NTT Blog

CMMS – the key to getting your budget approved

In our previous blogs we discussed preventative maintenance programs and CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems). If you haven’t already planned your Capital budget and scheduled projects for next year, the CMMS is your tool to start that process. Analyzing the data in your CMMS will give you the quality data you need to get your budget approved.

How? Your CMMS tells you your equipment’s performance and status for the past (years), present (weeks), and planning for future maintenance (maintenance cycle). Before crafting some lofty maintenance plans for 2023, review your internal maintenance benchmarks in your CMMS, taking note of deviations and the magnitude of the benchmark deviation.

Steps for Success

1. Train your team to use the CMMS2) Designate the CMMS “owner” and train that person

2. Analyze, Analyze, Analyze your data

 

Let’s discuss these a little deeper:

1. Train your team to use the CMMS – In order to get good data to realize the greatest efficiencies from your CMMS you must first properly train your maintenance staff to fully understand all of the components of your CMMS.

2. Designate the CMMS “owner” and train that person – The CMMS is only as good as the training the person receives who is ultimately responsible for the system.

   Depending on the size and manufacturing output of your particular company, you may have a dedicated CMMS program manager to maximize these efficiencies, or it may require two or three maintenance managers or engineers to run the system. For smaller firms, our NTT staff cautions against having “too many cooks in the kitchen” as they may skew the data or cause unintended duplications of data input. whether you have one CMMS manager or multiple people working on the system, thorough CMMS training of your staff will bolster the efficiencies of your maintenance program.

3. Analyze, Analyze, Analyze your data – With detailed CMMS training, your maintenance staff can progress from simple data input in the system to actually analyzing and interpreting CMMS reports for reduced downtime, improved work scheduling and extended equipment lifespan. These critical analytical skills do take time to develop. The longer a person works in the CMMS, the more accurately that person can identify the need for scheduled maintenance on a particular machine or find ways to predict when the best time would be to order critical spare parts.

 

The more data that is recorded in the CMMS and the longer the CMMS is accurately used, the greater the efficiencies your firm can experience.

And when the going gets tough, keep your eye on the prize. According to the 2021 Benchmarks and Best Practices Maintenance Management report by Accruent:
Organizations that successfully implemented maintenance management technologies achieved (up to) the following benchmarks:

• 61% Improved visibility of maintenance and performance metrics.
• 60% Improved work scheduling and labor efficiency.
• 59% Improved customer satisfaction.
• 57% Improved system reliability and reduced downtime.
• 53% Extended equipment lifespan.
• 41% Improved parts availability and time to fix.

So, based on your company’s maintenance benchmarks, what are your maintenance goals for 2023? What are those incremental changes you can make in your overall maintenance program?

Need help strategizing? Contact our NTT staff for more information about CMMS training and maintenance program benchmarking.