Three Crucial CMMS Pre-Implementation Steps

What's the difference between a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) that gathers dust and one that has a noticeable impact on your bottom line? The answer isn't just the features it has, but also the way  you prepare for implementation and who you involve in the roll out from day one.

Here are the essential steps to take before you select maintenance software. Get these fundamentals right, and you'll see returns from your CMMS investment instead of facing a failed implementation.

Key takeaways

• Assess your current maintenance processes and data quality before selecting a CMMS to establish a clear baseline for improvement.
• Involve frontline technicians at the beginning of the evaluation process to identify pain points, ensure the chosen system meets their day-to-day needs, and drive higher adoption.
• Define specific, measurable goals and connect them to operational key performance indicators (KPIs), like downtime reduction, to build a strong business case and track return on investment (ROI).
• Establish a realistic implementation timeline by creating a project charter that outlines roles, responsibilities, and resource requirements.

Assess your current maintenance practices

You can't improve what you don't measure. That’s why you should start your search for a CMMS by understanding where you stand today. This assessment becomes your baseline for setting realistic goals and proving your new system is delivering value. This step ensures you choose a system that solves actual problems, not just perceived ones.

Start by documenting your existing workflows for maintenance tasks, preventive maintenance, and inventory management. Identify bottlenecks, communication gaps, and areas where data is inconsistent or hard to access.

Talk to your technicians, supervisors, and planners about what frustrates them most each day. Key areas to assess include:

• Work order processes: How do teams submit, prioritize, and track requests?
• Asset documentation: Where do you store equipment information and how current is it?
• Communication gaps: How do shifts share important maintenance updates?
• Data accessibility: How quickly can technicians access equipment histories and manuals?

Most manufacturing facilities find their biggest headaches come from a lack of visibility into equipment performance and a lack of communication between shifts. Understanding these challenges and finding a solution that solved them is what led Electro Cycle to increase planned maintenance by 30% after implementing proper documentation systems.

Build your business case with assessment data

This groundwork gives you the numbers you need to get leadership to invest in maintenance software. Once you know how many hours your team wastes hunting for manuals or how often breakdowns blindside you, the case for better software writes itself.

You'll also discover which data you can trust and what needs cleaning up before you migrate. This prep work reduces implementation time and ensures clean data from day one.

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Three steps to take before a successful CMMS implementation

1. Build your implementation foundation

Maintenance professionals should start their software search with a clear picture of what features and results are most important to their team.

• Define your requirements for a maintenance management system: Consult your frontline workers and your established goals to create a clear requirements list. Look beyond basic features to factors that will impact long-term success. How intuitive is the interface? What training resources are available? Read community reviews, request demos, and talk to others in your industry. Pay special attention to the vendor's implementation support and track record of customer success.

• Lay the data groundwork: Good data is the foundation of an effective maintenance platform. Before choosing your software, you need to get your data ready. For example, decide how you'll organize equipment by location, type, or importance. This standardization helps streamline migration once you select a system.

2. Start on the frontlines

The most successful CMMS implementations are the ones that involve the daily users of the software at the start of the search. Here's how:

• Get feedback on current pain points and needs: Work with your team to identify exactly where a maintenance management platform would benefit them the most. For example, if your team is doing too much trial and error, prioritize digital standard operating procedures (SOPs) that will eliminate the guesswork. If they're struggling to capture data quickly on the floor, choose software that allows them to record voice memos instead of having to type. This way, you'll be more likely to get software your team will use.

• Show them the personal benefits: If your team wastes hours hunting down paper records, conduct live demos showing how easy it is to pull up work histories in your maintenance platform. For example, Ahlstrom reduced mean time to repair (MTTR) by 90% by centralizing tribal knowledge and making equipment histories instantly accessible on mobile devices. Are they spending too much time looking for coworkers on the factory floor? Show them your software's instant chat features. By doing this, you'll show your team that a maintenance system will make their work easier.

3. Define clear goals and success metrics

Setting specific, measurable maintenance objectives will help you stay on track once you begin implementation. They'll also help you measure the ROI of your maintenance management system. Here are the steps to take:

• Create a project charter: Include all the necessary information, including budget, roles, and responsibilities. Specify realistic timelines and resource requirements, like how many hours key team members will need to dedicate to implementation tasks. This way, you can quickly identify and get ahead of any potential issues.

• Connect the goals of your maintenance platform to operational key performance indicators: Set specific targets, like reducing equipment downtime by 15% within six months. For example, Tosca achieved measurable results by tracking improvements to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which helped the company boost OEE by 25% after implementing proper maintenance tracking. These clear milestones help you track progress and demonstrate the system's impact on operations.

• Quantify cost savings: Build a clear business case by projecting and tracking how the software will benefit the company. Do you anticipate reduced downtime or lower inventory costs? For example, if your facility loses $1,000 per hour of downtime, show your team how a 15% downtime reduction will translate to significant savings. These numbers will help secure continued leadership support.

Set realistic implementation timelines and expectations

A common pitfall of implementing a maintenance management system is an unrealistic timeline. Setting clear expectations from the start helps prevent team burnout and keeps stakeholders aligned. While every facility is different, a well-planned implementation for a single site typically takes a few weeks.

Cintas demonstrated this accelerated approach when they implemented across 200 sites in less than three months. Each site went from initial login to completing all preventive maintenance tasks in under 14 days.

Implementation timeline best practices

Your timeline should account for key phases and be broken into manageable milestones for each of these four stages: 

1. Data collection and cleanup
2. System configuration
3. Team training
4. Rollout

For example, aim to enter your most critical assets and create the first set of preventive maintenance schedules within the first two weeks. This approach lets you show quick wins and keeps everyone excited about the rollout.

Manufacturing facilities that rush through implementation struggle with data quality issues and poor adoption rates. But drag it out too long, and you'll lose steam and leadership support. The trick is being thorough without losing your sense of urgency.

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Set the stage for a successful implementation

Organizations that follow these steps for implementing a CMMS see the proof in their results: high adoption, smoother maintenance, and fewer costs. MaintainX customer Pharma NZ reported yearly cost savings of up to $70,000 and a 30% improvement in maintenance efficiency after implementing maintenance software.

That 30% efficiency boost crushes the 5-10% gains most companies see with traditional maintenance software. The difference comes from proper preparation and focusing on user adoption from day one.

Successful implementation comes down to preparation, not fancy features. Companies that nail these basics get teams that actually use the system, cleaner data, and improvements they can measure.

Learn from thousands of CMMS implementations

Our comprehensive computerized maintenance management system implementation whitepaper combines insights from thousands of successful implementations to create your roadmap for success. Download it today to access:

• A detailed checklist of must-have maintenance management features for manufacturing facilities.
• Common pitfalls and proven strategies to avoid them.
• Best practices for driving long-term adoption and Return on Investment.

Ready to turn your maintenance software investment into lasting value? Download our implementation whitepaper for detailed guidance from thousands of successful deployments. Or sign up for free to see how a mobile-first maintenance platform designed for frontline teams can modernize your operations and keep your critical assets running efficiently.