CMMS Selection
4 Minute Read
Do you control your assets, or do they control you?
This blog is the first in a series that sets out to explain in simple terms the journey to take control of your assets and have them working for you to unlock the hidden value in your business.
Suppose your business has several essential assets for the products or services you provide. In that case, the performance of these assets can be critical to your success and, in some cases, your survival. Conversely, unplanned failures and long lead times for a spare part can spell disaster, not only for you but also for your customers who rely on you to deliver.
Asset Management can be complex. It can also be somewhat simplified with a structured, systematic, and integrated approach.
What is an asset and what are the benefits in taking control of them?
Put simply, an asset is an item, thing or entity that exists to add value to an organisation, and taking control over the management of such assets will:
- Improve return on investments and reduce operating costs
- Improve decisions by balancing costs, risks, opportunities, and performance
- Manage safety, quality, environmental, and reputation risks
- Improve products and services to meet or exceed customer expectations consistently
- Demonstrate social responsibility, ethical business practices & stewardship
- Improve your ability to demonstrate and manage statutory compliance obligations
- Enhance your reputation through improved customer satisfaction and confidence in your business
- Improve sustainability of your business and help you to understand short- and long-term impacts
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness of your operations.
An AT Kearney survey of 558 companies found those that adopted a structured, systematic, and integrated approach to assets achieved the following results:
– 28.3% increase in the productivity of maintenance
– 20.1% reduction in equipment downtime
– 19.4% savings in the cost of materials
– 17.8% decrease in inventory maintenance and repair
– 14.5 months of payback time
It clearly makes good business sense to take control of your assets. A structured, systematic, and integrated approach for Asset Management starts with a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
Which CMMS will suit your business needs?
A CMMS or an Enterprise Asset Management System (EAM) is designed to deliver high levels of control over your assets. Selecting the right sized system for your business will maximise the returns on the investment. For example, a CMMS in its pure form is designed to deal only with maintenance functions, whereas an EAM is designed to deal with assets over their entire life cycle and usually has the functionality to incorporate engineering, finance, HR, IT, supply, logistics and so on. That said, the line between the two types of products is becoming increasingly blurred, especially with advances in technology such as the IoT (internet of things), connectivity and mobility.
Choosing a system based on your needs today may have limitations should your business grow or change direction. Conversely having a system with all the bells and whistles will be more costly and time consuming to implement and may far exceed the needs, aspirations, and budget of your business. The cost of implementation and ongoing fees can easily outweigh the CMMS benefits if you don’t match the business needs with the functionality available in each of the software solutions.
Furthermore, the value to your business from any such system hinges on the quality of the inputs and the processes applied during implementation. Firstly, it’s important to know exactly what assets you have, and arranged into some form of hierarchy with unique identifiers. There is also value in taking a risk-based approach to evaluate which assets are most critical to your business, and why, so your resources are focussing on the assets that matter most.
Final thoughts
In today’s ever-competitive market, the value of being in control of your assets has never been more excellent. However, taking control over your assets isn’t hard, especially if you take a systematic, structured and integrated approach utilising the right CMMS system for your business.
If you would like to learn more about selecting the right CMMS for your business, reach out to the team at EnterpriseIS. We’ve helped several clients take control of their assets and can help your business too.