Maintenance management is defined as the process of maintaining a

company's assets and resources while controlling time and costs, thereby
ensuring maximum efficiency of the manufacturing process. Maintenance
management has gone from an archaic, tedious, handwritten process to a
computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) — a software that
plans, tracks, measures and optimizes all forms of a maintenance program in
one central system.

Maintenance management isn't just a software system — it's a combination of

software, best practices and trained personnel, all focused on the same
goal. Maintenance management programs are highly customizable and
centered around the type(s) of maintenance employed at a plant. Whether
you're using a condition-based maintenance program like predictive
maintenance or a more time-based maintenance program like preventive
maintenance, it's important to focus your program on the type of maintenance
used and its role within your organization.

Improving maintenance management should be a continuous goal for any

company with machine assets, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If you
need additional support or expertise in the process of shifting your
matntenance management practices, bringing in reputable reliability and
maintenance experts like those at IDCON could help you identify opportunities
and create an achievable plan for improvement.

Why Maintenance Management Is Important

Maintenance management is vital in ensuring the long-term success of your
maintenance program by monitoring quality assurance, maintaining
operational efficiency and keeping assets in optimum running order. Properly
maintained assets and resources keep your production stable and greatly
minimize the chances for unplanned downtime. Unplanned downtime causes
a snowball effect, leading to a spike in unexpected costs associated with
things like repairs (overtime labor, spare parts, etc.), delayed shipments, lost
revenue or complete breakdowns of machines.

Maintenance management helps improve the operational efficiency of plant

facilities, which contributes to revenue by decreasing operating costs and
improving the quality (and quantity) of manufactured products. In addition to
cost savings, other benefits include improved workplace safety, enhanced
productivity and minimized human error.

The Objectives of Maintenance Management

All forms of maintenance management share the common objective of
analyzing production and finding the best practices and processes within a
specific field. Analyzing reports from a CMMS, for example, lets you control
costs, schedule work properly and efficiently, and ensure failures and
breakdowns are kept to a minimum. The main objectives of maintenance
management include:
 Cost control/budgeting: Maintenance management tools
provide managers with the necessary information to properly allocate
funds from the budget. Cost control is important because some costs
are a better use of the company's funds than others. For instance, a
maintenance manager might need to buy a replacement part for an
asset. She might have to choose between a cheaper part that's less
durable and a more expensive, longer-lasting part.

 Scheduling work/allocating resources: Scheduling work

and allocating time and labor resources so they're at their most
productive plays a key role in efficiency. Maintenance management
gives a manager an ultimate understanding of the overall process to
help decide priority levels of various activities. For example, if the
maintenance manager needs to verify the timely delivery of a product,
she might be inclined to prioritize forklift maintenance to ensure the
product can be moved around the warehouse and onto the delivery truck
without interruption.

 Compliance and regulations: Maintenance management

tools help organizations comply with regulations at the local, state and
federal levels. For instance, it may seem like the cheaper option to
assign one operator to a particular asset, even though the law states
two employees should be assigned for safety reasons.
 Minimize downtime/loss: A good maintenance
management program helps mitigate the loss of productive time due to
failure by establishing a planned maintenance program. Fewer
production stoppages mean less lost revenue.

 Extend asset life: Organizations invest heavily in

machinery. Maintenance management programs help ensure equipment
and infrastructure are always in good condition. Regular maintenance
extends the useful life of machinery, facilities and other components by
minimizing wear and tear.

 Enhance equipment: Spinning off the objective of

extending the life of assets, maintenance management also enhances
existing equipment through modifications, extensions or new low-cost
items.

 Training: Maintenance management programs should

include training personnel in specific maintenance skills, improving
operational safety, advising on the acquisition, installation and operation
of machinery, and enhancing the quality of the finished product.
  Uncover maintenance trends: Looking into historical data
helps managers get a clear picture of what exactly goes on during day-
to-day operations. CMMS software, for example, can uncover things like
why an asset seems to be consistently underperforming.

Maintenance Management vs. Asset Management

One big component of maintenance management is working with assets to
ensure their reliability. There are a few key distinctions between the two.

 Asset management: Asset management is the culmination of activities

and practices that track the performance of an organization's assets
and using that information to improve production. Asset management
systems should be aligned with the overall business plan to ensure the
success of the company. Asset management processes let businesses
see benefits like whether the equipment is performing as intended,
operating costs are being reduced and if they're getting a higher return
on investment (ROI) on their assets.

 Maintenance management: As we've defined, maintenance

management is essentially using intuitive software like CMMS to track a
business's resources, like labor, materials and equipment. Information
from this system lets you make informed decisions about creating or
improving maintenance processes. Maintenance management ensures
your company's equipment remains in exceptional working order, which
minimizes downtime and unexpected repairs.

So, what's the difference? Although they're both technically different, asset
management and maintenance management are often integrated together and
complement each other nicely. Maintenance management deals more with the
physical performance and maintenance of equipment, while asset
management analyzes all the data for the work needing to be done on each
asset, identifying and prioritizing that work to help with the ROI of each asset.

Most modern CMMS software integrates the two functions so that

maintenance personnel can see both sets of data in one centralized location.

Computerized Maintenance Management

Systems
A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a software
platform designed to simplify maintenance management. This type of intuitive
software package keeps a computer database of information about a
company's maintenance operations and can produce status reports and
detailed summaries of maintenance activities. Once analyzed, this information
is meant to allow maintenance personnel to do their jobs more effectively and
enable maintenance managers to make informed decisions, helping
them manage costs and allocate resources.

A CMMS lets organizations eliminate manual data tracking and allows for the
tracking and organization of multiple facets of the business into one
centralized, digital location. CMMS software is highly customizable, enabling
organizations to add components like equipment data management,
preventive and predictive maintenance task management, work order
systems, scheduling and planning, vendor management, inventory control, and
more.

CMMS packages are either cloud-based (more modern) or on-premise (more

traditional) systems. Cloud-based systems are hosted on an outside server,
usually by the company selling the software, while on-premise systems require
the company buying the software to host the product on its own in-house
server. Some of the drawbacks with on-premise servers are higher costs,
complex implementation and constant maintenance (backing up and updating
hardware and software).

1. Work order management: A CMMS with work order

management capabilities greatly simplifies each step in the
maintenance work order process. Maintenance managers can design,
prioritize, review, assign and track work orders from their desktop or
mobile device, while operators can submit work requests.

Preventive maintenance can also be incorporated by using time-, usage-

or condition-based triggers to automatically alert the software when a
scheduled task needs to be done. This allows for automatic scheduling
of work orders and can even alert inventory to make sure parts are in
stock.

Technicians and managers can all interface with the software and see
real-time updates. Technicians can look at their daily tasks, mark jobs
as complete and switch the status of an asset from offline to online.
Likewise, managers can see when jobs are completed.

2. Asset performance/reporting: A company-wide CMMS

gives the organization a great way to collect and analyze data from each
asset, so maintenance managers can more easily see areas that need to
improve efficiency and productivity. A big part of maintenance
 management is tracking the use of your assets and how they're
performing. This includes looking at operational hours, time-based
gauge readings, mileage and more.

A CMMS automatically builds asset profiles with this information and

includes asset-specific things like maintenance checklists, failure codes,
safety information and single-point lessons. From these profiles, you
can get a complete look at your maintenance operation by creating
custom reports on things like asset downtime and how each asset
affects the cost of inventory.

3. Inventory management: Keeping track of spare parts is a

daunting task. A CMMS helps you get and stay organized by automating
inventory purchasing, so you can have the correct parts when you need
them, in the correct amount.

Many CMMS systems let you log all spare parts and note where they are
stored, when they were purchased, how to use them and their availability
at all sites across the organization. This way, technicians know what
parts they'll need for a repair or preventive maintenance task, where
those parts are and how to use them.

Finally, a CMMS helps you maintain an optimal inventory through

tracking inventory costs, referencing order history, cycle counts, usage
data and first-in/first-out details.
4. 4Audit capabilities: Preparing for audits is made much
simpler by having a continuous, searchable record of every task. This
allows the maintenance management team to audit an asset's
maintenance history. Many CMMS software systems let you create user
profiles that automatically monitor certifications and renewal dates and
embed standardized training videos for those needing to renew and stay
compliant. All work orders, task lists and photos are archived, giving you
any proof you may need to ensure ISO certification.

5. Mobile capabilities: Nearly all modern, cloud-based CMMS

software comes with the ability to access the CMMS remotely from a
tablet or smartphone. This is vital since maintenance workers spend
most of their time in the field, on the plant floor and away from the
office. Mobile capabilities enable maintenance technicians to record
what they're doing as they're doing it. This includes taking pictures and
requesting help onsite. A CMMS with a mobile app offering offline
capabilities allows for these kinds of updates even when there isn't a Wi-
Fi connection.

6. Integration capabilities: One of the best things about

modern CMMS software is the ability to integrate it with other systems
within your company. For example, incorporating your sales software
with your CMMS gives the sales team an inside look into data to which
they normally wouldn't have access. A good CMMS provider has a
 variety of integration options, allowing you to customize the right
combination for your organization.

Who Should Have Access to Your CMMS?

It's often debated who should have access to your CMMS; in some companies,
only a few maintenance managers have access. Over time, this can lend itself
to a couple of problems. The fewer people using the system, the more work is
dumped on the individuals who are using it, making this small group of users
responsible for handling everything from logging work orders to running and
analyzing reports.

Another issue is the fact that it limits the impact of everyone on the team.
Team members who can't see the overall picture of maintenance operations
tend to be confused about their jobs, miss work more, make misinformed
decisions and eventually have lower morale.

Conversely, giving a variety of team members and departments access to your

CMMS can be beneficial by making maintenance management a shared
responsibility across your organization. This frees up the maintenance team to
improve in other areas. It also lets other departments make data-driven
decisions based on analysis from all areas of the company.
Let's take a look at some of the various groups that should have access to
your CMMS.

 Maintenance manager: Probably the most obvious choice, the

maintenance manager should also be the system administrator. System
administrators oversee the daily use of the CMMS and are heavily
involved in choosing the right system, implementing it and optimizing it.
Almost all aspects of maintenance go through the maintenance
manager, from creating, scheduling and prioritizing work orders to
managing assets and creating reports.

 Facility/operations manager: Giving access to your facility manager(s)

allows them to see maintenance information, schedules, metrics and
overall performance across multiple facilities. This data can help them
improve efficiency, decide on budgets, prepare for audits and purchase
inventory.

 Reliability engineers: Reliability engineers are the people who crunch

the data from CMMS reports and turn it into actionable information.
Giving them access to all the data generated by a CMMS lets them more
easily and accurately create reports and process improvements.

 Inventory managers: We've mentioned what a big role a CMMS plays in

inventory management. Inventory managers can use the information
provided by a CMMS to log and track information on spare parts, check
into historical data, set minimum quantities and send purchase
requests. The benefits of this flow downstream to the maintenance
team, as improved inventory tracking and purchasing helps guarantee
they have the right parts in the right place every time they need them. It
also ensures records are better kept, and spending is monitored.
 Safety personnel: Having all safety and health information in one
system helps the organization stay compliant. All employees can have
access to certifications, policies, checklists and audit results.

 Technicians: Another no-brainer, technicians should always be included

as CMMS users, as they are the ones who use the system's features the
most. While you don't need to give all technicians administrative access,
they should be able to see work orders, get notifications, add
information to asset profiles and perform other tasks that directly relate
to repairs and inspections. Having access to this information will enable
them to be efficient and accurate, as well as give them the ability to log
data in real-time.

 Production personnel: This group includes machine operators, line

supervisors and other team members who work with the equipment on a
daily basis. Often, production personnel are the first to notice impending
failures, so having access to the CMMS gives them the ability to submit
a request or add details to work orders, making the repair process more
efficient. Maintenance managers can also assign operators basic
maintenance or autonomous maintenance tasks, like cleaning the
equipment, through the CMMS.

 Contractors: Contractors or technicians who aren't directly affiliated

with your company but perform fairly routine tasks should have guest
access to your CMMS. This way, they can see work orders, task lists and
available resources. They will also be able to better communicate with
maintenance managers via mobile access.

 Executives: Finally, the executive team and senior leadership use all the
data they can to make data-driven decisions. Having access to the
CMMS is an easy way to keep them in the loop about performance,
achievements, key performance indicators (KPIs) and more.
CMMS vs. EAM
In the past, CMMS and enterprise asset management (EAM) systems were
viewed as very different solutions for maintenance management. Modern
systems have since blurred the lines between the two, with many software
systems including the capabilities of both into one enterprise software
package. It's important to note, however, that they are not the same thing.

CMMS software packages include databases with real-time and historical

information about the operations of a company. CMMS software is also used
to schedule and assign work, improve efficiency, support regulatory
compliance and help maintenance management make more informed
decisions. CMMS systems are a bit more focused than EAM systems and are
specifically designed to deal with functions related to maintenance and
materials management. Many organizations fill the gaps by integrating their
CMMS with scheduling, purchasing and accounting software, for example.

EAM focuses on optimizing the life cycle of a company's assets. It gives a

comprehensive view of the physical assets and infrastructure throughout the
entire life cycle. This includes design, implementation and procurement, as
well as operation, maintenance, disposal and replacement. EAM software was
developed after CMMS and includes maintenance management capabilities,
but it considers the total cost of ownership of a company's physical assets.

EAM systems serve every facet of a company that deals with asset
management. This includes maintenance and inventory, procurement,
engineering, project management, accounting, operations, reliability
management and strategic planning.
As you can see, these two systems have very similar capabilities, but what
truly sets them apart is their philosophy and scope. A CMMS focuses on
maintenance and starts tracking and gathering data once an asset has been
purchased and installed. An EAM system is more comprehensive. It starts with
design and goes to the end of an asset's life. Below are a few features that you
will see in an EAM system but won't in a CMMS:

 Budgeting management capabilities

 Calibration monitoring

 Energy monitoring

 Fleet management

 Interactive maps, floorplans and schematics

  Linear assets

 Process management

Industrial management is the organizational process that includes strategic planning , setting ,
objectives , managing ressources , deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve
objectives and measuring results

Management also includes recording and storing facts and information for later use or for others
within the organization. The concept of management planning involves direction , planning ,
adjustment , control and cooperation.

Management function are not limited to managers and supervisors. Every member of the
organization has some management and reporting functions as part of their job.
Management is the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an entreprise where
individual, working in groups, can perform efficiently and effectively towards attainment of group
goals