Maintenance Management Software

What is Maintenance Management Software?

Maintenance management software helps an organization track the servicing of their facilities and assets, as well as the related expenses, which is often referred to as maintenance & operations (O&M). Large organizations use maintenance management systems to track the location of assets and equipment, plan their maintenance schedule by assigning work orders to maintenance personnel, and to capture all the costs associated with maintenance. Across a large portfolio of facilities, it's not uncommon for an organization to have tens of thousands of assets or more to maintain.

Sophisticated maintenance software coordinates various types of maintenance including: corrective/reactive maintenance (when equipment fails unexpectedly), preventive maintenance (routine service performed to prolong asset life), and predictive maintenance (using sensors and/or analytics to prompt maintenance before a failure).

Common types of maintenance software include: computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), enterprise asset management (EAM) systems, and integrated workplace management systems (IWMS). CMMS software is typically used at a department level, while EAM can be deployed enterprise-wide and encompasses more of the asset lifecycle, and IWMS views assets holistically including usage, capital planning and energy costs. Following are some of the more common capabilities you'll find in maintenance management systems:

Asset Tracking

Refers to maintaining information about your organization’s assets (buildings, systems, equipment, vehicles, etc.). This includes recording when assets were purchased, their life expectancy, warranty information, maintenance history, costs, and more.

Inventory Control

Is the ability to manage the inventory of replacement parts and supplies required to maintain an organization's assets in a timely and efficient manner. This includes handling everything from purchasing to distribution of parts, across one or more warehouses.

Work Orders

Work orders detail the work to be performed, which can be divided into one or more phases (a job may require plumbing, drywalling. painting, etc.). Work orders can be for corrective or preventive maintenance, the work gets scheduled, assigned to appropriate personnel, labor time and material costs are recorded, and a history is maintained by asset so decisions can be made regarding repair vs. replacement.

Corrective/Reactive Maintenance

Corrective maintenance (sometimes called reactive maintenance) refers to the work performed to restore an asset or equipment to once again function as designed, after it breaks or fails unexpectedly.

Preventive Maintenance

Like oil changes on your car, preventive maintenance is routine maintenance designed to keep an asset or equipment running optimally, and to prevent premature failure. A maintenance management system should allow you to 'program' the preventive maintenance to be performed on assets.

Deferred Maintenance (Backlog)

Deferred maintenance (also known as backlog) is repairs to assets that get delayed due to budget limitations or lack of funding. Deferring maintenance however accelerates the need for capital expenditures to replace them. It's estimated that for every dollar not spent on building maintenance, it will cost as much as $15 to $30 to fix the resulting problems (according to NASFA). Maintaining buildings properly actually saves money and frees up funds to meet other needs.

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance minimizes unexpected failures by monitoring the condition of assets and considering historical trends in asset performance. A work order can be automatically generated when asset performance falls outside the normal operating range.