DPSI - Preventive Maintenance (PM) Strategy Software
A strong preventive maintenance (PM) strategy helps companies reduce unplanned equipment failures and extend the overall life of assets. Learn more about preventive maintenance, as well as how to utilize maintenance management software (CMMS) to implement PM activities.
Preventive maintenance takes place before an asset or piece of equipment breaks down. It is the opposite of reactive maintenance, which takes place only after a piece of equipment breaks down. PM tasks can be carried out out predetermined intervals, such as a time period or meter count. A preventive maintenance strategy aids in minimizing unplanned downtime and repair costs.
The overall goal is to extend the life and reliability of assets, but this process is far too complex to maintain manually for most organizations. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) solution allows organizations to effectively carry out PM strategies.
CMMS software enables users to store and quickly access important asset information. Examples include equipment status, history, manufacturer-recommended guidelines, spare parts, processes and more. Using the software, maintenance departments can schedule and assign PM tasks in advance, taking into account slow times for the business.
- Create a maintenance schedule for each piece of equipment
- Enter important information for each asset such as date purchased, warranties, codes, meter readings, repairs, equipment downtime and more
- Quickly make decisions related to equipment replacement with complete history for each asset at your fingertips
- Manage spare parts and inventory at multiple sites, which leads to decreased downtime and increased employee productivity
- Utilize comprehensive information to identify trends and opportunities for improvement
- Reports, graphs and dashboards can be used to track all costs associated with maintenance with many query options as a summary or detail level
CMMS systems typically include a work order management system that records and tracks all work orders. Work orders are the backbone of your maintenance operations, so any CMMS system should enable you to handle a heavy flow of work orders with ease.
A work order management system allows you to assign employees and job procedures to work orders and captures labor, parts, and material costs. You can also use a work order system to track job time, response time, equipment downtime, equipment history, and more. Work orders can also have linked drawings, pictures, documents, video clips and other files to allow for the accurate information to be available at all times, for all technicians.
The reporting module of a CMMS system enables you to generate meaningful and easy-to-understand reports, helping you to spot trends, identify opportunities for improvement and make empowered critical business decisions. You can use reports to monitor many areas, including equipment performance, work order completion, employee productivity and material usage. A CMMS will typically provide you with ready-to-run reports as well as give you the ability to create customized reports.
Today’s maintenance workforce needs to be able to access data and information about their assets remotely. Many CMMS vendors offer web-based maintenance software allowing users to access maintenance data via a web browser, so they can log into the system when they are on the road or away from the office.
Gain control of spare parts, equipment, and tools for efficient management, reducing searches and unplanned downtime. Many inventory management modules are underutilized, making every maintenance task more time-consuming than necessary. Spend less time locating spare parts with an effective inventory management system that tracks and manages inventory at multiple sites.
The assets module of preventive maintenance software eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming manual tracking processes. You can use the assets module to enter information about each of your assets, including all associated parts and procedures, warranties, codes, meter readings, and more.
Prior to purchasing preventive maintenance software, assess your needs and then learn about the features and functions of the systems you’re considering. Your organization is constantly evolving, so it’s also important to select flexible, customizable CMMS software that allows you to adapt to these changes.
Maintaining equipment through preventive maintenance extends its lifecycle and eliminates the premature replacement of parts and equipment. Generating and managing PMs – preventive maintenance tasks – allows technicians to accurately follow manufacturers’ guidelines for equipment maintenance. To determine the monetary value of a CMMS system, you can estimate the number of years you expect to extend your equipment’s lifecycle through automated preventive maintenance. Compare this with the total purchase cost of the equipment and you can come up with a tangible dollar amount.