For any company, regardless of size, standardization is a vital business objective. When it comes to tracking, maintaining and managing assets, standardization can be the difference in making a company’s operations efficient and high-functioning. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software, like ManagerPlus, can help simplify the standardization process. Here’s how:
+ Common reporting metrics. Asset data can only become actionable if reporting is consistent across sites and entities. Discrepancies between the reporting criteria used by different sites/entities, or at different periods of time, make for distorted assessments of operations and asset performance. Needless to say, decisions based on bad information can exacerbate existing problems or create new issues where none previously existed. One of the key advantages of ManagerPlus products is that they come with built-in reporting capability that uses consistent criteria to ensure that information is accurate and actionable. Our implementation and training teams are adept at customizing reports to the specific needs of our clients and ensure they have precisely the data they need.
+ Information Sharing. One of the most common problems our implementation experts encounter is the internal “tug-o-war” over equipment and parts, leaving work sites without the resources they need to function at an optimum level. Our EAM software features asset and tool tracking functionality to help eliminate this problem. With our software, managers can quickly see where tools and equipment are and who has them. This book of record makes it easy to hold workers accountable by cutting down on excuses stemming from equipment downtime/unavailability.
+ Streamlining. Implementing a solid, uniform system for tracking and managing your assets provides the insights needed to identify asset management best practices and achieve specialization for both assets and operations. An example of this would be a company that manages a large fleet of vehicles. As data is gathered on each vehicle in the fleet, ManagerPlus can run reports to determine which makes, models, and types of vehicle generally demand more maintenance than others. This is invaluable information for executives who must make big financial decisions over replacement procedures and asset lifetime. Any businesses can utilize ManagerPlus’ asset tracking and history functionality to realize similar gains from streamlining.
+ Increased reliability. Standardized maintenance schedules enable managers to instantly implement best practices throughout their entire organization. Information gathered through the streamlining processes outlined above will provide management with the information they need to determine which maintenance practices are working best, and eliminate those that are wasteful or redundant. Consistent, thorough preventive maintenance routines are up to five times more cost effective than reactive maintenance. This is due in large part to the fact that preventive maintenance targets maintenance tasks while they’re small, simple, and relatively cheap to fix, whereas reactive maintenance, by definition, is only performed after the costliest variety of severe problems has developed.
+ Easy access to information. Regardless of the industry, minimizing equipment downtime is a mission-critical objective. Time spent searching through binders of paper reports or disorganized spreadsheets increases downtime and wastes resources. Instant access to full asset data is one of the key features of maintenance management software. Mobile functionality allows asset maintenance staff to pull up open work orders and immediately get to work without having to wait around for further instruction or a paper-based work order. Software as Service (SaaS) solutions put critical asset data at workers’ fingertips anywhere they have internet access. For large companies in particular, this reduction in administrative workload can have a major impact on the bottom line. Short-cutting the administrative chain of command also reduces communication errors by putting workers in direct contact with the information they need—rather than relying on memos, scribbled notes, ambiguous emails, and other inefficient means of assigning and describing maintenance tasks.
+ Attract and assure customers. CMMS can be a powerful customer relationship management tool. Having an accurate, reliable system in place for the management of assets sends a strong signal to customers that your company values accountability, consistency and transparency. Manufacturers who use CMMS, for instance, do not have to rely on idle promises of reliability and consistency. They can point to an actual system that tracks asset performance and ensures that it is functioning at an optimum level. They can print detailed reports about the performance of their assets to show to customers, providing them with insight into how efficiently the company works and give them peace of mind. As the old cliché goes, actions speak louder than words. Companies that utilize robust maintenance management software to maximize asset performance demonstrate their commitment to reliability, accountability and efficiency. Competitors who do not use CMMS have only empty promises.
Check back here soon for part two where we will explore seven more factors that make standardization an essential initiative for any company.
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