Software Advice advisors gather loads of information about companies seeking maintenance management software during dozens of calls each day.
This data reveals valuable insights into what manufacturers, utility companies, construction or field service businesses need in order to address their biggest operational pain points.
Here, we’ll break down how companies handle maintenance currently, the drawbacks to manual methods, key challenges and popular applications to help guide you in the software selection process.
Key Takeaways:
• The majority of buyers (75 percent) are poorly managing maintenance using spreadsheets, paper or nothing at all. [Read more]
• Manufacturers (57 percent) represent the largest segment of buyers who need to automate their maintenance methods with software (39 percent). [Read more]
• Nearly half of all buyers (46 percent) request the same set of CMMS features—preventive maintenance, asset, inventory and work order management. [Read more]
Only a Quarter of Buyers Currently Use Software
As your business grows, so does the complexity and volume of your operations. Many companies use manual methods like pen and paper calendars and notes and spreadsheets to manage maintenance (a combined 44 percent).
At a certain point, however, the amount of daily tasks becomes too burdensome—automating the process delivers greater accuracy and speed and saves time.
Another 31 percent say they don’t have any type of system in place at all. These are likely smaller businesses that have grown to a point where their operational pain points require a technology solution.
Next, we’ll see the types of companies looking for maintenance software and how it can address their top challenges.
Lack of Automation Leads to Lost Time and Wasted Labor
Why are these businesses seeking software? Many (39 percent) want to automate their daily tasks so they can spend time addressing other aspects of the business.
In a maintenance department, labor resources are often wasted on activities that could be performed faster and more accurately with a CMMS.
For example, users can create recurring preventive maintenance tasks in the system based on historical repair data, then the software can automatically schedule tasks, generate work orders and notify technicians.
Another 38 percent need to update their CMMS to something modern and supported, or find a system that offers asset tracking. Others (13 percent) simply want to organize their department.
A variety of industries need to track assets and optimize repairs to keep their operations moving smoothly, but manufacturing companies benefit most significantly from a CMMS investment.
As you go from complex spreadsheets or even no system at all to dedicated maintenance management software, you’ll be able to:
- Gather and analyze maintenance data you’ve been unable to leverage before
- Optimize preventive maintenance and minimize emergency repairs
- Identify trends about how machines operate and extend asset lifespans
- Reduce spare part costs by auto-reordering based on real-time inventory data
Other companies, such as construction (10 percent), field maintenance and utility companies (both 9 percent) also need to track and maintain tools, equipment, vehicles and infrastructure assets.
You can calculate an estimatedcost of machine downtime per hour with our custom tool. With a specific number, you can get a better sense of the ROI you can expect from adopting maintenance software.
Buyers Seek Four Core Applications Most Often
Buyers ask for specific functionality when calling Software Advice, and a specific set of four core CMMS features stand out, especially for manufacturing, food processing and utility companies.
Almost half of all buyers (46 percent) request these applications:
Asset management serves as a repository for data about your machines, while work order management and preventive maintenance features generate tasks to keep them running. Inventory management supports the others by keeping an appropriate number of spare parts on-hand.
Construction and field maintenance buyers, however, are less likely to request inventory management. And overall, predictive maintenance was requested by the fewest buyers.
The demographics of our buyers show most have 2 to 10 users and manage maintenance in a single facility, and since many are just now investing in software, predictive maintenance isn’t viewed as necessary for these smaller companies.
However, as they scale their business, managers should move toward a more proactive maintenance strategy using predictive maintenance to gather asset condition data real-time.
Find the Best CMMS For Your Business
The only way to increase the efficiency of your maintenance department is to automate time-consuming processes and establish real-time asset condition data streams to perform repairs only when needed.
If you’re just getting started with a CMMS, you have a variety of vendors offering modern suites that can be customized to fit your needs.
You can find more information about the common features, optional modules and benefits of maintenance software and view top products, or give us a call at (855) 998-8505 for a free software consultation.
