CMMS Inventory Management Software: Benefits, Insights, and More

CMMS Inventory Management Software: Definition, Key Features, Advantages, and More

Your assets are the heart of your operation, but the parts and tools to maintain them are just as valuable.

If your inventory is mismanaged to the point that you’re constantly dealing with costly downtime and clerical errors, it may be time to switch your inventory management methods. 

CMMS inventory management software allows you to keep your maintenance operations smoothly flowing while increasing the reliability of your systems. 

Keep reading to learn the definition, key features, and advantages of CMMS for inventory management.

What Is Inventory Management Software?

Inventory management software is a digital system designed to track and manage an organization’s assets regarding:

• Inventory levels
• Orders
• Sales
• Deliveries

In addition to providing real-time tracking and visibility for vital facility resources, computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software strengthens maintenance and management practices while providing a host of other benefits.

How Different Industries Use CMMS Inventory Management Software

Manufacturers rely on inventory management software to assemble the necessary parts for complex product builds. In contrast, property management companies may use the software to ensure supplies are on hand for maintenance repairs. 

Facility and office managers use inventory management to stock sufficient supplies for IT support, office productivity, and employee safety.

Inventory management software like CMMS provides superior insight for your organization, whether it's more significant, more valuable assets like machinery and vehicles or more menial, cheaper things like wrenches and light bulbs.

   

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6 Key Features of Inventory Management CMMS

#1: Data-Driven Insights

CMMS collects and analyzes inventory data to optimize management and provide valuable insights for more informed decision-making. Using an analytics dashboard, UpKeep uses this information to create charts and scales that help you visually track metrics. 

With UpKeep, you can:

• Gain real-time visibility into inventory levels, asset location, usage patterns, and reorder points. 
• Access historical data regarding consumption patterns.
• Use key inventory performance metrics to gauge inventory efficiency.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities such as reducing excess inventory, eliminating stockouts, and streamlining.

With UpKeep’s CMMS inventory management software, businesses can make data-backed decisions about their inventory and maintenance activities, leading to more effective strategies, improved cash flow, and increased customer satisfaction.

#2: Inventory Quality Control and Management

Inventory tracking and management are core features of CMMS. Maintenance teams need access to the right parts and requirements for maintenance and repairs ASAP.

UpKeep helps you organize your inventory and prevent time spent waiting for inventory orders. 

Optimizing and organizing your systems with a CMMS may help decrease downtime and time spent on reactive and proactive maintenance tasks. With UpKeep’s intuitive inventory management software, you can set up alerts and notes to recommend particular parts for a given repair and automate notifications when parts need to be reordered.

#3: Code Generation and Scanning

It's essential to have a system that can read barcodes and generate new barcodes on its own. 

By ensuring all parts are accounted for and captured, a system can automatically associate them with locations, assets, and work orders. This automation can reduce time and common input mishaps. Capturing these associations also allows parts managers to perform an audit that shows how, where, and when the part was used.

Many CMMS products have mobile scanning features that let maintenance workers scan barcodes with their smartphones.

#4: Purchase Orders 

Generating purchase orders directly in your CMMS empowers everyone in the organization to take an active role in inventory management. 

UpKeep’s CMMS allows you to: 

• Track which vendors to use to order specific parts. 
• Integrate your purchase orders and fulfillment fulfillment tracking. 
• Create a setup that automatically updates part quantities after orders have been fulfilled.

#5: Attribute Customization

Every company uses supplies differently, and standardizing inventory data requires data customization. Consider all the associated values that would be helpful to include, such as location, category, cost per unit, vendor, and minimum quantity. Then, you can add these values to your CMMS and include them in .csv files when importing new parts.

#6: Bulk Importing

With Upkeep’s CMMS, you can manually add item by item or bulk upload new inventory with a .csv file. This essential feature of CMMS is vital for organizations with hundreds of parts and different part providers.

Imagine how much time you’ll save if your maintenance operations and bulk ordering tools are in one easy, accessible place.

 

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Benefits of Using CMMS for Inventory Management

Enhanced Long-Term Planning

Rather than turning inventory management into a guessing game that requires you to submit work orders and cross your fingers that you have the parts, CMMS inventory management software allows you to be more aware of your inventory levels. 

You’ll also be able to prioritize work orders around the currently available parts, which may optimize your maintenance planning. 

UpKeep also allows maintenance teams and outside technicians to access a robust maintenance history and create notes for future technicians. Our CMMS even allows involved parties to link the barcodes or names of items relevant to future repairs and maintenance.

Increased Reliability

Using barcodes and QR codes, UpKeep’s CMMS can help you track which items have been checked out for use or are no longer usable. A system that allows you to track tools and equipment may create better reliability practices while also ensuring your maintenance equipment will be available for crucial activities. 

You’ll know exactly where your assets are being used and what they are being used for. You’ll also be able to coordinate operations based on usage and location.

Decreased Downtime

UpKeep's CMMS helps reduce downtime by maintaining the correct inventory quantity. Delays can be costly when vital equipment relies on a part you thought you had in stock. Maintenance teams can quickly access needed parts and materials by having accurate and up-to-date inventory levels. 

Accurate inventory visibility also reduces the time spent searching for supplies.

Additionally, UpKeep's inventory management features streamline parts consumption and purchasing processes, making tracking usage easier, reordering supplies when necessary, and avoiding stockouts.

Reduced Costs

According to recent research, inventory management software like CMMS may help businesses save up to 30% on operational costs. 

UpKeep’s asset management software can help reduce costs by:

• Identifying underused assets
• Optimizing asset use during idle activity
• Reducing administrative costs by streamlining ordering processes
• Avoiding overordering or overstocking of parts
• Tracking patterns in carrying costs, stockout costs, and procurement costs
• And more

The Relationship Between Inventory Management, CMMS, and EAM Software

For large corporations, inventory management is a standard part of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) through enterprise asset management (EAM) software, where parts and supplies, their workforce, and locations are among the most significant investments. 

Traditionally, companies used a CMMS for managing maintenance tasks and a separate EAM system for inventory management. However, CMMS alone may not provide enough overarching visibility and insight to keep track of all of your assets alone. When comparing EAM and CMMS for their inventory management capabilities, EAM systems provide a more comprehensive solution. 

So, which should you choose to manage your inventory? 

Since EAM and CMMS inventory management have become more sophisticated, many companies are integrating the two systems and finding the combined insights beneficial for capital planning, forecasting, and reducing deferred maintenance.

However, adopting two separate software programs for your operations and maintenance practices can be confusing, clunky, and expensive. 

Fortunately, UpKeep combines the power of EAM and CMMS for inventory management to help you efficiently facilitate your assets and resources. Learn more about keeping up your operations productively with UpKeep.

Revolutionize Your Asset Maintenance and Management Practices With UpKeep’s CMMS Inventory Management Software

The best inventory management practices allow you to use multiple features to streamline your operations from anywhere at any time.

UpKeep is a mobile web-based application that allows you to optimize your maintenance management capabilities through an intuitive system. 

By empowering your organization with our EAM and CMMS software, you can:

• Manage inventory from anywhere
• Add parts on the go
• Update work orders
• And more

Asset and inventory management shouldn’t be impossible. Keep up your organization’s vital maintenance and asset oversight with UpKeep.

 

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