The Easiest Way to Find the Best B2B Software for Your Needs: Comparesoft

B2B software buyers find it very difficult to shortlist and compare software products. Prasanna Kulkarni identified this pain point from his experience of selling B2B software in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and France. So, he founded Comparesoft. Before starting Comparesoft, He managed a software customer portfolio of $35 million. Prasanna is responsible for UI/UX, AI Logic, Content, Sales and Fund Raising (On Friday’s he likes to clean the office). In his free time, he likes to do Yoga, Cycling (using a road bike), Reading and watching documentaries.

CMMS Software is a computerized system designed to improve and centralize maintenance management tasks. A CMMS uses data to maximize the usability and availability of physical assets. Such as plant infrastructure, facilities, equipment, and machinery. Short for computerized maintenance management system, CMMS Software is used by asset-heavy organizations. It delivers key features such as work order management and asset management. Enabling maintenance teams to build preventive maintenance strategies. Helping to reduce unplanned equipment downtime and increase asset reliability. CMMS Software is a digital tool used to improve asset availability through maintenance management. It enables businesses to automate the collection of asset data in a central database. Including performance, maintenance, and purchasing data. Providing users with essential information in one single platform to improve asset analysis.

Access to a CMMS’s database allows maintenance teams to build effective maintenance strategies. Including reactive, preventive, and predictive maintenance management plans. Each with the aim to maximize the reliability of physical assets.

CMMS is short for Computerized Maintenance Management System. Its main function is to increase the availability and reliability of assets. Such as equipment, machinery, facilities, and vehicles. As well as reduce expenditure and eliminate factors that can be costly to a business’s bottom line. Such as unplanned downtime.

CMMS Software is used by companies that rely on the upkeep of their physical assets and infrastructure. Such as oil and gas production, utilities, manufacturing, and engineering. As well as businesses in the construction and transportation industries.

CMMS Software enables businesses to gain a holistic view of their assets. As well as understanding the maintenance tasks used throughout each facility. This includes:

• Maintenance and repair schedules
• Inventory and spare parts management
• Health and safety protocols
• Compliance standards
• Detailed work orders

Key CMMS Features Needed to Meet Maintenance Management Goals

CMMS Software allows maintenance teams to centralize maintenance data and improve asset availability. This is possible with access to the right features. Features found in CMMS Software enable multiple capabilities, including:

• Work Order Management
• Maintenance Management & Scheduling
• Preventive Maintenance
• Predictive Maintenance
• Asset Management
• Inventory Management and Control
• Maintenance Data Reporting and Analysis

Work Order Management

Work order management is viewed as the main functionality of a maintenance management system. CMMS Software enables businesses to automate their work orders. Providing essential capabilities to maintenance teams. Including creating, tracking, completing, and analyzing multiple work orders at once. This allows them to:

• Automatically schedule repairs and maintenance strategies
• Assign skilled technicians
• Record and analyze costs
• Track and monitor equipment downtime
• Track root cause analysis (RCA)
• Reserve materials and tools

Maintenance Management & Scheduling

CMMS Software allows maintenance managers to build specific maintenance management plans. Each plan is used to improve asset availability and reduce downtime. As well as matching a business’s set maintenance budget. Typically, there are four main types of maintenance management strategies:

• Reactive maintenance (run-to-failure). Reactive maintenance refers to repairing equipment only when it has failed. This can be a cost-effective plan in terms of fewer maintenance and servicing costs. But it can also incur costly emergency repairs and delays to repairing assets. This is also known as breakdown or corrective maintenance.
• Preventive maintenance (PM). This is a proactive strategy that involves regular maintenance based on CMMS Software data. It can be an expensive strategy, but it significantly reduces unplanned downtime.
• Predictive maintenance (PdM). Also a proactive plan, predictive maintenance identifies breakdowns before they happen. By collecting and analyzing data, it can fix issues before assets fail.
• Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM). Reliability-centered maintenance plans are solely based on analysis. RCM uses data to customize the most efficient maintenance strategy for each asset. Aiming to keep operations running, while increasing equipment availability.

Establish Ways to Monitor Maintenance Activities, KPIs, and Reports

Most CMMS tools will have hundreds of standard inbuilt report templates. Before choosing CMMS Software, users need to list the reports they need. Maintenance management reports can include:

• Key maintenance trends
• Over-maintenance and under-maintenance
• Labor and material usage
• Work orders by status
• Resource availability and skillset
• Critical assets
• Weak assets

Switching from a manual maintenance system to an automated one can have multiple benefits. One key benefit is the insight and maintenance intelligence that a system can develop. Quite often, reports are not viewed as part of the developing maintenance intelligence.

Plan for Asset Maintenance Data Collection

There has been a five-fold increase in the number of equipment with advanced sensors and thermostats. Each sensor has the capabilities to emit real-time data about activities. For example, a compressor can emit data about its operating conditions. Including temperature, pressure, meter readings, and cycle counts.

If maintenance teams require IoT-enabled equipment and machinery, ensure a CMMS is set up for this. Businesses will need a system that can collect and store maintenance data in a shared dashboard.

Equipment that emits data can help create predictive and planned maintenance schedules. In most cases, equipment is capable of highlighting potential maintenance and failure issues.

Be Aware of Cognitive Maintenance

CMMS Software can develop patterns using machine learning algorithms. This includes historic maintenance plans and correlations with equipment performance. As well as using manufacturer’s data and industry benchmarks.

As of now, most of these systems apply to CapEx heavy and asset-intensive industries. Such as Oil and Gas, Energy, Power, Aviation, Defence, and Manufacturing. For these industries, a CMMS solution with cognitive features is key. As well as machine learning and industry 4.0 capabilities.

Prasanna Kulkarni, Founder, Product Architect & CEO

“Take the Hard work and Guesswork out of finding the Right Software for Your Business”