Choosing the right CMMS – What are the things to be aware of before investing your dollars?

Is this the fifth time that your production has been shut down due to failure of some machinery? Your business or company might have waited for a long time for some important part to arrive. Do you feel the pressure from your management to reduce the total amount of overtime logged? Regardless of the reason, you are probably the best candidate for using computerized maintenance management software or CMMS.

Though you will get a wide selection of CMMS solutions to select from, this doesn’t mean that every CMMS will be the perfect fit for your company. You will require giving in full effort than just going through online reviews to ensure that you choose the best CMMS project which doesn’t throw any challenges. If you wish to know the process of CMMS selection, here are few steps that you should take.

The Pre-selection process – What it includes

Whenever there is a project failure with CMMS, the failure metrics like MTTR, MTTF, and MTBF are the ways in which you can measure the failure mode of the specific project. The vendors might just try to surprise you with the benefits and features so that you can get swayed while making a decision. In case you surrender everything on the part of the vendor, you will most probably fall into few of the common trouble areas like:

• Not being compatible with the present apps
• Customizations and modifications are either out of budget or they’re not available
• Not versatile enough to change itself with the current business needs
• Doesn’t support modern mobile technology
• Data can’t be accessed in the format which is required

Hence, in order to begin on the right foot, the company should engage itself in doing some kind of internal homework. You should conduct a company research or rather hire a consultant. When you use the services of an outside consultant, don’t ever rely too much on their resources as you might fall in the above listed troubles.

Choosing the vendor – The steps involved

When you’re done with the process of pre-selection, now it’s time for you to recognize what you want from the solution. Since you have multiple vendors from whom you can choose, you should have a list of requirements for making the screening process less intimidating. Here are few steps to take:

• The primary search: Make a list of the most viable vendors who look like they will be able to meet your needs. Don’t have more than 10 vendors.
• Initial screening: Design a document which contains the name of the vendor, the solution that you have and the hardware which is compatible. Go through the details of each solution to know how the features are offered. Don’t consider the solutions which don’t match along with your needs.
• The selection process: When you are reviewing the remaining vendors, you have to keep a few criteria in mind. The feature of the system is the first thing to keep in mind. The solution should be versatile enough to evolve with time. Ease of use is another thing that you require keeping in mind. Choose packages which include support and training. Also take into account the profile of the vendor and mark whether or not he has enough financial strength. Do they have proper customer care support?

Therefore, when you’re wondering about the ways in which you should choose the best maintenance management provider, you should take into account the above mentioned options. Make sure you choose the cream of the crop so that you can base your decisions in a proper manner.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes