parts, but this can lead to excessive regulation and burnout of your staff. You can't be stressing your technicians planning for corrective task calendars two years out - that can come later. Over maintenance. Too much of a good thing leads to issues. Throwing out perfectly good ingredients because you have a new shipment that just came in can lead to issues. There is balance that can be found in keeping things fresh. The same is true with over-maintaining your resources just to check boxes. Preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance aren't at odds with each other. Both are required for a well-oiled machine — or in a taco shop. Conclusion: Do what's best for the kitchen Corrective maintenance is a necessity that all facilities will deal with, whether planned or not. With a definitive approach, maintenance activity doesn't have to be costly. Condition monitoring allows you to let some inexpensive and easily-replaced, non-critical parts run to failure. With the right amount of prep, you can ensure replacements are available in stock and technicians have what they need to complete their tasks. When thrown into the mix without proper planning, corrective maintenance will be costly to both your workforce and your operation. Maintenance cost, downtime and stalls can be taxing for your entire workforce. It's worth the effort to plan ahead and help your staff get their "tacos" out the door on time. To get the most out of corrective maintenance, it's best to pair it with a preventive maintenance strategy so that technicians can adjust based on the problems they face. Maintenance is then planned in the moment before critical failure comes. Preventive and corrective maintenance is made even easier with an EAM software — and MicroMain is inviting you to a free trial option. To learn more about MicroMain visit our FAQ page or contact us. 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Preventive maintenance, also known as preventative maintenance, service is how you keep production moving at a brisk pace. Having an effective preventive service game plan means maintaining the assets producers need to do their jobs. Getting down to brass tacks, here are the ins and outs of preventative maintenance services couched in the same simple terms anyone can use to make a great burrito. Preventative maintenance defined Preventative maintenance means keeping heavy machinery and mission-critical assets up and running by providing upkeep and regular performance checks. Regular maintenance tasks are meant to repair things before they break the flow of your operation. Asset health monitoring and operation data analytics provide your management team the insight they need to keep things running smoothly and lead to reduced crises and emergency service repair requests. So, making sure that your produce is up to snuff and that the guacamole and special sauce are ready to go before you open your restaurant is a no-brainer — and scheduling regular inventory updates to mitigate delays of orders to customers. That's what preventative maintenance means. Understanding how and why preventative maintenance is performed means getting a maintenance plan on paper for your team to execute. Developing a preventive maintenance plan Every maintenance plan requires three key phases for your metaphorical burrito shop to flourish. These aren't overly complicated or detailed — but by considering them as you develop your plan, you will prevent headaches later on. 1. Inventory Start by accounting for every asset. Every facility manager should understand which assets need to be repaired or replaced, track asset usage schedules, and use historical data to predict when an asset is likely to break down. Understanding how the asset or part is priced, knowing other suppliers who provide the same part, and what alternatives you have in case you need them is an important part of the inventory process. Once these factors are accounted for, you can use these variables to create an optimal maintenance schedule. Remember, you're accounting for all the ingredients that go into your burrito: the salsa, tortillas, meat, veggies and sauce. 2. Condition When preparing an asset for repairs or replacement, you need benchmarks. Compare the current state of the equipment to its factory standard — those tomatoes were looking a little funky yesterday, are they still up to standard? How fresh is your beef before it's cooked? Establishing food standards is essentially what conditioning your assets means. 3. Maintain Now that you've defined your standards, your system is now ready for planned maintenance work orders. Assign and schedule technicians to perform designated tasks. Using preventive maintenance can minimize and improve production standards, leading to higher customer satisfaction and a healthier bottom line. The best burrito places maintain high-quality standards and take into account the opinions of their employees and customers. It's all about maintaining a higher standard and continuing to improve — which leads to some killer food. Here's a stat to drive this home for you: preventive maintenance costs 10%-30% of what reactive maintenance does. Your checkbook will feel the difference if you take the time to get things in order. CMMS software and preventive maintenance Using CMMS software is one of the most effective ways to organize a preventive maintenance plan. MicroMain helps you reduce downtime, offset costly repairs and even extend the life of assets by centralizing your operations manufacturing process with asset accounting, scheduling work orders, inventory and labor tracking. This level of asset management is essential to not only keeping your operation moving but growing to scale, (and making the meanest burrito you can think of). MicroMain also offers standardized reporting, giving you detailed information and insights to find weaknesses and turn them into opportunities for optimization. Tracking, preserving, restoring and replacing these assets are essential before they fail, and a CMMS software like ours gets the job done. Our world-class preventive maintenance software is available for you to use right away with our free trial option. Explore its robust and powerful features and observe how agile it is for yourself. To learn more, visit our FAQ page or contact us. For more reading, check out our blog and subscribe to our newsletter (more burrito metaphors may be included)!

While the C-suite might treat maintenance costs as a necessary evil, the ramifications of poor maintenance are far more costly than sticking with a robust maintenance plan. Maintenance costs include labor, parts, tools, and other equipment required to keep assets in optimal condition. For example, in a manufacturing facility, your maintenance costs would include wages paid to maintenance technicians, replacement parts for heavy machinery, and the tools used to repair them. These costs are necessary because they extend an asset’s useful life. While the costs of preventive maintenance may seem high in the short term, your organization saves money in the long run by preventing asset breakdown and extending the asset’s Mean Time To Repair (how long a repairable asset can run between maintenance intervals) and Mean Time To Failure (overall runtime for non-repairable assets). Maintenance costs are recorded in the profit & loss (P&L) account and are considered a cost center. However, maintenance plays an indispensable role in business continuity and output. These costs take different forms depending on the asset in question. For example, maintaining a fleet of vehicles is very different from maintaining real estate. The extent of maintenance on an individual asset depends on its worth, its importance in the production process, and whether or not the asset can be easily repaired/replaced. Low-cost, non-repairable assets (eg: lightbulbs) can be allowed to run to failure without causing unscheduled downtime. Note: Some maintenance costs are considered overheads because they are required by regulation. For example, government regulations require landlords to maintain living and safety standards—providing heating, cooling, and ventilation—and regular upkeep including snow removal, roof replacement, HVAC maintenance, and mold removal. What is the best way to reduce maintenance costs? The best way to reduce maintenance costs is to reduce reliance on reactive maintenance. Proactive maintenance is one of the best cost management strategies. Also, you must train technicians to use machinery properly. When performing maintenance tasks, follow OEM recommendations closely. Improvisation is rarely advisable. 1. Double down on preventive maintenance (and evaluate performance over time) Reactive maintenance is the most expensive type of maintenance, especially when it leads to emergencies and unscheduled downtime. According to one study, downtime costs can run up to $22,000/minute. Reactive maintenance involves responding to equipment malfunctions after they occur. Worse equipment damage equals greater repair costs. Left unchecked, a single component can trigger a domino effect of failures that debilitate an entire production line. A 2020 study by Plant Engineering found that 60% of manufacturing companies still perform reactive maintenance, indicating that organizations are bleeding money unnecessarily. Preventive maintenance is the practice of scheduling maintenance on an asset ahead of expected failure based on a specified time interval or usage threshold. Maintenance frequency may be determined by OEM recommendations or historical data. Because preventive maintenance is expensive, as it involves servicing an asset regardless of its operating condition, this strategy is typically reserved for the most high-value assets critical to production continuity. Most organizations use a combination of strategies for different assets. Breakdown maintenance involves letting cheap assets that are easy to repair/replace run to failure. However, this constitutes a conscious, cost-cutting decision rather than a lack of maintenance planning. Corrective maintenance is a controlled, cost-effective way of maintaining medium-priority or ancillary equipment. This means checking equipment regularly for signs of wear (eg: vibration analysis, oil check) and initiating maintenance as needed. 2. Switch to predictive maintenance Preventive maintenance may lead to over-maintenance because maintenance follows a set schedule regardless of asset condition. Predictive maintenance uses historical data to calculate the ideal maintenance interval based on prior equipment failure. Sometimes, assets on a preventive maintenance plan fail before scheduled maintenance is due. Predictive maintenance reduces the chances of error. More importantly, it automatically adjusts maintenance intervals as the asset ages—an important feature seeing as older assets require more frequent maintenance. Another study by Plant Engineering found that the chief cause of unscheduled downtime is aging equipment (34%), followed by mechanical failure (20%) and operator error (11%). To gain the full benefits of predictive maintenance, install IoT (Internet of Things) sensors on your equipment to receive real-time alerts about asset conditions. This allows you to perform condition-based maintenance with less labor (technicians no longer have to inspect equipment regularly) and enriches the predictive maintenance dataset, leading to more accurate predictions. 3. Use a maintenance checklist A maintenance checklist is a logbook technicians use to document equipment maintenance inspections. The checklist ensures maintenance is on schedule and done according to specification. It records maintenance inspections on an asset for quality and safety purposes. A maintenance checklist should include: Asset location When it was last serviced Photos/videos of issues or concerns during maintenance Details of the specific maintenance request Location and specifications of associated parts and tools These checklists can be used to create detailed, comprehensive work orders so technicians can access maintenance instructions, part locations, and an asset’s complete maintenance history. Work order management is a crucial part of maintenance operations because it prevents inefficiencies resulting from confusion, lack of information, and time wasted locating parts or searching for OEM manuals. 4. Track and manage inventory Poor inventory management can prolong unscheduled downtime if necessary parts are out of stock during an emergency. Automate the process of ordering parts ahead of anticipated machine failure using a CMMS. This schedule is usually determined in tandem with an asset’s preventive maintenance schedule. Just-in-time inventory management allows you to use historical data to anticipate when to order parts and avoid warehousing costs from having to overstock items or incurring a financial loss from unplanned downtime. Inventory often represents as much as 40% of total capital at industrial organizations and represents an area for improvement that must not be overlooked. If you neglect inventory management, you risk production bottlenecks, resulting in irreparable reputation loss for companies operating in competitive industries. 5. Invest in training Training your technicians reduces the chance of accidents and equipment failure while increasing the maintenance team’s speed and capacity. Periodically train your existing employees on how to use equipment and detect signs of malfunction. Re-evaluate your onboarding process for new hires regularly to ensure training remains up-to-date. Training is required for compliance with OSHA safety standards, so don’t neglect it. Trained technicians are also more versatile, allowing them to respond to emergencies and fill in for other technicians in case of a staff shortage. Training also boosts employee morale because it leaves them feeling confident and capable and provides a sense of career progression. Tip: During training, don’t focus exclusively on machine operation. An effective technician has a combination of experience, technical knowledge, and problem-solving skills. Teach technicians how to respond in emergency situations, delegate tasks, and take greater ownership of their role—especially if your facility uses Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). 6. Use high-quality parts from trustworthy suppliers Having a close relationship with your suppliers enables you to accurately understand their capabilities and limitations. The goal is to source a reputable supplier who can produce a quality product and turn around large orders on short notice. Purchasing cheap parts or raw materials will only lead to defects, reworks, and scraps. When comparison-shopping suppliers, ask about fulfillment times, minimum order value, and comparative pricing. 7. Use a CMMS A CMMS provides a comprehensive database for maintenance operations, allowing you to manage inventory, schedule work orders, track maintenance costs, and evaluate technician performance. Track service and maintenance costs A CMMS records every asset’s complete maintenance history, including the labor and parts associated with each maintenance task. This way, you can make strategic cost-cutting decisions by tracking recurring service and maintenance costs. Say a particular group of assets is going through spare parts quicker than it should; you can investigate the root cause. Set up preventive maintenance plans to prolong asset lifecycle Use your CMMS to automatically schedule and assign preventive maintenance work to available and qualified technicians so nothing falls through the cracks. Create, assign, and schedule work orders A work order is an approved service request containing details about the nature of the problem, documentation/instructions on how to service the assets, and details on associated parts and tools. Evaluate employee performance See each technician’s wrench-on time, their MTTR (and the MTTR of individual assets), and the number of work orders associated with each employee. You can also see how many work orders they send to your maintenance backlog. Reduce downtime Keeping up a steady preventive maintenance regimen reduces the likelihood of equipment failure. Improve inventory control You can set minimum and maximum quantity thresholds, generate email alerts for low inventory levels, generate purchase orders, track insights on parts usage and costs, and use barcode scanning to update inventory as new items are added or used. 8. Plan for emergencies Being unprepared for emergency situations leads to prolonged downtime due to inventory being unavailable, technicians that are inadequately trained to handle emergencies, and a general lack of processes and procedures for emergency handling. All of these factors contribute to rising maintenance costs. Come up with an emergency response plan for different contingencies. For example, what parts of the production line can continue to run safely if X asset breaks down? What are the procedures for shutting down equipment? If technicians are working on other tasks when the emergency occurs, what is the process for rerouting technicians to attend to the emergency? Which technicians have the right qualifications to respond to an emergency situation and which ones require additional training? Marshaling people, processes, and tools ahead of time reduces the chances of being caught off guard in an emergency situation.

The education sector has a significant problem with deferred maintenance. As institutions face declining revenues due to changes in enrollment and public support, public institutions are experiencing lengthening maintenance backlogs. These backlogs aren’t only an administrative burden: they create potentially hazardous conditions for the teachers, students, and support staff who frequent education facilities each day. In the US, 35% of higher education facilities were built in the Post-WWII construction boom between 1960 and 1975, and many of these buildings require significant renovations. According to an executive report by EAB, public institutions have seen a 24% increase in their deferred maintenance backlog per square foot from 2007-2015—meaning costs are rising 66% faster than inflation. The corrections industry has also postponed numerous maintenance tasks due to a lack of funding. About ⅓ of prison facilities in the US are over 50 years old. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports a backlog of 185 major (projects that cost $300,000 or more) modernization and repair (M&R) projects with an approximate cost of $370 million. When essential maintenance tasks are put off long enough, organizations pay dearly in the long run. Sometimes, a “repair” becomes a “replacement” as an asset is subjected to continuous usage or wear-and-tear. According to FacilitiesNet, the cost of deferred maintenance can be 30x greater than the cost of early intervention. What is a maintenance backlog, exactly? A maintenance backlog consists of work orders that have been approved for scheduling but have not been completed. However, most maintenance backlogs aren’t simply a repository for reactive maintenance tasks or routine inspections—those seemingly insignificant tasks teams put off to fight bigger fires. Backlogs often consist of planned maintenance work—the crucial maintenance tasks that keep the lights on. For example, the backlog might list daily and weekly corrective repairs, preventive maintenance tasks, predictive maintenance tasks, and jobs planned during periods of scheduled machine downtime. Note: A backlog can consist of orders that are past due or planned maintenance work that is waiting to be scheduled. An excessively long maintenance backlog means your technicians are operating in fight-or-flight mode—everything they do is reactive, and planned maintenance is mostly out the window. Here are some reasons why organizations might build up a backlog over time: Deferring maintenance work due to emergencies or lack of funding Not having spare parts available to complete the work Maintenance technicians with the required skills aren’t available to do the job The facility is understaffed Poor work order management (someone forgot about the work order or there is no digital trail) An outside specialist’s expertise is required for troubleshooting When many work orders are generated each day, it’s easy for some of them to be missed—especially if you don’t use work order management software or have a maintenance planner. An overreliance on reactive maintenance also creates a backlog. When an emergency occurs, technicians are forced to drop whatever they’re doing to attend to it, which leads to work piling up. What’s wrong with having a maintenance backlog? A long list of unclosed work orders or deferred repairs can lead to more expensive problems down the line. A backlog also reduces technicians’ capacity to attend to current maintenance needs, leading to a vicious cycle. Furthermore, it usually signals a bigger problem such as understaffing, poor work order management, or a lack of inventory control. Maybe you don’t have enough technicians, or technicians don’t have the right information to complete and close out work orders, or they’re spending too much time hunting for parts rather than using a barcode system to find necessary parts and tools. Here are some potential causes for an extensive maintenance backlog: Low technician wrench-on time (the percentage of a technician’s shift spent on actual maintenance work) Lack of work order standardization Poor inventory control (parts are missing when technicians need them) Lack of planned maintenance (preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, and routine inspections) Understaffing Overreliance on reactive maintenance forces teams to defer scheduled maintenance How to shorten your maintenance backlog one step at a time Even if the situation might seem helpless, especially if your maintenance department is facing a funding shortfall, there are several ways to cut your maintenance backlog. Start by investigating what is causing the backlog— sometimes the problem has nothing to do but with budgets or staffing. 1. Identify what needs to be done Examine your maintenance backlog. What types of tasks are neglected the most? Which assets are being impacted? A low-risk asset (i.e. equipment not integral to production which is inexpensive/easy to repair or replace) can tolerate longer delays. However, high-risk assets should be tended to immediately. Organize past due work orders in your CMMS according to asset, type, location, available resources, or other criteria. Questions to ask: How important is each task? How frequently is the asset used? What is the potential monetary and reputational impact of asset downtime or failure? Another option is to organize work orders based on the reason they were deferred. For example, some work orders might be missing vital information. Every WO should at least include the name and location of the asset, a description of the problem, the scope of work needed to rectify it, required parts and tools, health and safety information, and a deadline. Standardize the work order request process to prevent technicians from contacting the original requester to obtain the necessary information. Only accurate and complete work orders should make their way to the schedule. If your maintenance planner or supervisor is approving work orders that are missing vital information, you may need to revisit the WO approval process as well. If you discover many work orders that weren’t closed due to missing parts, investigate the problem with your inventory management team. Just-in-time inventory management is a form of inventory control that requires working closely with suppliers so that parts and tools arrive shortly before maintenance is due. This is especially important for high-priority planned maintenance tasks—delaying these repairs can be financially ruinous. Tip: Watch out for duplicate work requests and work requests that are missing vital information. You will need to remove these from the backlog. 2. Schedule past-due tasks alongside new ones Establish a system for triaging work orders and assigning them alongside ongoing projects. Tasks related to safety should receive high priority, as well as any repairs that might impact production or the functionality of your facility. A high-priority job on a critical asset should take precedence over low-priority work on an auxiliary asset. If asset usage fluctuates seasonally, take advantage of equipment downtime to perform repairs. Also, review the due dates for each work order. Maintenance due dates are tricky because they are often meant to be flexible—except for high-priority assets or emergency situations. When a WO is initiated, the due date depends on its relative importance to work that is already in the backlog plus any WOs that may be generated in the future. Rather than making a subjective assessment of which WOs are critical, you can create a priority index. Assign a criticality number from 1-100 for every piece of equipment (the higher the number, the more critical asset). Next, assign priority to work orders based on the same scale. Priority Index = Asset Criticality x Work Order Priority Now, multiply the asset criticality score by the work order priority score. The result is the priority index. Now you can schedule work according to its priority index. Tip: Have the operations team check and approve your criticality rankings beforehand. Seeing as they use the equipment daily, they may have better insight into which assets are most critical. 3. Determine what resources you need Now you can move on to planning and scheduling. How many labor hours are needed for each work order? What tools or parts are needed? Are they all referenced in the WO? What parts are not available? Have they been ordered yet? What is their delivery status? CMMS calendars help with maintenance planning and scheduling upcoming tasks. Use your CMMS to assign WOs to team members and determine if you need to outsource any tasks. Remember, if you need to outsource work or increase staffing costs temporarily, don’t hesitate to do so if it means you can permanently erase your backlog. 4. Review and revise your plan Pick a time to evaluate how your plan to reduce your backlog is going. Are you creating even more of a backlog as new WOs come in but technicians are busy dealing with past due work orders? If so, you might need to increase headcount or outsource tasks. Use your CMMS to identify open WOs and update schedules.

Every industry wishes they had a crystal ball to help them make better predictions about when equipment will fail, which markets to enter (and which to avoid at all costs), and which products will turn into bestsellers. While there’s no cure-all to alleviate the risks of doing business, Internet of Things (IoT) devices have proven highly valuable in enhancing preventive maintenance and allowing businesses to predict equipment failure with near-perfect accuracy. IoT sensors collect machine data (eg: operating temperature, supply voltage, vibration, etc.) and wirelessly transmit the data to a cloud-based, centralized data storage platform in real-time. Artificial intelligence automatically analyzes the data to detect anomalistic patterns that might portend imminent machine failure. If an anomaly is detected, the platform automatically generates a work order request, which is sent to your CMMS in order to be assigned to an available technician. IoT in predictive maintenance: What is it about? Unlike reactive maintenance, the main objective of predictive maintenance is to plan ahead to avoid unexpected equipment failure. The costs of unscheduled downtime vary widely by industry. Automotive manufacturers lose $22,000 per minute of downtime. According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. In fact, 59% of Fortune 500s experience at least 1.6 hours of downtime per week, which costs them $4.6 million per year in lost productivity. While preventive maintenance is typically based on a calendar or usage schedule, most equipment failure (82%) occurs randomly, according to a study by the ARC Group. In fact, only 18% of equipment fails due to age. Preventive maintenance draws on historical failure metrics and OEM recommendations to schedule maintenance at an optimal frequency, but it ignores real-world conditions. IoT-assisted predictive maintenance allows maintenance supervisors to collect machine data to monitor the operating condition of high-value assets in real-time. The system automatically collects data on availability, reliability, and metrics such as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). Machine learning models learn from this data over time to make better predictions regarding machine failure. Real-time equipment monitoring also enables facilities to respond faster to emergencies—especially when a work order request is automatically triggered at the first sign of equipment breakdown. How does it work? IoT devices communicate using Machine to Machine (M2M)—technologies that allow machines to automatically exchange data. M2M enables networked devices to exchange information and perform actions without the manual assistance of humans. For example, if an IoT sensor detects irregular vibration patterns in an asset, it can send a work order request to your CMMS to schedule preventive maintenance and circumvent asset failure. The main components of an M2M system include sensors, RFID, a WiFi network, and autonomic computing software that is programmed to help a network device interpret data and make decisions. M2M technology was first adopted in manufacturing and industrial settings where other technologies such as SCADA and remote monitoring helped remotely manage and control data from equipment. It is now used in a variety of industries including healthcare, business, and insurance. For example, ECG units already exist that transmit information on the blood pressure, pulse, or blood sugar level of the patient to doctors in the nearest hospital while the patient is being transported in the ambulance. This technology enables medical professionals to prepare for the patient’s arrival and start treatment quicker—which can save lives. What are the benefits of IoT asset tracking? Every business has valuable assets, from manufacturing equipment to vehicle fleets and even livestock. IoT asset tracking extends the useful life of assets by automatically generating work order requests and maintenance schedules based on real-world conditions. Outside of maintenance management, IoT asset tracking provides a myriad of benefits including better inventory management, theft prevention, and cost savings. Implement predictive maintenance - Transition from preventive maintenance (time-based or usage-based maintenance) to predictive maintenance, in which maintenance is scheduled strictly when needed. This allows organizations to cut down on the costs of over- or under-maintaining an asset. Gain real-time data insights - Tracking equipment conditions and whereabouts in real-time lets you make better business decisions. For example, tracking fleet whereabouts allows you to optimize routes according to traffic conditions, weather, etc. Improve inventory management - Replenish inventory at the right time in just the right amount. Having access to real-time inventory data enables organizations to implement just-in-time inventory management and cut down on warehousing costs and avoid losing revenue due to understocking. Locate and identify lost equipment - Identify lost or stolen items to improve theft prevention and recovery Reduce costly problems - Monitor alerts and take immediate action to reduce negative impacts from malfunctions/equipment failure or asset theft. Image credits: 1. Check Time by Smashing Stocks from NounProject.com 2. Lan Network by VectorsLab from NounProject.com

When companies take stock of their top competitive advantages, inventory management rarely comes to mind. After all, it’s a behind-the-scenes function— and a cost center, at that— but it underpins every successful operation, helping businesses deliver the right products in a timely manner while consistently meeting quality standards. Too much stock results in unnecessary warehousing costs, while too little can lead to lost sales, so there’s a lot of money at stake. Data shows that ⅓ of businesses will miss a shipment deadline because they’ve sold an item that wasn’t actually in stock. This is typically due to low visibility in inventory management flows—sales, marketing, and fulfillment teams aren’t sharing real-time sales and inventory data. Inventory management represents an important decision variable at all stages of product manufacturing, distribution, and sales, in addition to being a major portion of current assets. In fact, inventory often represents as much as 40% of total capital at industrial organizations. If you neglect inventory management, you run the risk of production bottlenecks, which can result in irreparable reputation loss for companies operating in competitive industries. Here’s how you can optimize your inventory management to kick butt. What is stock control? Stock control means ordering enough stock of a product that sells well. To achieve this, you must have high-quality data for tracking item cost, sales forecasts, and sales figures. 1. Data quality is everything Good inventory management comes from accurate demand forecasting. Reliable forecasts are needed for decisions around assortments, purchasing volume, and safety stocks (extra stock which is stored in the warehouse to prevent an out-of-stock situation). Use historical data together with knowledge about inventory turnover, current order levels, and expectations for future sales. Remember that inventory management doesn’t apply only to the raw materials you use to produce goods. It’s equally important to stock the right tools and replacement parts to perform planned maintenance tasks— especially preventive maintenance. Consequently, having robust maintenance operations data is also an important part of inventory management. Here are the most important data points you need to know at all times: Which items need to be stocked How much of each item is needed to stock to avoid stockouts and lost sales Reconciliations of inventory balances Inventory lead time/vendor lead time Actual and projected inventory status Sales rate/demand forecast 2. Create processes and procedures to avoid confusion While this might sound like needless paper-pushing, you’ll finally understand the importance of having procedures in place the next time a huge shipment arrives and you’re out of warehouse space because there’s a pile of deadstock nobody knew what to do with. Standardizing processes helps you run a tight ship. Here are some things to look out for: Replenishment techniques. Determine minimum and safety stock levels for each product in your lineup. This can be used to trigger automated warnings when inventory falls below ideal stock quantities. Make accurate entries on every stock receipt. Guidelines for controlling excess inventory or dead stock. Form agreements regarding the handling of excess inventory. Some suppliers allow you to return items for a refund or credit. Alternatively, you can sell excess inventory to a liquidator or divert the inventory to a different product or plant. Similarly, deadstock can be offered as a clearance sale, donated, offered to customers as a free gift, or bundled with other products. Create an organized record system in a centralized database. Set up a database structure of showroom locations, distribution centers, delivery trucks, warehouses, and web inventory so you know where inventory resides in every part of your supply chain. Assign product classification to all items. Product classifications include product category, group, collection, vendor, and brand. Your inventory should also designate stock items, custom orders, and merchandise you plan to sell as-is. Maintain accurate product information. If products are sold online, make sure the product descriptions, dimensions, prices, and other product data are managed centrally so the information is consistent wherever the product is sold (online or at a brick-and-mortar location). Audits. Perform an annual full physical inventory to determine a true inventory valuation against your financial records and determine your annual shrink (loss of inventory attributed to damage, administrative errors, etc.). Implement a regular cadence of cycle counts and pick random areas of your warehouse to spot check weekly to keep tabs on your inventory throughout the year. 3. Be buddies with your suppliers Having a close relationship with your suppliers enables you to accurately understand their capabilities and limitations. The goal is to source a reputable supplier who can produce a quality product and turn around large orders on short notice. Purchasing cheap parts or raw materials will only lead to defects, reworks, and scrap parts. When comparison-shopping suppliers, ask about fulfillment times, minimum order value, and comparative pricing. 4. Keep tabs (literally) on your inventory using RFID chips and IoT sensors RFID chips enable businesses to track inventory whereabouts in real-time. RFID for inventory management requires a scanner that uses radio waves to communicate with an RFID tag. The tag contains a microchip that allowers the reader to scan data and write data to the tag for real-time tracking. These tags help to automate and expedite inventory checking as there is no manual data entry. Also, RFID tags do not require “line of sight” scan like barcodes; it is possible to read them at a distance for fast inventory processing. However, note that unlike barcodes, which can be read by a mobile app, RFID tags can only be scanned using RFID readers. 5. Use a CMMS Inventory management software provides quick and easy access to detailed inventory and ordering information. When you use a CMMS, you can also keep track of inventory data for your maintenance operations— including parts, tools, and other equipment needed to repair or replace major assets. Remember, preventive maintenance hinges on proper inventory management: you need to have the right parts on hand ahead of an asset’s scheduled maintenance. Poor inventory management will only derail preventive maintenance, create a maintenance backlog as technicians wait for parts to arrive, and lead to more reactive maintenance down the road. This is why inventory management is a crucial aspect of reducing unscheduled downtime.

With so much data being generated in real-time from smart sensors and IoT devices in manufacturing plants across the country, manufacturing companies are feeling the pressure to embrace big data analytics as part of their standard operating procedure. Thanks to the pandemic, the pace of technological advancement in manufacturing has become more of a quantum leap than a gradual trickle. In May 2020, Forbes predicted that due to COVID-19, manufacturing will experience five years of innovation in the next 18 months. What’s more, the big data analytics manufacturing industry, which was valued at $904.65 million in 2020, is expected to reach $4.55 billion by 2026. While there is enormous potential for big data analytics in manufacturing, most companies are still playing catchup. A study by IBM found that manufacturers are lagging behind their cross-industry peers in their ability to create a competitive advantage from analytics. Only 53% of industrial manufacturers report that the use of big data and analytics is creating a competitive advantage for their organizations compared with 64% of cross-industry respondents. Despite this setback, manufacturers are working hard to develop data maturity and generate gains from big data. The study also found that three-quarters of industrial manufacturing companies have either started developing a big data strategy (45%) or are piloting and implementing big data projects (32%) on par with their cross-industry peers. In this article, we’ll look at the types of data generated in the manufacturing industry, why big data matters to manufacturers, and the most common use cases for big data in manufacturing. So where does all this big data come from?👀 Data is constantly generated from assets like sensors, pumps, motors, compressors, and conveyors. Data can also come from outside partners, vendors, and customers (eg: customer feedback, supply chain and logistics data). In fact, IoT sensors enable manufacturers to track data points from non-computerized machines as well. This is known as condition monitoring—the process of monitoring the condition of an asset in real-time to anticipate its maintenance needs. These sensors enable global manufacturers to collect real-time shop floor data (business intelligence) that allows them to continuously adapt their processes. Collectively, this data feeds into dashboards, scorecards, and databases. The data is used to generate reports as well as real-time business intelligence. The sheer quantity of data generated by factories today requires modern storage and processing tools in order to mine the data. In many cases, manufacturing data is stored in data lakes via the cloud and is processed on GPU clusters rather than traditional CPU processors. Sounds good. But what can I do with all this data? 🤔 Big data matters because companies are increasingly competing on minute differentiators like speed, consistency, and customer service rather than competing on a product. In critical industries, the insights generated by data analytics can spell the difference between life and death. Automakers, high-precision parts suppliers, medical device manufacturers, and F&B companies know that maintaining high-quality standards is essential for safety and compliance. Manufacturers must be ready to apply AI and machine learning to discover patterns and build models to make predictions and continuously improve their business processes. Data can be used to look for signals such as defects, downtime, or yield, with dashboards and applications that can monitor key KPIs in real-time. Manufacturers can also build models to make advanced predictions regarding production volume, equipment failure, and product quality. Did you know? A McKinsey study found that the appropriate use of data-driven techniques by manufacturers “typically reduces machine downtime by 30 to 50 percent an increases machine life by 20 to 40 percent.” What are the top use cases for big data in manufacturing? 🤓 1. Predictive maintenance Manufacturing profits depend largely on maximizing asset yield, so performance increases from reduced asset breakdowns can lead to massive productivity increases. Preventive maintenance—performing maintenance on an asset ahead of anticipated failure—isn’t always optimal because it hinges on doing maintenance earlier than needed, which reduces Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE). Maintenance engineers are increasingly moving towards predictive maintenance, which is more accurate. Maintenance tasks are scheduled only when warranted, which keeps costs down. Predictive maintenance uses historical data to determine an optimal maintenance schedule. It also involves using sensing equipment to collect data in real-time. If the software detects an anomaly in your operations or a potential equipment defect, a work order is automatically triggered. Predictive maintenance keeps the maintenance frequency as low as possible because a work order is only triggered under specific conditions. Over time, the predictions grow more accurate based on the data generated by the real-time monitoring of an asset (condition monitoring), work order data, and benchmarking MRO inventory usage. Predictive maintenance sensors can perform vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermal imaging, and equipment observation. Examples include: Monitoring the temperature of computers and machinery to prevent overheating or using smart HVAC units to control building temperature and save energy. Monitoring pressure in a water system to predict when a pipe could fail. Monitoring oil particles in construction or fleet vehicles Tip: Predictive maintenance hinges on processing multiple datasets associated with different sensors and other maintenance detection devices. However, combining data from multiple sensors requires additional investments in data processing tools. For example, you might need to integrate data stored in a dedicated sensor database with data stored in your CMMS. 2. Anomaly detection Anomaly detection means identifying data points that lie outside of the norm. There are three types of anomalies: Point anomalies - a single datapoint that deviates from the rest of the material Contextual anomalies - abnormalities in a specific context (eg: time delay due to environmental influences) Collective anomalies - a collection of data points is anomalous relative to the rest of the data. Manufacturers can use anomaly detention to determine where and when abnormal behavior has occurred. Isolating the anomalous data points helps with performing a root cause analysis to determine why a particular asset failed or why product quality did not pass muster. 3. Supply chain management Supply chain analytics uses data to improve decision-making across the entire supply chain. It expands the dataset for analysis beyond the internal data held on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and SCM (supply chain management) systems to include point-of-sale (POS) data, inventory data, and production data. Aggregating data points from different junctures of the supply chain gives managers insights into every facet of real-time operations. Amazon, for example, has patented an “anticipatory shipping” process in which orders are packaged and pushed to the delivery network before customers place an order. Other use cases: Optimizing delivery systems Delivery routes must account for variables like changing fuel prices, road closures, and changing weather conditions. Sensors on delivery trucks, weather data, road maintenance data, fleet maintenance schedules can all be integrated into a system that looks at historical trends and makes recommendations accordingly Cold chain monitoring Cold chain monitoring technology supports temperature-sensitive product logistics through data logging. In industries like F&B, pharmaceuticals, and chemical processing, even a slight change of a few degrees in product temperature can render the product unusable. Monitoring technology allows logistics professionals to track temperature situations in real-time and adjust heating and cooling remotely. 4. Demand forecasting Demand forecasting is the process of making predictions about future customer demand based on historical trends. Doing so helps businesses make informed decisions about pricing, business growth strategies, and market potential. Here are some other wins you can achieve with demand forecasting: Optimize inventory management and reduce holding costs Forecast upcoming cash flow for more accurate budgeting Improve production lead times (the time between an order being placed and the manufacturer completing the order) Most businesses forecast demand by performing a time series analysis to identify seasonal fluctuations in demand and key sales trends. If you don’t have a lot of historical data on hand, you can use qualitative data—expert opinions, market research, competitor analyses— for demand forecasting until you gather enough data to make reasonable predictions. 5. Product life cycle management (PLM) PLM is the process of managing a product from inception to retirement. Businesses use PLM software to track and share data long the product value chain, from design to manufacturing and sales. Research from MIT shows that the introduction stage— when you first launch a new item on the market— is where 70-90% of product lifecycle costs accumulate. Sales are slow as you work to build product awareness. At the same time, your organization is spending a lot of money on marketing the product. This is where data insights prove most useful: finding opportunities to reduce waste and choosing marketing channels with the highest ROI. Market data shows you which kinds of products generate the biggest ROI and what kind of pricing structure is necessary to turn a profit. As you move through the product life cycle, you’ll start collecting more data about customer preferences, which you can use in your decision-making strategy. For example, you might discover that customers are willing to buy at a slightly higher price point, or that the ideal demographic for your product isn’t the audience you’ve targeted thus far. 6. Quality assessment Quality assessment is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the degree to which the final product conforms to predetermined standards. This is key to ensuring customers receive quality products devoid of defects. If the quality is unsatisfactory, then you must perform a root cause analysis to determine why. Manufacturers can reduce variability using standard operating procedures (SOPs) and keeping equipment in good condition via an effective maintenance strategy. Data enables manufacturers to track the most important quality assurance KPIs, including: Specification compliance Low percentage rate of defects On-time shipping Shipping results in delivery without damage to the product or packaging Speed of response from customer service (response times, first-call resolution, etc.)

Companies in pursuit of more cost-effective and secure computing resources are increasingly opting for cloud storage solutions because of their enhanced security and reliability. What’s more, the normalization of remote work necessitates robust IT systems that enable employees to securely access company data from anywhere. By 2022, Gartner predicts that 75% of all databases will be in the cloud. A 2020 survey found that 41% of enterprise workloads would be run on public cloud platforms by the end of the year, with another 22% using a hybrid option (a mix of on-premise servers and cloud storage platforms). Why all the fuss? Migrating to the cloud gives you access to virtually limitless computing resources, including servers, storage, databases, analytics, and intelligence. If you deal with large volumes of data and use a variety of software applications, cloud computing might be for you. According to researcher IDC, spending on cloud infrastructure across dedicated and shared environments increased 6.6% year on year to $18.6 billion in Q3 2021. What is the difference between cloud storage and on-premise servers? While on-premise servers constitute onsite hardware that is controlled, administered, and maintained by your company’s in-house IT team, cloud storage outsources the task of server administration to the cloud service provider. This eliminates the costs of procuring and updating hardware and employing a dedicated IT professional to oversee the server. The cloud provider installs and maintains all hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure in its data centers. Cloud platforms run on a pay-as-you-go business model. Users pay a subscription fee to the cloud service provider that is commensurate with the amount of storage needed and/or cloud services used. Need to add users or increase your storage capacity? Simply upgrade your plan in a few clicks. Cloud platforms also provide access to advanced computing resources, such as dynamic loading (used to achieve better service provisioning), auto-scaling (automatically scale cloud services up or down based on defined situations), and serverless computing capabilities. Some organizations opt for hybrid cloud solutions— using different types of IT deployment models including on-premise servers, private cloud, or public cloud. What types of applications should be migrated to the cloud? Before you scramble to migrate all your data to the cloud pronto, take note that not all processes benefit from migrating to the cloud. For example, legacy on-premise applications may be difficult to migrate, and botched migrations can prove costly. Legacy software has special attributes that may require application rearchitecting (breaking down applications and rebuilding them in a more modern, scalable design). However, businesses that run legacy software are at increased risk of data breaches. What’s more, these systems are often not as efficient or easily integrated with other software applications. They may no longer be supported by the original vendor, meaning the vendor is no longer issuing bug fixes or security patches. Aging servers can also slow down a company’s business processes. Cloud storage vs. on-premise servers: Pros and cons Cloud storage Best for companies that are growing quickly, and those that have a distributed workforce and global operations. Pros Cons Less capital investment and lower maintenance costs: Companies only pay for the cloud services they use, and there is no need to install any hardware. Less labor-intensive: There is no need for dedicated IT support staff to maintain cloud storage as server maintenance and software upgrades are outsourced to the cloud service provider. Easy file sharing and collaboration: Distributed teams can collaborate and share data easily. Multiple users can collaborate on one common file. Enables remote work: Cloud storage enables employees to access data from any device with an internet connection. Data is synchronized across all devices. Easy to scale: If your current storage plan is not enough, simply purchase a higher-tier subscription. Reduced risk of permanent data loss: All data is backed up and stored across thousands of data centers, so even in the event of a disaster, the data should remain intact. The costs add up quickly: Cloud service providers charge according to usage, storage capacity, or a combination of factors. Costs can balloon unexpectedly for companies experiencing rapid growth. There may be additional costs for uploading and downloading files from the cloud. Internet dependency: You cannot access files without an internet connection. Slow internet speeds can hamper access. Requires additional security measures: Some cloud storage vendors lack adequate data security. You must take additional steps to secure your data in the cloud. Less privacy: Your data is managed by a third party and is visible to the cloud provider. Less customizability: Cloud operators provide limited customization options, whereas on-premise servers can be customized almost limitlessly. Fixed contracts: Beware of entering into fixed contracts that don’t respond to your changing storage needs. It may be best to opt for pay-as-you-go. On-premise servers Best for companies that store sensitive data (eg: patient records or credit card data), large companies that require flexible/customized storage solutions, or those that don’t have access to a high-speed internet connection. Pros Cons Greater privacy: No third party has access to your critical data. On-premise may be the preferred option for companies that handle sensitive data. Access does not require an internet connection: You can access files and applications quickly even if you have a slow or unreliable internet connection. You can also keep your internet costs low since you don’t need to pay for a high-speed connection. Maintain physical control over your servers: Companies can modify or upgrade servers autonomously without having to go through a cloud service provider. May offer greater flexibility and customization for their storage needs. Requires IT support - Servers must be managed and maintained by dedicated staff. In enterprise organizations with massive datasets, this is a full-time job. Increased maintenance costs: Companies must buy hardware, software, and licenses to upgrade or repair servers. Requires significant capital investment: High upfront costs of purchasing servers and hardware, and installation is a time-consuming process. Limited scalability: On-premise servers are difficult to scale quickly in the event that your organization needs more storage. Scaling requires the installation of new hardware, which is expensive and time-consuming. Increased risk of data loss: All data is stored on an internal server, which poses risks unless you have an offsite backup service. Transitioning to the cloud: How does it work? Cloud migration is the process of transferring databases, applications, and IT processes into the cloud. Usually, it’s not a simple plug-and-play process, and requires lots of advance planning. There are various ways to do a cloud migration, from a procedure as simple as a “lift and shift” (migrating your application to the cloud with little or no changes) to a complete application re-architecture. The most complex, time-consuming step during a cloud migration is migrating data— especially when it involves a large amount of data. In most cases, data can be transferred over the internet (simply upload your databases to the cloud service provider’s website), but for massive databases that would take too long to transfer over the internet, some providers offer physical data transfer methods, such as loading data onto a hard drive and then shipping the device to the provider. Before you migrate to the cloud: a checklist 1. Determine how you’d like to migrate your data There are two ways to perform a cloud migration: shallow cloud integration or deep cloud integration. Shallow cloud integration (AKA “lift and shift,” “rehosting,” or the “forklift approach”) entails moving the on-premise application while making limited or no changes to the cloud servers or the application code, except whatever is required to run the application in the new environment. In other words, ite means moving the application as is. Benefits of shallow integration Cost-effective Tends to be a less costly, labor-intensive migration that can be performed relatively quickly. Fewer security problems Does not pose additional security risks, so long as the application is secure, up-to-date, and patched before the migration. An easy way to get started in cloud computing Moving mission-critical IT infrastructure from on-premise servers to the cloud constitutes a major commitment of time and money, although these costs are justified in the long term. A shallow cloud integration is a good starting point for complex cloud integrations in the future. Deep cloud integration involves modifying the application so you can use advanced cloud services. This is usually a necessary step when migrating legacy software to the cloud. You can even opt to upgrade legacy software to a cloud-native framework for better overall performance, efficiency, and scalability—currently one of the biggest trends in the software industry. Benefits of deep cloud integration: Faster deployment You can deploy your apps and services faster and scale them more quickly. Enables edge computing Certain applications that require low latency (no delays) can only be enabled after a deep cloud integration. Facilitates remote work Authorized employees can access applications over the internet from any location. Enables businesses to operate in distributed work environments. 2. Determine which applications to move to the cloud Some of your applications may already be optimized for on-premise servers and don’t need to be migrated to the cloud. You may wish to keep applications that hold sensitive data (eg: medical records or credit card numbers) stored on on-premise servers. Certain industries like finance and healthcare require businesses to use on-premise servers for security reasons. 3. Establish KPIs for cloud migration As with any new technology adoption, organizations should establish KPIs to evaluate the success of a cloud migration. More importantly, KPIs reveal unexpected problems and help you determine when the migration is complete. For each KPI, set a baseline metric so you can compare the pre-migration performance of your application to its post-migration performance. Sample KPIs for cloud migration include: Response time Page load time Error rates CPU usage % Memory usage 4. Set your budget and choose a cloud service provider Before you set a budget and start searching for vendors, make sure you’re clear on your specific business needs. Create a checklist of requirements (technical, security, data governance, service management) and minimum expectations to reference while shopping around. At minimum, choose a provider who can help you optimize your budget, manage your cloud infrastructure, and offer 24/7 support. Most organizations underestimate the actual costs of cloud migration, so do your homework. According to a ‘State of the Cloud 2020’ report by Flexera, “organizations are over budget for cloud spend by an average of 23% and expect cloud spend to increase by 47% next year.” A pay-as-you-go model might work well for an organization that doesn’t have a lot of data and plans on slow but steady growth, but not such a good idea for a large enterprise with reams of data. After you migrate to the cloud... Establish cloud security Shut down and remove any redundant systems, and sever any superfluous network connectivity. Migrations provide the opportunity to review your security measures. While your cloud provider maintains your databases for you, security is a shared responsibility between you and your cloud service provider. Monitor the cloud Your cloud provider will monitor systems for basic health and availability, but you need to do your own monitoring. Monitor virtual machines, operating system resources, and application availability. Monitor system and application performance and ask your employees for feedback so you can make any necessary adjustments. Determine if the migration was successful Keep an eye on the KPIs that were defined as part of the audit you did right before carrying out the migration. It may also help to review the business case that was formed during the project initiation phase. Interested in learning more about our next-generation cloud platform? MicroMain Global offers a user-friendly mobile app and the ability to work from anywhere.

So you bought a shiny new software solution (yay!), trained your employees on how to use it, and now you’re pumped to overshoot all your business goals this fiscal year. Often, when companies purchase new software, a pervading sense of 'what now?' sets in after they sign on the dotted line. Software implementation is one thing—getting your new system up and running and integrating it into your existing workflows—but now the pressure is on to, well, “do better”—whatever that means. Setting metrics-focused maintenance goals is a great way to ensure software adoption goes according to plan. For example, if unscheduled downtime totaled 17 days last year— the average amount of downtime across all industries— what is your target for this year? Which of your high-value assets should be on a preventive maintenance plan by Q2? How will you measure the ROI of your preventive maintenance efforts? A CMMS can go a long way towards improving productivity—you can automate maintenance scheduling, make data-informed inventory forecasts, and receive maintenance requests from a website request form—but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes legwork needed to achieve the results you’re looking for. Surveys show that 74% of CMMS users believe that this tool improves productivity, while 58% consider it cost-effective in general. If you’ve recently purchased a CMMS or you’re wondering how to get more out of your software, here’s a roadmap to help you get the most out of your software as quickly as possible. 1. Track employee performance and crack down on the slackers (Just kidding! Sort of.) A CMMS gives you a big-picture view of employee performance that tells you whether or not a) You’ve hired the right employees; b) You’re assigning the right tasks to the right workers; and, c) Your workers are adequately trained and equipped with the right resources to do their jobs. Granular data allows you to drill down into each technician’s wrench time (the percentage of an employee’s shift that is spent on actual maintenance tasks), the number of work orders handled in one scheduling, and time spent on specific tasks (also known as Mean Time to Repair). If an employee spends too much time on one task, maybe they need additional training or don’t have the right tools to get the job done. Many companies will train employees as part of their initial onboarding and then stop there. However, workers need guidance on how to use and maintain their work tools, periodic refreshers on workplace safety recommendations, and procedural guidance overall. They also need to learn incident management best practices—how to intervene in the event of an emergency or equipment malfunction. A CMMS enables you to store documentation, instructions, and OEM recommendations in a centralized location, so employees should have access to the information they need at all times. If you’re unsure about why you’re seeing certain patterns in the data, such as a swelling maintenance order backlog or unusually high Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), ask your employees about what’s getting in their way. Training may be the issue. In a recent study of over 3000 businesses by the National Center on Education Quality of the Workforce, those that increased employee development/training saw an average increase in productivity of 8.6%. The study also found that companies that invest the most in workplace learning yielded higher net sales and higher gross profits per employee. 2. Practice good data hygiene because dirty data sucks Your CMMS is, first and foremost, a data repository for all things maintenance management. Treat your database like a temple. Poor data hygiene makes it harder to make accurate predictions using your data, which can lead to major errors when it comes to making data-driven business decisions, like how to allocate the maintenance budget this year or determining if you have the bandwidth to sign a new client. While the initial data entry to get your software up and running was most likely handled by your CMMS provider, you need to police the day-to-day data entry done by your employees to ensure that it fits certain standards. From inputting equipment data such as model number, serial number, purchase data, installation data, and so on to inventory parts information and labor information, there are many opportunities to “corrupt” the data. Here are some things you can do to avoid the problem of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Have your technicians enter the data themselves - Technicians should have direct access to the CMMS so they can enter relevant data as soon as they accept a work order. This is a better alternative to having technicians fill out a paper form and then pass it on to a data entry clerk or administrative assistant. The information may be illegible or the paper may get lost, and it takes more time to document the data. Make rule-based forms for data entry - Each field in your data entry forms should have rules regarding acceptable inputs. This helps guard against inaccurate data entry from careless mistakes or negligence. For example, technicians shouldn’t be able to input letters in a numbers-only field. Certain fields should have acceptable ranges (eg: a percentage field should be 0-100), units of measurement ($, feet, lbs), or specific formatting rules (eg: social security numbers must be formatted XXX-XX-XXXX). Where possible, add a dropdown menu so technicians can select from a menu of options, rather than typing into a text field. Misspellings, missing data, duplication, or incorrect units of measurement can result in dirty, unusable data. Restrict user permissions - Restrict user access to relevant parties. Say you operate several distilleries. Technicians from one distillery should be able to view the data from another distillery but not edit it. Regularly review your CMMS hierarchies - Large enterprises typically have inventory hierarchies set up within their CMMS to distinguish between different manufacturing plants or worksites, each with a corresponding hierarchy that shows where assets are located and sorted into specifics such as floor, aisle, shelf, or bin. When circumstances change—say you opened a new plant or moved a number of items into a different storage unit—you need to update these changes in your CMMS so you can keep an accurate inventory count. 3. Tighten up your inventory management (no more stealing pens from the office!) Done right, just-in-time inventory management can be a major competitive advantage. Using historical data on asset failure and automated alerts when inventory runs low, you can forecast when parts are about to fail and preemptively order replacements ahead of time. This means keeping inventory costs low while never being caught off guard without a crucial replacement part. A CMMS tracks data over time so you’ll know when to order parts, how many spare parts to keep in stock, and which parts need to be replaced with better-quality ones. CMMS provides cloud-based inventory management so that data on accurate stock levels is available to every user. By tracking data over time, you can find patterns. You can identify which parts technicians use frequently or infrequently and match parts with pieces of equipment on which they are used. Tracking inventory location is another powerful feature of a CMMS. Use real-time inventory tracking to keep tabs on every piece of company inventory, mapping it not just to a specific facility but an aisle, shelf, or bin. When inventory managers need a specific item, they can just look it up in the CMMS instead of calling different locations to track down the item. 4. Start tracking MTTF—because your cheap, replaceable assets need TLC, too Those “cheap” ball bearings, fan belts, and light bulbs that keep the lights on (no pun intended) at your manufacturing plant can lead to massive downtime and lost revenue if they fail unexpectedly. Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) is a crucial failure metric that measures the average amount of time in hours that a non-repairable asset operates before it fails. Since this metric applies to assets that cannot be repaired, MTTF can also be thought of as the asset’s average lifespan. Here, “failure” refers to any disruption significant enough to result in unscheduled downtime or prevent an asset from functioning as intended. Generally, technical teams aim to extend MTTF as long as possible. The longer the interval between part failure, the less frequently parts need to be replaced, the less time teams spend replacing parts, and the less money the organization spends replacing physical components. Additionally, a longer MTTF means teams are less likely to be caught by surprise when a machine fails. Here’s what you can do with MTTF: Know when to stock replacement parts and how many of them to keep in stock Make sure you’re getting the highest quality parts at the most competitive prices (and switch suppliers or parts if you need to) Schedule preventive maintenance tasks more accurately based on the MTTF of your low-value assets. For your high-value assets, pay close attention to MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), which measures the average amount of time in hours that a repairable asset operates before needing repairs. MTTF and MTBF are closely related because the inexpensive, non-repairable assets are what keep your expensive, repairable assets running. 5. Get started on preventive maintenance yesterday CMMS providers are always harping on about preventive maintenance—for good reason. Preventive maintenance refers to regular, routine maintenance to keep equipment in good operating condition. The point is to prevent unplanned downtime stemming from unexpected equipment failure. An effective PM plan requires careful planning and scheduling of maintenance tasks based on historical failure metrics such as MTTF and MTBF. In 2020, 76% of companies in the manufacturing industry worldwide prioritized preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance tasks include inspections, cleaning, lubrication, oil changes, adjustments, repairs, or replacing parts. The exact type of preventive maintenance required will vary based on operation and type of equipment. PM is typically reserved for high-value assets because of its high upfront cost. A CMMS enables you to coordinate preventive maintenance tasks easily. The software stores the organization's maintenance data in the cloud so technicians can keep track of inspections, repairs, and replacements, and receive automatic work orders. The system can plan and prioritize maintenance tasks based on production schedules and other ongoing maintenance work, thereby minimizing disruptions. 6. Bonus tip: Consider implementing Total Productive Maintenance If you’re ready to overhaul your maintenance operations and really kick things up a notch (or ten), Total Productive Maintenance is a philosophy that entails using maintenance management as a competitive advantage. TPM strives for total perfection—no downtime, no accidents, no lost revenue—by doing several things: Requiring employees to undertake autonomous maintenance. Training employees who operate machinery on how to inspect and repair equipment. Employees are expected to do routine maintenance tasks like cleaning, lubrication, and assume ownership over their work and their workspaces. Eliminating waste. Any process, task, or item deemed redundant (i.e. it does not add value to the customer) must be eliminated. Sharing maintenance responsibilities throughout the organization - Forming small, multidisciplinary teams to do preventive maintenance and autonomous maintenance (operators maintain their own equipment). Standardizing work processes to minimize error. Engaging in continuous process improvement to ensure tasks are being done in the most efficient way by using data insights to guide the approach. Total Productive Maintenance was invented by Seiichi Nakajima of Japan between 1950 and 1970 and was first implemented at Nippon Denso (now Denso) a company that makes parts for Toyota. Implementing a TPM plan can greatly increase your overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) over time. While TPM allocates jobs normally done by maintenance technicians to all plant personnel, it does not eliminate the need for a dedicated maintenance team. CTA: See something you like and want to implement it at your organization but aren’t sure where to start? Check out our upcoming events or sign up for our newsletter to receive ongoing maintenance management advice.

As businesses increasingly turn to big data and automation to streamline their operations, companies are now competing on what were once considered “minor” details—auxiliary business processes like inventory control, maintenance management, and people management. So what if your competitor achieves 15% less downtime than your organization? Well, not only are they saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance costs each year, but they’re producing more of your product and most likely worming their way into your market share. Remember: if you’re not keeping up, you’re falling behind. Even if New Year’s resolutions went out of vogue during the pandemic, 2022’s arrival is still a welcome opportunity to reassess what you’ve been doing and prepare for the year ahead. Here’s what you need to know about the latest, most exciting trends in maintenance management to keep your business on the cutting edge. 1. Sensor technology will give everyone superpowers IoT sensors have changed the game, enabling maintenance teams to remotely monitor machinery. By automating the process of collecting maintenance data, such as mean time between failures (MTBF) and asset life cycle, facilities can establish preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance programs that grow more accurate over time as the system accumulates more data. While many forms of industrial sensing exist— including pressure, position, temperature, and speed—vibration sensing is still the most common. Vibration analysis is used in rotating machinery to detect loose or worn bearings, equipment misalignment, or low fluid levels, all of which manifest as changes in vibration (normal vibration occurs at frequencies between 6-10 kHz). Using sensors to anticipate machine failure can save companies millions of dollars. Parts that cost a few dollars can cost manufacturers many times that in repairs and lost revenue when they fail. In 2020, Forrester predicted that companies that already used sensors on 25% of their machinery would increase their use by four-fold through 2023. 2. Decentralized repair teams? Yes, please! With sensing technology at their fingertips, companies are reconsidering whether to keep an onsite maintenance staff for each facility. Open networks of repair logs and real-time machine data enable managers to keep tabs on productivity in real-time, which enables them to quickly deploy remote maintenance teams to different facilities in the event of an emergency. Some organizations are experimenting with decentralized maintenance management— that is, turning maintenance management into a shared responsibility among all personnel rather than the sole purview of the maintenance technicians. Instilling a culture of autonomous maintenance means involves charging machine operators with minor maintenance tasks such as cleaning equipment and checking the oil. This is done by empowering workers to take ownership over their workstations and the equipment they use. Decentralized maintenance is ideal for large organizations that operate multiple facilities. Dispersing authority throughout the organization shortens the approval process and enables maintenance teams to execute faster. 3. You'll get a lot of s**t about downtime and inventory management if you don't do it right With the mainstreaming of CMMS and other maintenance management software solutions, extensive unscheduled downtime and poor inventory control are no longer acceptable. A new report from Industrial IT predicts that the global CMMS software market will reach $1913.1 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 10% over the analysis period. Now that facilities can easily track parts inventory and availability using software, more manufacturers will focus on mitigating inefficiency in their current storeroom. Companies know that reducing unplanned downtime yields major cost savings—thereby creating a competitive advantage. Estimates show that downtime costs industrial manufacturers $50 billion a year. Between 2015 and 2019, oil and gas companies involved in exploration and production spent an average of $80 billion a year on maintenance. With increased competition, businesses need to become more agile. Aside from technology use, practices like autonomous maintenance (training machine operators to perform minor maintenance tasks) will be key to reducing unscheduled downtime. 4. AR and VR are making a (real) impact It’s no longer just hype. Augmented reality (AR) has real capabilities as both a training and productivity tool for maintenance management. AR enhances the user’s environment by superimposing a layer of virtual information over their field of view. VR, on the other hand, places the viewer in a fully immersive virtual environment. This technology enables maintenance workers to practice complex or infrequent jobs in a safe environment. Maintenance managers can also use AR to provide remote training for technicians. While VR is still useful for training purposes, unlike AR it cannot be used to perform maintenance tasks in real-time. Picture this: while repairing a hydraulic pump on an assembly line, the technician can see step-by-step instructions on how to perform the repair virtually overlaid on a smartphone or while wearing AR glasses. Used in conjunction with IoT machine sensors, the AR platform can provide real-time information on pump pressure, temperatures, and other critical data. A recent report from the Industrial Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that by 2023, the commercial use cases of AR/VR that are forecast to receive the two largest investments are training ($8.5 billion) and industrial maintenance ($4.3 billion). 5. AI is taking over the world! (Kind of, not really) AI-powered CMMS solutions can automate repetitive jobs and maintenance planning. It can identify maintenance requirements, prioritize and adjust schedules to ensure the right person is assigned to the right task. A study by Manufacturing Business Technology stated that predictive maintenance using AI can save companies over $630 billion in costs over the next 15 years. Why? Because the default M.O. doesn’t work. A Boeing study suggests that 85% of equipment fails unexpectedly despite calendar-based maintenance. AI uses data to do continuous monitoring, which involves both the failure system and the anomaly system. The failure system reads data patterns that indicate and predict operation failure so that the system learns the symptoms and indications of failure over time. On the other hand, an anomaly system reads data as deviations from the normal routine operations. Unlike failure systems, it picks up variations from normal patterns. Combined, this data gives us a fairly accurate readout on operational processes.

Becoming a data whiz doesn't happen overnight. A lot of our customers tell us they want to use advanced maintenance strategies like preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance—you know, those fancy, high-ROI maintenance strategies that use analytics, historical data, and some type of SaaS wizardry to fix assets before they break down, costing your company gazillions of dollars in unplanned downtime. But a lot of people don’t know where to start. For one thing, you need historical data to make predictive maintenance work. So we’re introducing a few software updates to make it easier for you to learn from your data, create inspection points, and keep a running checklist of things your technicians need to do to perform maintenance on each asset. What is an inspection point? It depends on the asset. Basically, an inspection point is a key performance indicator that tells you when an asset is beginning to fail. For an HVAC, that might be runtime; for a vehicle, it’s a meter reading or observation from an oil analysis. By monitoring your historical data, you’ll be able to identify inspection points (KPIs or conditions that tell you when an asset is most likely on the brink of breakdown), and set triggers for predictive maintenance. Checklists tab update- Now you can add an inspection point (IP) or a checklist from the library template or create a brand new one. You can also create an inspection point from an existing asset condition or specification—this is what enables you to link specific IPs to maintenance triggers. You can even check off “Assign Work Order” and a Work Order will be automatically generated if the IP doesn’t pass. Automatic work orders mean less work for you! Checklists page added- We’ve added a page under Libraries so you can store templates of checklists and inspection points. That way, if you want to assign checklists and inspection points to multiple assets or similar types of assets, you don’t have to start over from scratch. You can organize these checklists and IPs into groups and give them a sort number. Inspection Points are now available on mobile- You can now generate a work order from a failed IP (“Assign Work Order”), manually ‘Pass/Fail’ IPs, and edit a specification/condition value. Track your historical data using our new reading history - Okay, this is the important part. The reading history is a running table of past conditions and specifications values. By viewing your historical data, you can start to see trends. Each time you add a new value to an IP condition or specification, you’ll see a new entry under the reading history. Here are some other updates you might find useful: OEM Part Number is now a column on the parts list We removed Log ID from the part log and replaced the date field with a timestamp You can now require checklist/IP items to be completed before a task can be marked as ‘Completed’ Checklists and IPs can be assigned to groups and then filtered by group. Under the Checklist library, you can also manage groups by giving them a sort order IPs/Checklists have been added to the printable WO summary

Investing in a CMMS helps your company manage its maintenance better by staying on top of work orders, tracking labor productivity, and extending your asset’s life cycle with preventive care. The best CMMS software will significantly trim your maintenance costs while increasing productivity. If your goal is to make your manufacturing business more profitable, a CMMS might be the right solution for you. Pitching a CMMS to your supervisor is a great way to add value to your role and save your company time and money. We understand research is essential when choosing the right CMMS for your business. That’s why we’ve listed the top five things you need to know about before you purchase a CMMS. 1. Save Time Fewer workers in the manufacturing industry mean less time is spent on each task as more workers are forced into blended roles. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 716,800 employees were lost between 2008-2018. The same report projects negative job growth of -0.5 % through 2028. This downward trend is expected to continue at a -0.5 % annual rate through 2028, with another 640,700 jobs forecasted to be lost by 2028, the BLS reports. Despite this, manufacturing companies are still struggling to fill positions. With fewer workers on the floor, more jobs are evolving into blended roles, which means each employee will have to work smarter and become more efficient. A CMMS system can provide your company with time-saving features like predictive maintenance alerts that let your team know when a piece of equipment could need an update. As a result, your group can establish consistent practices to improve the performance and safety of your equipment by scheduling regular maintenance tasks instead of dealing with last-minute, time-consuming and urgent repairs. Work order management is another time-saving feature you should look for in your CMMS. Seek out CMMS software that makes scheduling and tracking work orders simple. Assign and track labor, parts, tools, and other important information right from your iPad. You can also set priorities, due dates, and alerts to ensure all work is completed correctly and on time. This time-saving benefit can reduce hours spent on a single project and save your company hours of work order payroll. 2. Cost-Effective Not all CMMS solutions are created equal. Having a scalable software system based on your budget and needs is essential to your company’s success. When you’re pricing CMMS software solutions, look for tiered price levels. Some systems let you pay for what you need and charge based on the number of admins and technicians using the platform. It can also be helpful to find a CMMS that offers free software upgrades and built-in customer support services. If your team downsizes, it’s vital to have the option to reduce the cost of your CMMS bill. For example, if you aren’t using all your logins, notify your provider and ask them to adjust your bill in the next billing cycle. 3. User-friendly The manufacturing industry represents workers of all ages, backgrounds, and technology skill levels. Therefore, it’s essential to have a software system that everyone can use and understand without extensive training and onboarding that takes up valuable time. You’ll want a CMMS that is compatible with all levels of technology users. When you are comparing subscriptions, make sure you choose one with free technical support and software upgrades. You’ll need to import your existing data into your new CMMS system. Importing your data is a fundamental process that determines how effective your CMMS will be. You’ll need a customer service team in place that can help convert your data and transfer it from a third-party system to your CMMS. Depending on your skill level, you can choose to do it yourself. Either way, it’s good to have both options when presenting a CMMS solution to your team. Another feature to be on the look for is training. Choosing a CMMS that offers regional, on-site, and headquarters training proves that your CMMS provider is investing in your success. 4. Customer Service When you need help with your CMMS software, it should be readily available. Choose a CMMS with excellent customer services and provides you with chat reps, email correspondence, training, and phone calls. If you have questions about optimizing your software or just need to talk shop with an expert, you want to have outstanding customer service built into your subscription to maximize your experience. Onsite training is a great way to get hands-on experience with a new tool. For example, an indicator of superb customer service could come from a three-day on-site training program with your CMMS expert. You should expect to receive training based on your specific needs, when, and where you need it most. Your team deserves training tailored to your business which may include a detailed review of advanced topics in an interactive environment. When your team completes a training session or a chat with a customer service agent, they should feel confident about the new fully implemented, functioning system. 5. Presenting a CMMS Solution to Your Boss You’ve done your research and identified a problem within your company. A CMMS could solve the issues your team is experiencing. Now you want to impress your boss by taking the first step and present them with a solution. MicroMain’s CMMS software is loaded with powerful features to help you better manage and optimize your maintenance operations. Our software offers work order management, preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance, asset management, inventory management, and more to keep your company organized. MicroMain’s CMMS is the easiest-to-use CMMS software on the market. We’ve optimized our CMMS system to be as user-friendly as possible, with a clean, modern, easy-to-navigate user interface. In addition, every feature was designed with all users in mind, regardless of technical expertise. Next Steps To learn more about our features, visit our website or request a demo today. You can also download our printable guide when you’re ready to pitch a CMMS to your supervisor.

During the coronavirus pandemic, companies have downsized, restructured and gone through all manner of structural changes. Despite the turmoil, some departments like maintenance and operations have continued largely with business-as-usual. Why? They are deemed essential. Robust data reporting helps you prove your team’s impact on the bottom line, secure budgets for new projects and gain credibility—and therefore, leverage— with executive management. You wouldn’t hire a mechanic to fix your car until you’ve read reviews and compared prices—or, in other words, until you’ve analyzed the data to make sure you’re making the best choice. The same goes with business decision-making, which is far more high-stakes, where data should be the basis of every decision you make. Data reporting is the process of collecting and formatting raw data and translating it into a digestible format to measure the ongoing performance of your organization. Different industries use it for different reasons. Healthcare providers use it to optimize patient outcomes and deliver personalized care. Energy companies use it to achieve things like lower energy consumption by monitoring streaming data to make real-time adjustments in energy use and production. Using reports, dashboard widgets and live views, you can organize your data into informational summaries that monitor how different areas of the business are doing. Here are four big things you can achieve with better data reporting. 1. Improve your customer service Customer data has become an invaluable asset, used in everything from ad targeting to sentiment analysis and ecommerce personalization. But even if you’re not a major retailer, you still need insight into how your customers feel about your product or service, what pain points they’re encountering during purchase or after-sales care, and what factors lead to churn. Data reporting helps you piece together why customers are calling to complain, how much value a certain customer has brought to your business and whether that dollar amount has changed over time, as well as monitor how certain customer segments respond to various marketing or sales initiatives. Meanwhile, maintenance management data provided by a CMMS helps reduce unscheduled downtime. Delays in production can create a poor customer experience, strain relationships with suppliers and upset the logistics supply chain. 2. Control operational costs Using data to make more judicious budget allocations has obvious benefits in terms of cost control, but it can help you reduce wasteful expenditures. For example, proactive maintenance is an approach that uses historical data to predict when an asset will fail, and performing preemptive maintenance to avoid the massive costs of unplanned downtime (in the auto industry, this can be as high as $22,000 per minute). According to a study by Kimberlite, organizations that use a data-driven proactive maintenance approach see their downtime reduced by 36% compared with those who rely on reactive maintenance. Extracting insights from historical data also helps capital-intensive businesses use data to reduce their physical inventory and unsold stock. When it comes to a massive power plant or manufacturing plant, having the right replacement parts in stock can mean the difference between hours—or even days— of unscheduled downtime (and lost revenue) while waiting for a part to arrive or a quick and easy fix. 3. Secure budgets for projects Each department is responsible for demonstrating how their teams’ activities impact the organization’s bottom line. Data reporting provides teams with the ability to show tangible results, such as time saved by using a new project management tool or how much customer churn decreased since hiring a new customer success manager. Tracking data also helps you know where to allocate budgets to specific activities within marketing or sales. Are your display ads generating qualified leads, or are you better off using an account-based marketing strategy to target your most high-value prospects? Maintenance teams starting with a preventive maintenance strategy for the first time can use data reporting to show return on investment and cost savings from prolonging asset life cycle. Finally, it can be hard to secure budgets for untested initiatives, but data reporting helps you establish a track record of results, thereby making it easier for you to make the case to executive management. 4. Make better hiring decisions People analytics is the practice of using statistical insights from employee data to make talent management decisions. Over 70% of companies now say they consider people analytics a high priority. Some years ago, Google began distributing laptop stickers to new hires in the people analytics department with the slogan: “We have charts and graphs to back us up. So f**k off.” The main purpose of people analytics is to determine the root cause of HR problems like a talent shortage, high turnover or an excessively long hiring process, plan interventions and prepare for future staffing needs. For example, if the organization needs to cut down on workforce costs, you can identify where you are losing money. Perhaps your technicians’ wrench time is abysmally low (for most organizations, this hovers around 25-35%), which could mean poor work order management or even an incompetent manager. Digging deeper into the data helps you understand whether technicians are simply not working at full productivity, or if they’re simply not being assigned enough work because of an outdated maintenance management system. Access to workforce data also helps you determine the characteristics of high-performing employees so you can find similar candidates in the future, or create a training and development plan for your less able employees.

Anyone who’s ever driven a used car knows that the better you take care of it, the longer it lasts. The same goes for your organization’s assets. Understanding asset life cycle is the number one way to ensure the highest return on capital. This means tracking things like depreciation, repairs and upgrades performed on the asset. By doing so, you can maximize the asset’s useful life, thereby optimizing the profit generated from that asset. Here are the five stages of asset life cycle management you should follow to optimize the profit generated from your assets. 1. Procurement (purchasing the asset) The first step is to purchase an asset that meets business requirements and falls within budget constraints. This involves creating a purchase order, obtaining management’s approval for the purchase and adding the purchase to inventory. The asset must be properly accounted for by recording and reporting the receipt of the asset via data import or manual add in your CMMS or EAM software. Using asset management software allows you to easily create inventory reports and keep your asset management information in one place even if you have multiple locations or distributed data centers. Remember that insurers and auditors may require this information for compliance purposes, so always have it handy. 2. Deployment (preparing to use the asset in production) Before the asset can be used in production, it must be assembled and installed correctly. Preliminary checks are done to check for physical defects or design/engineering problems so you don’t wind up with an emergency work order shortly after deploying the asset. 3. Utilization During the asset’s useful life, it’s vital to schedule and keep track of regular upgrades, patch fixes, new licenses, scheduled scans and compliance audits. Continually check asset performance to prevent unscheduled downtime and get the most output from it. If the asset is expensive to replace and could cause significant production delays in the event of a breakdown, put it on a preventive maintenance plan (regular, scheduled maintenance regardless of asset performance). Extra tip: Maintaining accurate asset records is not only important for maintenance management but also financial accounting purposes. Calculating asset depreciation may be required for long-term, high-cost equipment. 4. Maintenance (repairs, calibration and preventive maintenance) Proper maintenance is crucial to keep the asset running smoothly. Corrective maintenance may be needed if unexpected breakdowns occur. With Micromain’s CMMS, you can generate a unique QR code for each asset. When you need to create a work order, simply scan the QR code on your mobile app and fill in the details. You can even attach images or documents if needed. 5. Disposal (getting rid of an asset at the end of its useful life) When an asset is no longer usable, it must be disposed of properly — and accounted for in financial records. The data must be wiped and the asset dismantled piece by piece. Store reusable parts and send parts to scrap. If certain parts can cause an environmental hazard, make sure you dispose of them as dictated by local environmental law. Image attributions: lego by Pham Duy Phuong Hung from the Noun Project launch by praveen patchu from the Noun Project Shop by LINDA WATI from the Noun Project build by Justin Blake from the Noun Project Garbage by David from the Noun Project

Maintenance planning is the secret ingredient that takes your overall approach to maintenance from patching holes while the boat is sinking to running circles around your competitors. The goal of planning is to tamp down equipment downtime and labor costs for maintenance work from the perspective of people, place, time and tools. This process involves identifying the parts and tools necessary for routine maintenance work, making sure they’re available and located in the right place, and preparing job plans with sufficient instructions on how the work order should be completed. Consequently, even if you’re still in the phase of doing “firefighting” reactive maintenance instead of proactive maintenance, you can use maintenance planning to optimize labor hours — increasing wrench-on time by determining maintenance scheduling at least one or two weeks in advance. Here are four steps you can take for effective maintenance planning. 1. Make a job plan A job plan contains a set of instructions and specifications for how a routine maintenance task should be done. It should include metadata like number of technicians required, job duration, a list of tools and equipment needed to complete the job, as well as any files or notes left by people who have completed the job in the past. If the job requires welding, how many welders are needed? How many assistants does the engineer require? Outlining a thorough job plan allows maintenance planners to focus on key “housekeeping” activities to ensure jobs run smoothly, such as: Ordering non-stock parts Staging parts Managing breakdowns and vendor lists Quality assurance 2. Create weekly schedules Weekly schedules enable your maintenance workers to focus on top-priority work orders without having to worry about the backlog. Make sure to assign work plans for 100 percent of available labor hours to prevent over- and under-scheduling. Even with the right planning and organization, s**t happens sometimes. Define ahead of time what constitutes emergency work and document a process for how to prioritize and handle non-urgent work vs. emergency work. In general, it’s best to postpone a job that hasn’t been started than to interrupt one that is currently in progress. Creating different types of maintenance plans for various scenarios means you’ll know what to do if disaster hits. 3. Focus on future work Plan ahead as far as you reasonably can. For a large enterprise, this could mean running maintenance scheduling 12 weeks in advance, especially in anticipation of major scheduled downtime (also known as “shutdown maintenance planning”). For a smaller business, a one or two-week frontlog is sufficient. Long-range maintenance planning allows crews to work primarily on planned work instead of reactive work, thereby increasing wrench-on time and labor efficiency. The more data you have, the more accurately you can plan ahead. Provide feedback to the planner after each job is completed so they can improve their estimates of labor hours and costs for future work. The best way for a maintenance planner to self-evaluate is to put some meaningful KPIs in place, such as: Task duration Materials/quantity of materials Labor requirements (are you overstaffing or understaffing?) Unanticipated requirements (eg: scaffolding, extra labor, cranes, etc.) 4. Understand your logs Your backlogs are instrumental to maintenance planning, because you can’t forge ahead with new maintenance work until you’ve handled your backlog. The backlog refers to any work that has an execution date prior to today’s date, which can occur for two reasons: either the work wasn’t completed before its scheduled date, or there’s a cost settlement issue preventing the closure of the work order. Maintenance management software can help you keep track of your backlog by assigning different priority levels to unfinished tasks. This list needs to be monitored regularly to ensure backlogged work is rescheduled accordingly. While some backlog is unavoidable, try to keep it as small as possible. How to Learn More With so many CMMS options available, you’ll want to find the right maintenance solution that pays for itself, makes life easier for your maintenance team, and helps you stay on task and on budget. Watch our demo videos to see MicroMain’s CMMS software in action.

A “good” worker gets the job done, a remarkable one goes above and beyond. The same goes for a CMMS — or indeed, any AI-powered technological asset you invest in. Beyond core features like preventive maintenance and work order management — the basic flesh and bones of a CMMS — what other ancillary features should prudent buyers should look out for? Choosing a modern CMMS that goes above and beyond standard capabilities could mean the difference between getting your maintenance management under control or wasting money. Here are five must-have though less obvious features to look out for. 1. A mobile-first product Technicians who work in a large square footage facility or leave HQ for offsite work need to access the CMMS wherever they are. A mobile-first CMMS synchronizes between all mobile devices so technicians can remotely enter data, create work orders, and access information about assets and repairs from a tablet, smartphone or laptop. However, an adaptive software interface that flexes to whichever device you’re using isn’t enough. A truly mobile product is built around group collaboration, with features like an internal chat/messaging system and the ability to ‘@’ tag team members, make comments when updating a work order and annotate reports. You should be able to share dashboards, request status updates and view real-time data. MicroMain’s Mobile Technician App lets GLOBAL users out in the field complete tasks while offline. GLOBAL is cloud-based, so you can access it from any internet-connected device even if you’re not in the office. 2. Funding forecasting When a C-level executive greenlights a CMMS purchase, they do so with one objective in mind: cutting maintenance costs. It therefore goes without saying that any maintenance solution must have tools for financial forecasting to enable teams to track maintenance-related outlays, stay on budget and maximize their asset life cycle. Forecasting is an advanced feature that many companies don’t offer or charge extra for. Basic forecasting capabilities enable users to organize receipts and foresee upcoming expenses, but the best CMMS tools integrate these features with asset inventory. Equipment and asset management help minimize the chance of equipment failure by tracking performance data and scheduling preventive maintenance. The EAM software should provide insight into repair history, work orders, floor plan management, and associated costs for each. 3. Meaningful data reporting Data collection that doesn’t generate actionable insights is a futile endeavor. Your CMMS reporting tool should help you answer questions like: How much time did we spend on safety audits last month? Is it time to replace X piece of equipment? Is our facility understaffed or overstaffed? Go one step further beyond actionable insights (fixing what’s wrong) and you get proactive recommendations (preventing a breakdown), where the data shows you how to finetune scheduled maintenance beyond a manufacturer’s recommendations. Ideally, the CMMS should cross-reference work order data by assigned technician, asset type, time to complete and so on to generate meaningful reports. Prioritize CMMS data collection that simplifies complex metrics into charts, graphs and KPIs to aid decision-making. 4. Document storage While the purpose of a maintenance solution is to record maintenance activity, it should serve as a repository for equipment-related documentation. A CMMS should come with file storage where users can upload critical documentation, like O&M manuals, equipment warranties, receipts from work orders and so on. These documents should also be accessible via the mobile app as downloadable items. 5. Web request system With the help of a CMMS, maintenance teams will have their finger on most equipment breakdowns and maintenance needs before they happen. However, sometimes s**t happens. If you run a large hotel or apartment complex, or you oversee several major power grids all at once, the first person to notice a problem might be a customer or an employee outside the maintenance team who doesn’t have CMMS access privileges. A web request system allows non-licensed users to submit work requests through a simple web form. You can customize the form to include the information you need, such as task type, building area, room numbers and the requester’s contact information. How to Get Started With so many CMMS options available, you’ll want to find the right maintenance solution that pays for itself, makes life easier for your maintenance team, and helps you stay on task and on budget. Book a demo with one of our specialists today to discuss your business needs and to see if MicroMain is right for you.

Virtual reality and augmented reality are two technologies that are changing the maintenance industry. Maintenance professionals use virtual reality training to learn and practice skills before going on-site. Once on the job, technicians use augmented reality to help them perform tasks. Virtual Reality Training Virtual reality uses computer technology to create a simulated environment. Users interact with the virtual environment through specialized equipment such as headsets and hand-held sensors. You may be familiar with the use of virtual reality in video games that can be played using headsets available from companies like Oculus, HTC, and Samsung. These headsets let users feel like they are actually in the simulated environment, which can be anything from the driver’s seat of a race car to the surface of an alien planet. Though not as much fun as zipping across the (virtual) finish line, virtual reality is also being used in maintenance training to help technicians develop skills. Wearing virtual reality headsets, maintenance technicians can learn new skills quickly. Flexibility in scheduling and location mean technicians don’t have to spend time waiting for physical equipment to be available or offline in order to practice tasks, reducing overall training time. Minimizing training time is important for the many companies experiencing talent shortages as older workers retire and take years of expertise with them. Younger workers are available, but many lack the skills necessary to fill open maintenance positions. In a virtual environment, technicians can practice skills as many times as needed until they are mastered. Technicians with virtual reality training are familiar with equipment and procedures before they arrive on the job site and commit fewer errors once on the job. Inside a virtual environment, technicians can safely repeat and learn dangerous procedures without personal risk. Virtual reality training also allows technicians to perfect tasks before they enter a high-risk environment, such as a nuclear plant. Training in a virtual environment protects equipment as well. Technicians can practice new skills and techniques repeatedly without risking damage to equipment. Augmented Reality Resources Augmented reality technology overlays computer-generated information on the user’s view of the real world as seen through a device such as a smartphone. Television sports broadcasts use augmented reality to overlay information such as the first down line in an NFL game on your screen. Augmented reality is also seen in vehicle heads-up displays and the photo filters available on social media apps. Augmented reality does not require special equipment and is available on common devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as hands-free devices like Google Glass. The accessibility and portability of augmented reality help maintenance teams while out performing service activities. With augmented reality, technicians can scan a QR code and quickly access important information about a piece of equipment. Technicians can use a smart phone, tablet, or laptop to remotely access documents like manuals, plans, and part lists. Augmented reality also delivers information by superimposing it over the real world view as seen through a smart device display. For example, a technician can use their smartphone camera to view a piece of equipment and see a 3D diagram of the item overlaid on the real-time image on their phone screen. Wearing Google Glass or a similar headset, a technician can look at a piece of equipment and view maintenance instructions “right in front of their very eyes,” leaving their hands free to perform the task. Technicians can use augmented reality to collect data from equipment sensors. Sensors that monitor equipment conditions such as temperature, humidity, and vibration are used to help develop predictive maintenance plans, reducing unnecessary reactive and preventive maintenance. With augmented reality, on-site technicians can also get immediate access to current or historic equipment data to determine maintenance needs, diagnose issues, and monitor the success of their maintenance efforts. Augmented reality allows users to consult with remote experts in real time. These experts may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away, but they can see a live view of the work site and deliver instant feedback and instruction. Remote experts can give live verbal guidance and overlay visual information on the technician’s device screen. Remote experts can provide a variety of visual information to technicians, including labels identifying parts and animated instructions showing procedural steps. The ability to access expert knowledge helps technicians reduce errors and perfect skills on the job. Using remote viewing, experts can visually evaluate equipment and direct technicians through appropriate procedures without having to travel to the site. With fewer errors and no travel time for experts, maintenance is performed promptly, with a minimum of equipment downtime. Some companies are using augmented reality to offer similar services to end users. Customers can connect with support teams through augmented reality for help with troubleshooting and repairs. Support staff can see a live view from the customer and provide real-time instruction and guidance.

Women and men are almost equally represented in the overall United Sates labor force, but men still hold the majority of jobs in certain industries. In addition, overall median earnings for women continue to lag behind men’s overall median earnings. Coming changes in the available workforce may result in increased percentages of women employed in traditionally male-dominated industries such as manufacturing, utilities, and higher education staff (those employed in skilled crafts, facilities, and service/maintenance). Women currently make up 46.9% of the overall workforce, but hold only 29.2% of job positions in manufacturing and 21.4% of positions in utilities, which includes electricity generation / delivery and water / wastewater management. Women and men are more equally represented in higher education staff, however salary differences between women and men in the industry increase the longer an employee holds their position. Salaries for men on higher education staff increase steadily based on years in position, while salaries stay mostly the same for women who have been in their positions for 8-22 years, creating a wage gap that increases with the number of years in a position, and is similar to that seen in the overall workforce, where women’s earnings are 83% of men’s. Factors Affecting the Workforce The overall U.S. workforce is getting older, with 23% of workers currently age 55 or older, compared to 12% in 1995. Primarily Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964, these workers are increasingly approaching retirement age and leaving the workforce. Generation X, born between 1965 and 1981, is almost 30% smaller than the Baby Boomer generation, leaving fewer skilled workers to step into open positions. With 30% more members than Generation X, the Millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996, is poised to fill many of the positions left by Baby Boomers exiting the overall labor force. However, previous shifts in the American educational system away from teaching trades and toward a focus on academics have resulted in fewer students learning vocational skills and being exposed to careers in skilled crafts. Millennials will soon be the largest living generation, outnumbering Baby Boomers, but executives are concerned about the significant skills gap between the generations. In fact, more than half of the available manufacturing positions in 2028 could go unfilled due to talent shortages. Like manufacturing, the utilities and higher education staff industries have higher than average percentages of older workers, and will be strongly impacted by these changes in the number of skilled workers available to fill positions left by retiring older workers. Opportunities For Women The challenges of an aging and changing workforce provide an opportunity for the number of women working in traditionally male-dominated industries to increase. In the face of continued high unemployment rates and positions left open by retiring workers, employers in manufacturing, utilities, and higher ed staff, are looking for new strategies to manage talent shortages. Many organizations are seeing benefits from efforts to retain and recruit skilled women. A growing body of research shows that more gender-diverse companies often financially outperform competitors. Gender-diverse companies tend to raise more average revenue and perform better in average relative returns. These companies also have high employee satisfaction and retention rates, reducing the costs involved in recruiting and training new employees. A majority of surveyed manufacturing executives stated that on-the-job training and in-house learning are the preferred learning methods for developing employee skills. Long-term employees have acquired valuable knowledge and skills, and can act as experienced mentors and trainers for other employees. Efforts to fill skilled job openings in manufacturing, utilities, and higher ed staff can also help close the wage gap between women and men, as employers recognize the opportunity to offer higher wages to both keep and attract talent. Shifting Skill Sets In addition to changes in the workforce, advances in technology and automation are changing the skill sets needed in these industries. Traditional vocational and technical skills remain important in manufacturing, utilities and higher ed staff, but the growing adoption of digital technologies in these industries is reducing overall demand for those skills. Computer skills are increasingly important as workers need to be able to perform tasks such as programming industrial machines or interacting with engineering software like CAD (computer-aided drawing). In addition to digital skills, the demand for human skills, or “soft” skills, is growing. Employers are looking for workers who possess skills such as critical thinking, creativity and originality, problem-solving, and people management. These skills are less industry-specific, leading to efforts to attract women employed in other industries, especially to managerial roles. Having women visible in senior roles also attracts other skilled women to companies, helping to fill the talent gap. In the end, changes in the types of available employees as well as evolving technology may result in more women employed in traditionally male-dominated industries.

Technological innovations are changing the face of manufacturing and maintenance. These technologies are helping companies maximize efficiency and effectiveness and make intelligent business decisions. The role of humans in these processes is changing as well, requiring skill sets that allow companies to fully utilize these digital tools. Here are four trends that are influencing business decisions in these sectors. Mobile Communication Mobile communication continues to grow in popularity across industries, including manufacturing and facilities maintenance. Mobile communication tools allow employees to collaborate and share information in real time, with no delay. Technicians and other employees out in the field have ready access to information like maintenance history or operating instructions when they need it, where they need it. Mobile apps and tools also let employees enter information directly into systems such as Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs. Your team can add important details almost instantly, keeping your records accurate and up-to-date. Additionally, in an era when many companies are forced to run leaner and more dispersed teams, mobile communication tools are increasing productivity, helping organizations get more done with fewer employees. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) The expanded adoption of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)is continuing across several sectors, including manufacturing and production asset management. Sensors in machines are connected to wireless networks that gather and share data and make the data available for analysis. Increased affordability of IIoT devices, expanding network options, and advancing big data analytics have combined to make it easier for companies of all sizes to start using IIoT in their operations, or to enlarge existing systems. Companies are using IIot devices to collect data across many categories. Equipment conditions can be assessed using sensors that monitor vibration data, as well as through thermal imaging. Energy usage data is tracked to analyze trends and develop strategies to reduce energy usage and shift peak usage times to take advantage of off-peak energy rates. GPS monitoring on vehicle fleets helps companies efficiently deploy resources, as well as track usage and status of heavy equipment and other high-value assets. Maintenance as a Service (MaaS) The rise of cloud computing has led to more companies offering or utilizing Maintenance as a Service (MaaS) programs. You may be familiar with cloud-based maintenance services offered by some auto makers. In addition to delivering reminders for scheduled maintenance such as oil changes, these services track vehicle diagnostics and alert subscribers to more urgent or unexpected service needs. MaaS is a similar service for machinery and industrial equipment. MaaS systems collect data from sensors on equipment, then use the power of cloud-computing to analyze equipment conditions to develop predictive maintenance schedules and alert users to potential failures. A variety of equipment vendors are offering MaaS programs for the machines they sell, and third-party vendors are offering MaaS for manufacturing and other industries. Both equipment vendors and third-party companies offer a spectrum of services within their MaaS products. Some of the services offered by MaaS vendors include maintenance service recommendations, maintenance training services for on-site staff, and even full maintenance operations management including technicians who perform the work. Like many other cloud-based services such as asset management and data storage, MaaS are available as subscription services. This lowers the capital costs of on-site computing, shifting costs to monthly or operational expenses. The flexibility and scalability of MaaS make it affordable for organizations of all sizes. Companies pay only for what they need, and can easily adjust services to adapt to changing needs. Workforce Trends With near historic unemployment rates, the labor market is tighter than ever and the average time to fill an open position is increasing. The rate of retiring professionals is outpacing the number of new workers coming into the workforce. New workers joining the work force are often “digital natives” familiar with computers and other technology. Traditional methods and skills are still needed in maintenance and manufacturing, but there is a growing shift to more digital and automated methods in the workplace. Knowledge of analytics and data interpretation are becoming more important as more companies adopt data-tracking solutions. Networking and telecommunication skills are also in demand as they are needed to build and maintain the systems that make cloud-based and other digital solutions possible. Maintenance and manufacturing continue to adapt to a changing, interconnected world. Many companies are adopting technological solutions and skills to improve operations and stay competitive. CMMS Software Looking for a way to better manage your maintenance tasks? Our industry leading CMMS software will help you streamline your maintenance operations resulting in less equipment downtime, lower maintenance costs, and increased productivity. Learn more about our CMMS software today!

Computer Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) are powerful tools for handling predictive maintenance, work orders, asset records, and more. Many CMMS solutions are available as Software as a Service (SaaS), also referred to as cloud-based. Cloud-based software is convenient, but some cloud-based CMMS companies are going a step farther and offering mobile apps for smartphones and other mobile devices. These mobile apps can help maintenance teams in numerous ways. Inventory Control CMMS and mobile apps can keep your inventory counts up to date automatically, tracking parts as they’re assigned to work orders, as well as any parts field technicians may need to add as they complete tasks. Technicians can use their device cameras to scan codes on parts and take them from the online inventory instantly. There are no extra steps or delays in recording which parts have been used, helping you stay on top of ordering inventory before it hits a critical level or runs out entirely. Parts are in stock when technicians need them, and you avoid extra costs like expedited shipping paid when you have to place an emergency parts order. Keeping track of inventory is a complex process. You might even say it has a lot of moving parts, especially if you stock inventory in more than one location. Mobile CMMS apps show technicians which parts are assigned to work orders and the part inventory locations. Technicians know what they need and where to find it, saving time that too often is lost to unnecessary trips between different locations, or showing up at a location only to find the part not in stock. With mobile access to key inventory information, technicians arrive at the work site with the parts they need, ready to complete the work order efficiently, and move on to the next job. Labor Costs and Productivity With a CMMS mobile app, technicians have all the information they need to complete work orders right at their fingertips. They can see which parts are needed for the job and make sure the parts are stocked and ready before they arrive at the work site. This saves time that would be spent running back to the shop or to the hardware store to get missing or forgotten parts. Technicians can also access attached files such as procedures and schematics. No more hauling around paper documents that can get damaged or lost, and no more driving back to the shop to get the maintenance manual. The savings in labor costs are not just realized out in the field or in the shop, but also in the office. With a mobile CMMS app your technicians can record important details while completing maintenance tasks. Technicians can update work order status, add any parts used while completing the work, and upload photos—right in the app. Technicians can also enter the time spent on work orders. Some apps even come with built-in timers for convenient and accurate time-keeping. Getting all this information into your CMMS usually involves field technicians keeping track of these details as they work, then returning to the office so the information can be entered into your record system. With a mobile app, your CMMS records are updated automatically as technicians enter information, saving data entry costs back at the office, letting technicians stay out in the field, keeping productivity up. Workplace Changes Though traditional techniques remain vital to maintaining equipment and assets, the workplace as a whole is adapting to changes in technology and an evolving workforce. Computers are replacing traditional paper-based record keeping, and with cloud-based software companies of all sizes automatically get the latest updates. Young adults entering the workforce are “digital natives” comfortable and familiar with technology. With smartphone ownership among U.S. adults estimated at 81%, it’s easier than ever for companies to adopt mobile solutions. It’s not just new technology—many companies have also embraced sustainability goals, with every department participating to reduce overall environmental impact. Using CMMS reduces your use of paper and the resources required to store physical documents. With the addition of a mobile app, technicians have access to work orders and important documents like manuals almost anywhere, reducing the need to drive from location to location, decreasing fuel consumption and other vehicle costs. Cloud-based options have made CMMS more accessible than ever before, and more and more maintenance teams are using these options. Mobile CMMS apps make it even easier to keep your records accurate and up to date. MicroMain CMMS App Our cloud-based CMMS software combined with our powerful mobile app will help your company or organization reduce maintenance costs, increase productivity, decrease equipment downtime, and much more. Learn more about all the powerful features and benefits our CMMS software can offer!