What is a CMMS (computerized maintenance management system)?

As asset portfolios become larger and more complex, managing maintenance activities with spreadsheets and manual workflows is increasingly difficult. CMMS software helps organizations automate work orders, manage spare parts, monitor asset health and respond to work requests more efficiently.

Modern systems also integrate seamlessly with operational technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Modern CMMS platforms work like a central hub, helping enterprises deploy new technologies integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help them track, manage and automate their maintenance operations. The result is a more connected approach to maintenance that can reduce unplanned downtime, rein in maintenance costs and extend asset lifespans.

CMMS solutions and enterprise asset management (EAM) software are closely related systems that are sometimes confused for the same thing.

The most important difference between EAM software and CMMS software for enterprises to consider is scope. While CMMS software is focused on maintenance activities for operational assets, EAM systems help manage assets throughout their entire lifecycle, from acquisition and installation through operation, maintenance and retirement.

There are six core features of any successful computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software:

• Work order management
• Preventive maintenance scheduling
• Predictive maintenance scheduling
• MRO inventory and spare parts management
• Mobile accessibility
• Reporting and KPI dashboards

Here’s a closer look at those six features.

Automating work order management is one of the primary functions of CMMS software, helping technicians identify, prioritize and track maintenance work and improve asset performance over time.

Modern CMMS software automates many aspects of work order management—from the initial work request to the assignment of technicians, location of spare parts and eventual task completion. The CMMS also maintains detailed asset maintenance histories that comply with warranties and audits.

Preventive maintenance scheduling allows organizations to automatically plan recurring maintenance activities for certain assets.

CMMS platforms help maintenance teams shift away from reactive maintenance, a maintenance approach where components are only fixed when they break, toward a more modern, proactive maintenance approach.

Modern CMMS tools enable preventive maintenance by automatically issuing work orders based on real-time data, extending asset lifespan and reducing the likelihood of breakdowns.

A CMMS can also enable predictive maintenance, a modern maintenance strategy that uses asset condition and performance data to predict when the asset is likely to fail.

IoT sensors monitor variables like temperature, vibration, pressure or electrical current. When the data indicates a potential problem, a CMMS notifies the appropriate technician and even recommends specific actions.

Maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) inventory management is another area where a CMMS can help maintenance teams improve. CMMS software helps procurement managers track spare parts and tools by keeping detailed records and automatically reordering items that are out of stock.

Automated inventory management, a feature of most modern CMMS platforms, helps managers increase cost savings by reducing parts shortages, optimizing stock levels and cutting down on the likelihood of human error.

Mobile access to CMMS tools allows technicians to use CMMS platforms while they are working in the field or on a factory floor. Instead of relying on a desktop to update a work order, for example, a technician can use a CMMS mobile app.

Cloud-based CMMS solutions even ensure that the information entered is up to date and available across multiple locations, improving the speed and accuracy of data collection and reducing the administrative burden of dealing with manual, paper-based records.

CMMS platforms collect large amounts of maintenance data that can easily be converted into reports and dashboards. Advanced CMMS software systems can visualize key performance indicators (KPIs) for every asset in a manager’s portfolio, enabling facility managers to track metrics like uptime, downtime and wear-and-tear in real-time.

Maintenance KPIs a CMMS typically tracks include mean time to repair (MTTR), maintenance costs, compliance, work order completion and asset reliability rates and machine downtime.

To successfully implement a CMMS solution, enterprises typically follow this five-step process:

1. Clearly define objectives: Before deploying a CMMS, organizations must identify the primary goal of their maintenance operations. Popular goals frequently listed during this stage include reducing equipment downtime, increasing preventive maintenance scheduling and improving work order management.
2. Create an asset hierarchy: To function, CMMS software needs strong, reliable asset data. To develop reliable asset data, organizations must create a consistent asset hierarchy, a method of organizing physical assets according to location, function and relationship to one another. Asset hierarchies give maintenance teams a logical map of where assets are and how they relate to larger systems.
3. Establish workflows: Step three typically involves establishing work request procedures and creating preventive maintenance schedules for teams to follow. During this step, organizations often try to identify which type of maintenance each of their assets should receive—for example, predictive, preventive or reactive.
4. Integrate the CMMS into other systems: CMMS solutions work best when they are deeply integrated into existing systems like an organization’s EAM or ERP tools. Common CMMS integrations during this phase include IoT sensors, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, manufacturing execution systems (MES) and computer-aided facility management (CAFM) systems.
5. Train users and measure performance: Employees need to be trained on CMMS software to successfully integrate into their processes. They should understand how to use mobile access, update work orders and document completed tasks and their managers should know how to interpret the new KPIs and data the CMMS generates. Organizations should continuously evaluate results, measuring changes in uptime, MTTR, maintenance costs and other metrics to evaluate return on investment (ROI).

The benefits of deploying a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) include less downtime, stronger maintenance processes, reduced costs, better decision-making, more efficient workflows, automated compliance monitoring and increased mobility.

Organizations of all sizes rely on computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) tools to help solve their most vexing business problems:

• Less downtime: A CMMS helps organizations ensure that small maintenance issues don’t turn into larger problems that could cause unexpected equipment failure and downtime. Through the collection and analysis of real-time data collected by IoT sensors, a CMMS can help facilities and asset managers monitor asset performance and spot and repair issues before they cause breakdowns.

• Stronger maintenance processes: A CMMS helps facility managers reap the benefits of predictive maintenance, allowing facility managers to accurately forecast maintenance conditions so repairs can be performed when an asset isn’t running. Predictive maintenance helps improve an organization’s ability to maintain its most valuable assets in a way that doesn’t interrupt its core business practices.

• Reduced costs: The evolution from reactive to proactive and predictive maintenance helps maintenance teams lower the overall cost of asset maintenance while maintaining the same levels of performance and productivity. A CMMS improves asset lifecycle management (ALM) and reduces costs by making inventory planning more efficient, automating reorders to help maintenance managers avoid costly, last-minute parts replacements.

• Better decision-making: A strong, well-planned CMMS implementation can transform a maintenance operations team from manual and reactive to automated and proactive. Leveraging real-time maintenance data, facilities managers can make more informed decisions, optimize their strategies and automate time-consuming and inefficient tasks. Further integrating a CMMS with ERP and EAM adds another layer of efficiency, combining asset-specific information with broader data related to budgeting and operational goals. 

• More efficient workflows: Through automation, a CMMS can dramatically shorten maintenance workflows and reduce inefficiencies across complex and sophisticated maintenance processes. By centralizing tasks in a user-friendly hub, a CMMS can streamline task management, track work orders, send notifications to managers and technicians and notify procurement specialists when needed an asset needs to be replaced.

• Automated compliance monitoring: For global organizations that must comply with regulations in more than one territory, a CMMS automates some of the most demanding tasks of regulatory compliance. With the integration of a compliance management system (CMS), a CMMS can log maintenance activity, keep detailed records and generate a comprehensive audit trail of repairs. For heavily regulated industries like healthcare and manufacturing, a CMMS integrated with a CMS helps reduce the likelihood of human error and heavy fines.

• Increased mobility: A cloud-based CMMS—a CMMS software solution that leverages cloud computing resources for its core functionalities—gives technicians and managers the same capabilities in the field as on-premises. Field technicians can track and edit work orders, request more procedures and access and share asset data with a mobile app, enhancing communication and increasing productivity.

Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can be applied across a diverse set of industries because every organization that owns physical assets has maintenance requirements.

Here’s a closer look at how five industries use CMMS tools to enhance their maintenance practices.

In the manufacturing industry, asset downtime can be extremely costly. According to a recent report from MaxGrip, unplanned downtime costs manufacturers USD 50 billion dollars annually. When the equipment that aids in the development of automobiles, electronic components or advanced aerospace systems fails unexpectedly, organizations lose their core business capabilities.

CMMS for manufacturing helps maintenance teams plan activities around production schedules and practice preventive and predictive maintenance to extend asset lifespans.

The healthcare industry relies on advanced CMMS capabilities to ensure precise maintenance processes for complex physical assets that must meet rigorous safety standards.

CMMS for healthcare also automates many manual tasks, ensuring compliance and reducing the risk of human error. Finally, CMMS software platforms maintain detailed maintenance histories and warranties for the healthcare assets they support, ensuring maintenance teams can comply swiftly with audits.

CMMS implementation helps facility management teams streamline their operations through automated tracking of asset performance and maintenance history.

CMMS solutions for facilities management can help monitor complex assets through real-time CMMS data gathered from IoT sensors and automate maintenance scheduling. Mobile-accessible dashboards help teams track key metrics related to asset health, energy consumption and performance.

The energy sector is increasingly dependent on the automation capabilities of advanced CMMS platforms to collect and analyze real-time data and perform predictive maintenance on assets like hydroelectric dams and wind turbines.

Real-time IoT data collected from critical infrastructure can predict equipment failures and help repair them before service disruptions occur.

City, state and federal governments must manage and maintain large and diverse asset portfolios, from vehicle fleets to buildings to on-premises IT infrastructure.

CMMS maintenance platforms—accessible on-premises and remotely with mobile devices—give maintenance teams full visibility into the real-time condition of these assets and help identify opportunities for predictive and preventive maintenance.

Recent developments in computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) solutions, such as increased automation and autonomy, are closely linked to breakthroughs in AI and IoT. As these technologies continue to evolve, this trend is likely to continue. Soon, CMMS solutions are expected to grow more autonomous, expanding the range and complexity of tasks they can handle.

Here’s a look at some trends driving innovation in CMMS technology.

Business leaders are increasingly looking to generative AI (gen AI), a type of AI that can create content in response to user requests to improve how they manage their physical assets.

With a CMMS, gen AI can issue and track work orders, analyze and report on real-time IoT data, and create detailed asset maintenance strategies. According to a recent report by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), 71% of executives say that it fundamentally changes how they will manage assets, and 72% say it makes the practice of physical asset management more valuable to their enterprise.

The application of ML algorithms (AI models that can detect patterns in data) to real-time data gathered from IoT sensors has dramatically enhanced CMMS capabilities.

Through the analysis of vast datasets by ML algorithms, new CMMS solutions can forecast equipment failures even more accurately than in the past. Today’s CMMS can optimize asset maintenance processes while also considering a wider range of factors, such as budget, scheduling, maintenance history and labor requirements.

Augmented reality (AR), the real-time integration of digital information into a user’s environment, is already impacting how maintenance teams approach complex asset repair.

Using AR technology, technicians can receive instructions about the assets they’re repairing in real-time, enhancing the remote guidance and training capabilities of the CMMS and shortening asset repair cycles.

Cloud-based maintenance software tools have increased the scalability and flexibility of CMMS solutions, making it possible for small- and medium-sized businesses to leverage CMMS capabilities more than they have in the past.

Smaller businesses often can’t afford the large upfront investment in on-premises IT infrastructure that some CMMS solutions require. Soon, cloud providers will offer more CMMS capabilities like remote access and task automation at a fraction of the cost.