Welp MagazineWhat is effective maintenance management? This comprises the entirety of all the processes consisting of four elements: behavior, people, a process, and a software program. In the past, when your business was still climbing its way up, a manual recording of all the maintenance processes would suffice. However, as your business grows, the need to automate with the help of software programs or a management system should be a priority.
A maintenance management system offers a wide range of benefits that otherwise can’t be enjoyed, had you stuck to a simple manual management system using spreadsheets. Its centralized nature makes it a good and viable choice for businesses to have. For starters, you may click here for CMMS software and get to know its features.
Meanwhile, here are the reasons why a maintenance management system is needed.
1. It Simplifies The Record-Keeping Process
If recording manually through writing or through your old spreadsheets has shown to be inefficient and time-consuming, then you’ll certainly be grateful with how a maintenance management system can simplify the record-keeping process.
For instance, if you can use the maintenance management system to keep track of the cost of spare parts used in maintenance, this same record can also be utilized by the accounting department to note it as a fixed and regular expense for your business.
This simplified system of record-keeping makes it easier across all departments of your business to have timely and accurate data of all that’s needed in maintenance. Human error may be reduced as well.
2. It May Help Extend Your Asset’s Life
Asset depreciation is expected. After all, every equipment or tool in business has its maximum peak as to its lifespan. But, there are also instances when the depreciation is faster than normal. This scenario is brought about by poor maintenance and upkeep of your equipment and assets.
The return on your assets should be high for your business to conclude that it’s, indeed, a worth it expense, for you to say you’ve made the most out of your capital investment. Otherwise, those assets won’t be assets per se, but, rather, expensive liabilities for your business.
To reverse this trend, a maintenance management system may function as one of the best solutions. It can help extend your asset’s life, so you can make more use of it than simply wait for it to depreciate. This is possible all because the system now makes for a more proactive and timely record of when maintenance needs to be done.
You won’t skip or get confused with all the maintenance work that has to be done with an automated system in place keeping track of all the pertinent information for you.
3. It Enables Timely Preventive Maintenance
Prevention is better than cure—this is an adage that applies not just in medicine, but even in businesses as well. The more you take care of your equipment and resources, the less damage and repairs you may have to do in the long run. Remember that staying up-to-date with maintenance may often be a cheaper recourse than paying for potentially costly and irreparable repairs.
Timely preventive maintenance is possible with a maintenance management system because of its ability to store and generate preventive maintenance work orders. The only human effort that has to be made is in typing the dates. Then, the system stores all of that information, along with details of past maintenance work done, and then remind you of those recurring dates.
4. It Manages Spare Parts Inventory Better
Keeping spare parts for all your equipment and machinery is important. That way, you have a back-up immediately, in case anything goes wrong. There’s very little idle time wasted, and affects the operations simply because of waiting for spare parts orders to arrive.
While you may already have spare parts kept, how well are you actually able to store them? Are you certain that you still remember what spare parts you have, and how many of each? Where’s a certain part stored in your warehouse?
If you’re to continue keeping a manual system, it can be difficult to obtain any information you could be looking for about your spare parts. In fact, locating them in your stock room can be a time-consuming pursuit as well. This is where having a maintenance management system kicks in to improve inventory management. The maintenance department can finally be more organized.
Conclusion
Overseeing the maintenance of a fleet or facility can be a daunting task to perform. There’s so much to get done and to perfect to stay on top of all the necessary maintenance tasks. Smaller businesses can do without automation. As you expand, however, a maintenance management system will be necessary.
The introduction of the latest software and technology didn’t only change the face of maintenance and facilities management, but also the overall efficiency of maintenance operations.
