CHAMPS has been a great experience, it is hands down an excellent software program for any business.

Pros

CHAMPS software is great for the company that wants everything in one place; purchasing, inventory, payroll, work orders, preventative maintenance, calibration, etc. Easy to use and everything is linked together for easy access to data.
We use CHAMPS for our Facilities Department here for work orders for shops to do their work, tracking time/materials to complete the work order, tracking our inventory in our stockroom, preventative maintenance on all of our equipment and processing payroll bi-weekly. We have over 150+ people who use CHAMPS daily and compared to other software programs it is easy to use.
The staff at CHAMPS are very talented and know exactly how to help you with any kind or issue you call with or for any customization you may want to make to the existing software.

Cons

I think the biggest con for CHAMPS is that the reports that come with the software could stand to be updated/enhanced a bit. Every company is different but for what we look for this area could be improved.

Great customer support! Easy to use!

Pros

I love that the software is so user friendly and easy to use. I like the enhancement made when you change the asset id on the work order header, it automatically updates the asset on the step. I like that they combined some of the user setup information, so you can do it all on one screen instead of going to multiple screens.

Cons

The windows maintenance on some of the screens caused other issues, so Champs had to make the changes for us, but then it's locked in and you don't have the ability to change it unless you do a new build.
There are a couple of screens that give you options that you can't use. i.e. If you click on the badge id in the movement screen, it says you can drilldown, but it does not.
I don't like the fact that if you do a physical inventory count and enter a number by mistake, you can not clear the screen. You have to put a count in and update it after. It may not affect other users, but it does the way we do counts at our facility.

The upgrade to the CHAMPS version was executed without issue, even with customization.

A single source platform for Preventative Maintenance management for facilities and operations that scales from a medium sized manufacturing installation to a large scale nuclear power plant, and everything in between...a one size can fit all platform.

Pros

The software has always provided value in our application as a Preventative Maintenance Program. The customization of the mobile interface increased the efficiency of the PM operations. This was a driving component to upgrading to the latest version. The CHAMPS sales and development teams were very accommodating in helping achieve success of the deployment.

Cons

There is a small component that is required to operate outside the core server. This piece is called the Spooler. In future versions it would be great of the Spooler functionality could operate autonomously within the core server, but as a secondary system, reducing the licensing need for additional single use Windows system.

I use CHAMPS to issue POs,track invoicing, create PMS and Work orders.

Easy to make my own reports that I can customize for my dept needs.

Pros

I can save a report to adobe and download to excel. I can do a print review to call up a report format for PMS or WOs delete fields I don't need, and print only the fields in the order I need them to create my own quick reports. I do create a quick vendor summary report and see at a glance what all my POs are for by using the "comment" field in my PO as it shows up in the vendor summary .. easy to sort by PO number, location of comp, or PO date etc..

Cons

TAB page of POs if you hit the tab or wrong button, instead of the ENTER key, after you have typed in formation, you loose what you have typed, and have to start over. Also, sometimes doesn't save the information on this page after that happens. Have to close po, get back in, retype it.

As an Integration/Developer role in working with Champs, they are very diligent and knowledgeable.

As technical support, I benefit because this application is stable. This benefits me because it frees up time to work with other projects and maintenance missions at our facility.

Pros

It doesn't have many known bugs that we encounter and is a very stable application. This is because it has been in existence for many years. This makes my job as the customer to technical liaison between our customer and Champs employees a breeze, because their is rarely an issue with the software itself. Again with their staffing side, they are again very knowledgeable about their product and this also made our last upgrade which involved both database and application one of the most smooth and coordinated upgrades I have worked on.

Cons

The version we are using is the PowerBuilder platform. I don't prefer the PowerBuilder look and feel and would love to use the web version. However, from a functional perspective it does exactly what it needs. From the developer/database side the database tables can be a bit cryptic, but that's not a problem with the software for daily users.

CHAMPS Maintenance Management System

Pros

Its ability to provide real time cost tracking (labour and material) and to automate maintenance alert for critical equipment.
With regard to the vendor: Their concerted effort to bring users together once per year at a user's conference where different experiences can be shared and learnt from.

Cons

The area of my "least like", while exist, may not necessarily can be ascribed to the vendor. It relates to the Bill of Material (BOM) per asset, which requires that when an asset reaches its retirement age, you would want to be able to identify all the associated parts that are related to it for disposal, so those parts do not build the inventory level unnecessarily. But like I said, this should be done at the set-up stage when the system was being implemented.

Have worked with this software and company for over 20 years. Always cheerful and ready to assist.

Equipment history, Work Orders, PMs, Parts/Materials, Work Requests, Bill of Materials, hyperlinks to equipment documentation, electronic routing for approvals, Work Schedule, tracks Service Contracts/Warranties.

Pros

Straight forward, ease of use. Our user community hit the ground running with minimal training provided, even new users that have never heard the name

Cons

Adding customer developed reports is not easy. After all the data is input, the reports are the primary retrieval method. These could be easier to upload to the software.

O&M Contract COR

It was a relatively low cost solution to a difficult problem we faced. Through consultation with users and the CHAMPS staff we were able to determine this product would continue to fit our needs very well

Pros

Simplicity on terms of ease of data entry and retrieval but powerful enough to produce complex usage information to aid in determining O&M needs

Cons

I would like for the software to be more compatible with other scheduling type software but I also understand the challenges with proprietary type software.

CMMS Supervisor

Champs is always great to work with - fast response with issues, willing to listen and work through problems, make suggestions for work-arounds

Pros

Ease of use, simplicity, fully functional

Cons

I think it will be better when it is web-based

CHAMPS works well out of the box. The Installation and Training teams are top notch.

It has helped to improve our management of maintenance by allowing us to analyze trends and apply consistent standards to all areas of the mill.

Pros

System is highly flexible, yet easy to use. Over the years, CHAMPS has done a good job of making the user interface more consistent. They focus on usability.

Cons

The web based system is not available for all modules. This forces us into the client/server model, which is a bit more difficult to upgrade.

Keep up the great work Champs

The overall experience has been great. We have been able to minimize labor on upgrades by going to the new web version.

Pros

Champs is very user friendly. The support has been great, and has really improved since we moved to the new web version. They are willing to assist on any issues and really take our suggestions into consideration.

Cons

There are a few lacking features and capability limits.

The upgrade of the CHAMPS server went very good.

The system can handle medium to large scale requirements that meet our client requirements and expactations.

Pros

The software package handles all the requirements of our customers and is also very manageable as a platform.

Cons

The system would be nicer if it could be changed to be more web-driven, reducing the need for a Terminal Services server for full-featured functionality.

My experience using the application has been great, I learn how to man over the application.

Pros

The application is user-friendly, make navigation smooth and easy to learn the basic. Very Efficient when tracking inventory parts. Wonder PM's and WO order schedule.

Cons

There are no rollback mechanism in place and CHAMPS may need to take a look at that in the near future.

The software more than meets our needs and the support is excellent.

Pros

From an administrator's standpoint, the ability to batch process records using spreadsheet templates to create import files.

Cons

At times I find it takes several mouse clicks, navigating through menus and windows to get to what you want to work on.

Williams College experience

Pros

I particularly like CHAMPS because I know it can do many different aspects of a business; work orders, purchasing, payroll, account payable, inventory, scheduling, lock-out tag-out, etc. If there is one part of the system that is not adequate to your company's function, the great employees at CHAMPS and tweak it and make it do what ever you are looking for.

Cons

I would like to see more canned reports in the software application.

Appvion Champs Review

Pros

Software is userfriendly, but there is always room for improvement. Easy to learn the basics. Champs has been a good vendor to work with. They are small enough, that we have developed a personal relationship.

Cons

New releases and upgrades incorporate change requests from all Customers, but tend to focus on the larger paying Customer. Often the larger Customer requests makes some functionality or new features more complex than other Customers want or need.

It is an excellent system supported by very talented and customer focused staff.

It provides you with the ability to track problem areas in your maintenance side of the business and optimize the resources.

Pros

I like all of the modules that are related to equipment repair work orders, parts inventory, tracking repair labor and material costs, etc. I like the ability to generate customized reports as needed by plant systems.

Cons

No Issues with the system at this point. We have had internal issues with integration between corporate financial system and the CMMS

Use CHAMPS from a manager point of view for plant maintenance.

Pros

The vendor is very supportive and customer focused. There are some areas of the CHAMPS ver. 11 that could be improved upon. As I understand it, ver. 12 has addressed most of them. We will converting to ver. 12 soon.

Cons

I would like to have the ability to generate ad-hoc reports. The search feature could be simplified.

User-friendly, easy to use

Pros

Champs is very user-friendly and as an administrator, I do not get many help-desk type calls for assistance. Champs has always been very quick to respond to any questions or modifications that we have requested.

Cons

I believe Champs will be a better system when they roll out and implement the web-based version and have all of the bugs worked out.

CHAMPS CMMS Software

Our organization uses CHAMPS throughout our various maintenance departments in a manufacturing environment.

Pros

This software is pretty robust in regards to the features that it offers. It can be customized fairly extensively to meet whatever needs your organization may require.

Cons

In my opinion, the user interface seems a bit dated and it's not very fluid/user-friendly. It can be confusing at times navigating throughout the software.