If you are here, you probably know by now that CMMS software simplifies maintenance work and increases productivity. Even if you are able to compel your team to work with a clunky solution, the time spent navigating poorly designed software can cost your team valuable hours of productivity. 

With that, let’s talk about the steps to evaluate and select your favorite software out of the many alternatives out there.

6 Steps to Choosing the Best CMMS Software

1. Define Your Goals

To identify your organization’s specific needs and goals for a CMMS, start by assessing your current maintenance processes. Identify any challenges or inefficiencies. Consider factors such as:

• the size of your organization,
• the types of assets you have,
• the number of maintenance tasks and procedures you need to manage,
• current work requests and work order software capabilities, and
• any specific requirements or regulations you need to comply with.

Next, consider what you want to achieve with a CMMS. Common goals for manufacturing companies include improving maintenance efficiency, reducing downtime, increasing asset lifespan, and reducing maintenance costs.

Once you have a clear understanding of your organization’s specific needs, use this information to guide your evaluation of different CMMS software options. Choose the one that best meets your requirements.

2. Research and Compare CMMS

Research vendors that offer CMMS solutions. Compare their features and services.

Search online for reviews and comparisons of different CMMS software vendors. When researching and comparing different CMMS software options, consider these key factors:

Capabilities

Make sure the software has the features and capabilities that your organization needs to support and automate its specific maintenance processes and goals. This may include features such as asset management, preventive maintenance, work order management, and reporting and analysis tools.

User-Friendliness

Choose software that is easy to use and navigate, with a user-friendly interface and clear instructions. This will make it easier for your team to adopt and use the software on a daily basis.

Reliability

Look for software that has a good track record of reliability and uptime. This will help ensure that your maintenance operations can run smoothly and without disruptions.

Support and Training

Choose a software vendor that offers comprehensive support and training resources, such as online tutorials, user manuals, and technical support. This will help your team get up to speed with the software and ensure that they can use it effectively.

Cost

Compare the costs of different software options, including any upfront licensing fees and ongoing subscription costs. Consider the potential benefits of the software and how it can help your organization achieve its goals to determine if the cost is justified.

By considering these factors, you can choose a CMMS software that is well-suited to your organization’s specific needs and goals.

3. Create a Shortlist of Potential CMMS Options

Start by researching and comparing different options based on the factors discussed above. Once you have identified a few software options, request demos or trials of each one to see how the software works in practice.

Be sure to provide the software vendor with detailed information about your organization and its specific needs and goals. This will help the vendor tailor the demo to your needs. The demo should give you a good understanding of if and how the CMMS can support your maintenance operations.

Use this information to create a shortlist of your CMMS software options. Now, you should have a starting point for further evaluation and decision-making.

When reviewing the features of a CMMS, consider these key factors:

Asset Management

The software should allow you to easily manage and track your organization’s asset performance, including asset location, condition, and maintenance history. For example, MaintainX allows you to scan barcodes to bring up real-time asset history. Also, how well will the CMMS help you manage spare parts inventory?

Asset inventory management is a combination of asset management and inventory management. It requires balancing many moving parts, including the development of standard operating procedures. Can the CMMS scale up as your company grows and needs to track more equipment and parts?

Preventive Maintenance

The CMMS should support preventive maintenance, allowing you to schedule and track maintenance tasks with an automated maintenance schedule and predefined criteria. Think about safety audit scheduling and inspection checklists, for example. Think also about better asset tracking to reduce breakdowns and unplanned downtime.

Effectively planned preventive maintenance (PM) programs deliver substantial savings. In fact, studies show that preventive maintenance can save facilities as much as 18 percent in maintenance costs.

Work Order Management

The CMMS should allow you to create, assign, and track work orders, including the status of each work order and the resources assigned to it. When done well, a standardized Work Order process helps maintenance teams, asset managers, and mechanics keep on top of maintenance to improve efficiency.

When it comes to maintenance departments, one of the most essential SOPs an organization can have is a system for work order management. Equipment reliability is paramount for success in today’s global economy. You could say work order systems are the backbone of reliable business operations! 

Reporting and Analysis

The software should provide access to real-time key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards, detailed reports, and analysis tools that allow you to track key performance metrics and make data-driven decisions about your maintenance operations. MaintainX reporting allows you to track equipment downtime, MTTR, MTBF, and OEE, to name a few essential KPIs.

Inventory Management

Depending on the size of your company, the CMMS system needs to provide robust parts and inventory management. The best manufacturing businesses employ inventory systems and management to track and manage their inventory: from placing purchase orders to tracking points of sale and parts usage. In today’s marketplace, with supply chain challenges, inventory accuracy is crucial.

When your team members can identify what assets you have, where they are located, and how much they are worth (within seconds), they’re poised to make better decisions autonomously. 

Integration with Other systems

The software should be able to integrate via API with other systems, such as your organization’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) systems, to provide a seamless and efficient workflow. Can you link CMMS purchase orders to your accounting system? With MaintainX, for example, hardcopy and excel spreadsheets are no longer necessary.

Overall, the features of computerized maintenance management software should streamline facility management processes, support your organization’s specific maintenance processes and goals, and provide the tools and capabilities needed to manage and optimize your maintenance operations. Your maintenance workflows, from predictive maintenance to reactive maintenance, should smoothly translate into your CMMS scheduling capabilities.

4. Ask for References and Case Studies

References are typically other organizations that have used the software and can provide feedback on their experience with it. By speaking with these organizations, you can get a sense of how the software has performed in a real-world setting and how it has helped the organization achieve its goals.

Case studies are in-depth reports or documents that provide detailed information about how the software has been used by other organizations and the benefits it has provided. These can be valuable sources of information. They can provide specific examples of how the software has helped organizations improve their maintenance operations and achieve their goals.

Overall, asking for references and case studies can provide valuable insights into how the software has worked for other organizations and can help you make an informed decision about whether it is the right choice for your organization.

5. Consider Costs and Benefits of CMMS Options

Now that you have narrowed down your options, compare overall costs of the CMMS.

The costs of CMMS software may include upfront licensing fees, ongoing subscription costs, and the cost of implementing and training your team to use the software. Compare the costs to the potential benefits the software can provide, such as improved maintenance efficiency, reduced downtime, and increased asset lifecycle.

Establish a budget for the software, both in terms of implementation costs and recurring fees. Consider the long-term cost of the software, including any necessary hardware or software upgrades, as well as ongoing training and support.

6. Choose the Best CMMS to Meet Your Company’s Needs and Goals

Choose the CMMS that best meets your organization’s needs and goals and provides the greatest value for your investment. Make sure to carefully review the contract and terms of service before making a commitment. In addition, make sure that customer support is 24/7 and that support materials are easily available for you and your teams in the field.

By following steps 1-5 above, you can choose the CMMS software best suited to your organization’s specific needs. It should provide the greatest value for your investment.

Overall, the features of computerized maintenance management software should:

• streamline facility management processes,
• support your organization’s specific maintenance processes and goals, and
• provide the tools and capabilities needed to manage and optimize your maintenance operations.

Your maintenance workflows, from predictive maintenance to reactive maintenance, should smoothly translate into your CMMS scheduling capabilities.

MaintainX Is Your CMMS Solution

To test our cloud-based mobile and desktop CMMS, be sure to use it in a way that simulates how your company willl use it . This may include creating and managing asset maintenance, scheduling and tracking workorders and procedures, and using real-time reporting and analysis tools.

Ask your employees to try out MaintainX on their mobile devices to provide feedback on their experiences.

Overall, testing our maintenance management system will give you a better understanding of how it could work for your maintenance programs and support your teams, maintenance strategy and activities, industry-specific needs, and company goals.