ASSET MANAGEMENT
A guide to CMMS
What is a computer maintenance management system (CMMS) and how can it be implemented in a facility,
or even across multiple sites in di erent parts of the world, to keep productivity up and reduce downtime?
“eMaint not only brings world-class
reliability solutions, but also world class
customer service to help our industrial
customers succeed.”
SOFTWARE LINKS
CMMS tools like eMaint can be used
for capturing condition monitoring
data as well as integrating this with
other solutions, for example ERP
(enterprise resource planning),
so that when a part
is disposed of or
added to a job, it
automatically
updates SAP
so that the
parts can be
reordered, and
the true cost
of work can be
calculated.
“Aside from the work
perspective, you’re able to identify
assets that are not performing, identify
bad actors and build mitigation plans
from them,” O’Lochlainn explains. “Each
customer will use the features that their
business needs; not every customer will
use every single feature, but maybe they
will scale out the software over time.”
Another solution that can be
integrated with a CMMS is predictive
maintenance (PdM) software. PdM uses
advanced analytical and statistical
techniques, usually based on the use of
arti cial intelligence and machine learning
to understand current and future machine
and component condition. A CMMS
coordinates the human and machine
resources needed to ensure continued
and correct operating condition.
Alexander Hill, chief global strategist at
Senseye (pictured above), says: “Think of
PdM software as analytical and forwardlooking,
and CMMS as a more status
Before CMMS became popular,
information was kept in
paper les or spreadsheets.
Although meaningful data
on the condition of a facility
-- let alone a single machine – was kept,
obtaining it could be slow and impractical.
CMMS were rst used in the 1960s
by large enterprises. Punch cards and
mainframe computers were used to
remind factory technicians to track and
complete maintenance tasks. In the
1970s, punch cards were replaced with
checklists that were fed into CMMS
systems. As computers became smaller,
more a ordable and more connected,
CMMS began to be used by smaller, midsized
businesses.
Since the emergence of intranets and
web-based connectivity in the 2000s,
CMMS began to be used on a range of
mobile devices, eld applications and
operational sites. The latest generation of
CMMS are cloud-based and highly mobile,
o ering greater functionality with faster
implementation, easier maintenance and
greater data security.
The primary functions of a CMMS
are to maintain asset registers, drive
proactive and preventative maintenance,
streamline work order management
By Tom Austin-Morgan
and provide visibility for inventory
management. Essentially, they are
focused on making sure that
the necessary work
gets achieved in the
appropriate time,
with the correct
information
being captured,
to ensure the
work gets done
safely by the right
people.
“Sometimes I think
technology becomes a burden
rather than a facilitator,” says Paraic
O’Lochlainn, general manager,
EMEA and APAC, for eMaint at Fluke
Reliability (pictured at right). “We’ve
focused on building eMaint to be able
to address that, so that our users can
con gure the solution to their needs
and it’s as simple as possible to use but
captures the necessary data.”
RS Components (RS) has recently
added Fluke Reliability’s eMaint CMMS
software to its maintenance solutions.
Richard Je ers, director of industrial
digital solutions, RS Components, says:
QUESTIONS
eMaint’s O’Lochlainn says that customers considering CMMS should ask
themselves questions – and then provides a few suggestions: “Am I lling out way
more spreadsheets that I need to do? Am I double-entering work in my plant?
Am I using a piece of technology whose user experience is not the same as
what I’m experiencing on my phone? “If organisations are noticing that planned
maintenance jobs aren’t getting completed on time, if there are compliance issues
in an organisation that are related, if you are not able to prove that you’re following
the correct health and safety steps and quality guidelines, these are all symptoms
that engineers should consider when they’re looking at solving problems at a plant
level that can be addressed by software such as eMaint.”
50 www.operationsengineer.org.uk Winter 2021
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