Saving Money With CMMS How a software investment can reap cost-saving benefits. By: Richard DiPaolo, Senior editor Mobile solutions are what today’s facility managers need. Are you trying to save money? Well, nowadays, who isnʼt looking to find shortcuts and maximize spending for short-term gains? One way facility man-agers can save — without having to cut corners — is by investing in software, particularly in a computer-ized maintenance manage-ment system (CMMS). As budget cuts continue to zero in on slashing mainte-nance costs, validating services is now more important than ever before. “Historically, maintenance has lived in the basement and no one really cared about it,” asserts Roger Davies, director of MainBoss for Thinkage Ltd. “But now with the econ-omy the way it is, the management of controls and the concerns about liabili-ty are increasing, and building owners are starting to realize that maintenance does impact their bot-tom line substantially.” correct deficiencies in services as they are found, but you will be able to monitor perform-ance over time and make permanent changes that will bring about the most effective results from your employees, thus helping them be more productive.” And when evaluating the total cost of facility operations, including waste reduction and pro-ductivity, Jason Lanier, who is @hand Corporationʼs vice president of products, notes other indirect savings. When properly designed and implemented, Lanier says, CMMS solutions provide a means for paperless data capture, electronic collabora-tion among work teams and intelligent data min-ing to support forecasting activities. “These capabilities can increase the ratio of preventive maintenance to corrective mainte-nance and this improvement has a direct rela-tionship with reductions in equipment downtime and facility costs,” adds Lanier. Additionally, simply planning your maintenance duties can lead to a solid return on your invest-ment. Typically, planned maintenance is one-third the cost of unplanned maintenance. Photo co urtesy of @hand Corpora tion. Cost-savings: Liability As mentioned earlier, CMMS can also possibly provide the validation that some businesses and facilities need for protection against frivolous law-suits. “If someone in a facility is hurt, for whatever reason, then hopefully the historical records in the CMMS can be used to show that mainte-nance was performed on a regular basis and/or inspected on a regular basis,” says Davies. “If you can potentially reduce just one liability suit because your historical records show in the court that you did your due diligence properly, that is a huge benefit.” www.cmmonline.com Cost-savings: Productivity for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: CMMS . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Software . CMMS allows users to control, optimize and val-idate maintenance tasks and procedures. According to Michael Jenkins, who is the pres-ident of CleanTelligent Software, CMMS can help facilities increase productivity and lower costs in several different areas. “CMMS software gives companies the ability to easily measure performance,” notes Jenkins. “With just a few clicks and/or a few barcode scans, you can measure time, quality and quan-tity of performance. Not only will you be able to 33
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