EquipmentMaintenanceSoftware.com is a worldwide provider of technology for businesses, governments and organizations related to the manufacturing field. Our software includes preventive maintenance software, shop floor management software and much more. We also develop high-end logistic systems that are scalable, secure and cost efficient.
With over 300,000 downloads of PreventiveMaintenanceSoftware.com’s free factory maintenance software, we are helping to save companies thousands of dollars each year on maintenance costs. Our software allows you to track equipment repairs and maintenance records, schedule repair work, generate reports and more! Being used by companies in a variety of industries like bulk food processing, cleaning services, manufacturing and more.
Best Maintenance Management Software Programs in 2022
Find the best maintenance management software for your small business by reading customer ratings and FAQs for the best maintenance software solutions.
| 1. | UpKeep | $25.00 /mo. | Has powerful monitoring features and is user-friendly. | Learn More |
| 2. | Tofino | Quote only | Excellent search and reporting tools, as well as great customer support. | Learn More |
| 3. | Net Facilities | $2500.00 /yr. | Better-suited to small businesses, with a good selection of features. | Learn More |
| 4. | Maintenance Pro | $29.00 /mo. | Provides a good preventative maintenance tool, with great customer support. | Learn More |
| 5. | mHelpDesk | $99.00 /mo. | Software is easy to use, but payment is required to retrieve your data if you end your service. | Learn More |
| 6. | Asset Essentials | $2,500.00 /yr. | Offers great customer support and training resources, but there is a steep learning curve. | Learn More |
| 7. | Manager Plus | $33.00 /mo. | Affordable and easy to use, but features are very basic. |
Manufacturing Maintenance: Planned, Corrective, and Breakdown Plans
Advanced technologies have allowed companies to manufacture products at astonishing speed. Choosing the right manufacturing maintenance plan is essential to help maintenance teams minimize costly equipment disruptions that halt production with little to no warning. The more highly automated the manufacturing facility, for example, the more critical efficiently preventing, diagnosing, and solving complex asset breakdowns becomes using work order management tools.
Choosing the Right Maintenance Management Plan
Unfortunately, managers, maintenance supervisors, and operators often face several challenges when optimizing manufacturing maintenance programs, including the lack of process knowledge, historical data, time to complete required analyses, and top-management support.
The effective use of maintenance management software can ease these burdens.
What Is Planned Maintenance?
Planned maintenance is a management approach focused on minimizing equipment downtime and returning to uptime as soon as possible after a breakdown. As a basic form of preventive maintenance carried out “according to plan,” planned maintenance involves knowing ahead of time the spare parts, tools, services, and maintenance tasks that will be needed to solve a problem.
Two Categories of Planned Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance: Planned preventive maintenance puts in place a maintenance schedule that takes care of problems before they occur. For instance, manufacturers often recommend servicing vehicles every 5,000 miles. This scheduled maintenance task helps vehicles run smoothly; forgo car upkeep for too long, and the car may stall at a dangerous or inconvenient time.
Planned Unscheduled Maintenance: This approach entails undertaking manufacturing maintenance activities after a failure has occurred, even though a recovery plan is in place to deal with this eventuality. Once again, the goal is to return the equipment back to operation as soon as possible without jeopardizing safety. In addition, planned unscheduled maintenance helps minimize maintenance costs by avoiding last-minute rush orders for replacement parts. For example, a vehicle owner may purchase a spare battery in the event the current one dies.
What Is Planned Maintenance Optimization (PMO)?
Planned maintenance optimization (PMO) refers to a set of organizational methods used to improve existing maintenance management strategies. PMO analyzes asset failure history and ongoing preventive maintenance (PM) routines to improve outcomes. The analysis involves reviewing existing manufacturing maintenance tasks, eliminating unnecessary work processes, and adding missing assignments to maintenance schedules.
Planned Maintenance Optimization is ideal for organizations that:
- Experience manufacturing equipment downtime, excessive stock inventory, and underutilized workers
- Have yet to perform objective evaluations of PM workloads
- Do not have clearly defined maintenance goals
PMO analysis begins by assessing known asset failures and maintenance tasks already being performed. Organizations then modify existing routines to develop new maintenance schedules and frequencies based on asset failure history. This approach is different from RCM, which analyzes every failure mode on a given piece of equipment.
Phases of Planned Maintenance Optimization
Data Collection: Organizations need reliable high-quality data to begin optimizing their maintenance strategies. They should consistently collect data on equipment performance, especially on asset failure. Tools such as IoT-based meters and computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) make it easier for organizations to organize accurate equipment data and wear-and-tear statistics and to identify behavioral patterns.
Analysis, Review, and Recommendations: After collecting data for a few months, organizations should take a closer look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) for their most critical assets. Factors that determine how critical assets are to plant operations include Mean Time between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and the average cost of asset repair. Next, compare this information to existing PM routines to align with MTBF and MTTR data points. This review will determine if the failure points fall within acceptable tolerances set by manufacturing industry standards and equipment manufacturers. Substantial deviations indicate a need for improvement. Operational managers can recommend modifying existing PM tasks. The review should lead to optimizing maintenance schedules and frequencies and to addressing inefficient or missing maintenance activities.
Commitment to Implementing Data-Backed Improvements: Managers should delegate recommended adjustments to manufacturing maintenance technicians who can appropriately perform tasks. Workers should continually monitor the progress of required actions.
Maintenance programs become optimized through their consistent commitment to data collection and analysis and by readjusting programs accordingly over time.
How to Optimize a Planned Maintenance Program
Generally, organizations take one of two initial approaches to maintenance management optimization:
1. Seek feedback from technicians responsible for performing maintenance tasks: While this approach is logical—these workers interact with pieces of equipment day in and day out—it does not provide reliable and consistent information. In addition, personal bias and forgetfulness sometimes skew qualitative data. Therefore, we recommend the second approach.
2. Use the 6:1 Rule: This more objective approach dictates that organizations find a corrective maintenance task in every six PM tasks performed. This method provides organizations with a starting point to fine-tune preventive maintenance processes and programs.
With either approach, we recommend analyzing existing PM tasks periodically to optimize their frequency, priority, and quality continually.
Planned maintenance optimization (PMO) is the first step on the journey to continuous manufacturing maintenance departmental improvements. PMO frees resources, minimizes reactive maintenance, and creates more organized asset management systems leading to better decision-making. However, PMO processes do not occur overnight. Effective implementation takes time, resources, and user-friendly CMMS software.
What Is Corrective Maintenance?
Corrective maintenance management is divided into two parent classes: Unscheduled (immediate) corrective maintenance and planned (deferred) corrective maintenance:
- Unscheduled Corrective Maintenance refers to repair actions taken immediately after an asset fails. These failures are critical and corrective actions are needed immediately.
- Planned Corrective Maintenance refers to needed repairs that can be deferred to a later date. Deferrals can be due to a limited budget, time, or staff. In addition, the repairs may require more advanced technical maintenance, which the company may need to outsource.
From here, planned corrective maintenance is sometimes broken down into two groups:
- Run-to-Failure Maintenance: In this case, an asset is permitted to run until it breaks down, at which point it is repaired or replaced. This strategy is only suitable for redundant systems and non-critical assets that are easily repairable and replaceable.
- Preventive Maintenance (as part of Condition-Based Maintenance): Equipment problems are identified during preventive and condition-based maintenance inspections.
Corrective maintenance requires companies to invest in sufficient labor and resources to handle equipment problems when they arise. Organizations can avoid significant unplanned downtimes—and extend asset life spans—by pairing unplanned and planned repair actions with realistic preventive maintenance programs.
What is a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS)?
A computerized maintenance management system or CMMS is software that centralizes maintenance information and facilitates the processes of maintenance operations. It helps optimize the utilization and availability of physical equipment like vehicles, machinery, communications, plant infrastructures and other assets. Also referred to as CMMIS or computerized maintenance management information system, CMMS systems are found in manufacturing, oil and gas production, power generation, construction, transportation and other industries where physical infrastructure is critical.
The core of a CMMS is its database. It has a data model that organizes information about the assets a maintenance organization is charged with maintaining, as well as the equipment, materials and other resources to do so.
How does a CMMS work?
The information in a CMMS database supports various functions of the system, which enable the following capabilities:
Resource and labor management:Track available employees and equipment certifications. Assign specific tasks and assemble crews. Organize shifts and manage pay rates.
Asset registry: Store, access and share asset information such as:
- Manufacturer, model, serial number and equipment class and type
- Associated costs and codes
- Location and position
- Performance and downtime statistics
- Associated documentation, video and images such as repair manuals, safety procedures and warranties
- Availability of meters, sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) instrumentation
Work order management: Typically viewed as the main function of CMMS, work order management includes information such as:
- Work order number
- Description and priority
- Order type (repair, replace, scheduled)
- Cause and remedy codes
- Personnel assigned and materials used
Work order management also includes capabilities to:
- Automate work order generation
- Reserve materials and equipment
- Schedule and assign employees, crews and shifts
- Review status and track downtime
- Record planned and actual costs
- Attach associated documentation, repair and safety media
Conclusion
Manufacturing Maintenance Software is a highly efficient, user friendly and multi-user security software that enables the maintenance managers of a plant to maintain multiple equipments under one roof. The customizable reports and easy navigational options provides easy use.