La función de la tecnología de sensores en la revolución de la mantención preventiva.

Ready for Level Two of the Maintenance Maturity Model: CMMS Implementation

Everyone is on the same page. If you’re ready for the second level of the Maintenance Maturity Model, you’ve already convinced your leadership and maintenance teams that it’s time to move off pen and paper and other manually based maintenance tracking systems. Everyone now understands the need to modernize as well as the benefits that a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can bring to your organization.

At this stage, you’re ready to learn the nuts and bolts of making the transition to a CMMS. By the end of this level, you’ll be well on your way to realizing greater efficiency, streamlined operations, and improved data management.

Begin with an assessment

It’s always a good idea to start with where you currently are before embarking on any new venture. In this case, take a close look at your existing workflows. You’ll want to document how work orders are created, scheduled and tracked as well as how assets and data are managed. Consider how the communication channels work throughout your organization.

Then, write down your pain points, which may include delays in work order assignments, asset tracking issues, and manual data entry errors. Finally, consider both resource allocation and compliance issues that must be addressed.

Once you’ve completed an assessment of your current systems, you’ll identify how a CMMS can help alleviate your existing pain points. This may include streamlining work orders, asset and data management as well as improving internal communications and compliance documentation.

Then, select and customize a CMMS

Choosing the right CMMS solution for your particular organization’s needs is a critical step in the process. Many solutions are available today, and although they are similar in some respects, certain solutions may work better for some businesses than others.

Start by clearly defining what features and functions you need to address your most critical pain points. Then, begin by reviewing both general and industry-specific CMMS solutions, creating a short-list of possibilities.

With each of these selected solutions, thoroughly evaluate their functionality and consider their scalability in meeting your business needs as you grow into the future. You’ll want to also consider the cost, the user interface, and whether a mobile version is available.

Finally, don’t forget to look at how the solution can integrate with your existing systems as well as what types of support and training are available from the vendor.

Once you’ve selected the best option, you’ll want to customize it to meet your specific organization’s needs. Prioritize which areas you’ll want to customize first; this may include work order templates, preventive maintenance schedules, or user roles.

You’ll need either an internal team or an agreement with your vendor to work through configurations, workflow mapping, user permissions, and training. Then, you’ll want to put a feedback loop in place so users can provide suggestions and improvement ideas. 

Add your maintenance data

Moving your data into your CMMS is an important step as future planning will be heavily dependent on the accuracy and completeness of this information. You’ll want to take a look at the data that exists and be sure to clean it up before you enter it into your new system.

Be sure to back up your data, place it in the correct areas of the CMMS, and utilize the tools that will make it easier to import your information. Double check the data once it’s been added to make sure everything is in its proper place.

Get ready to train and onboard

A new CMMS will not benefit your organization if no one understands or wants to use it. That makes the training and onboarding phase extremely important to a successful implementation.  Start with understanding the skill level of your current team and conduct a needs assessment so you can customize the level and amount of training required as well as define learning objectives.

Determine how much of the training will be in-person, online, or printed material and create a schedule that works with your team’s availability. You may want to create a “train the trainer” program so you can help your internal team develop a knowledge bank that can be used for new employees and future updates.

Be sure you incorporate hands-on and practical exercises so your team can begin to appreciate the power of the CMMS and how the new system will make their own life easier and more productive.

Finally, remember that training is an ongoing process, and it’s likely that your team will need refresher courses from time to time as well as more education as your company uses more features.

Finally, establish key workflows

The final step of level two of the Maintenance Maturity Model is setting up how work orders will be created, assigned, tracked, closed and reported on a regular basis. You’ll want to determine who has the authority to generate work orders and how assignments can be made efficiently taking into account skill levels and availability. 

Workflows are critical mid-process so that the team can see where delays may be occurring or problems that might need to be addressed in order to facilitate work order completion.

By creating standard reports and a streamlined workflow, your team will be able to conduct better data analysis to make targeted improvements for the future.

Conclusion

By completing the second level of the Maintenance Maturity Level, you will have successfully selected and implemented a CMMS. Moving from manual systems to a computerized one alone will generate not only efficiencies immediately but will provide the foundation on which to build up on in the future. For a more detailed explanation of this level, download UpKeep’s Guide to CMMS Implementation.