Miller Magazine Issue: 151 July 2022

79 COVER STORY MILLER / JULY 2022 HOW TO START USING CMMS SOFTWARE After taking a decision on which CMMS system will be purchased, IT department or provider will install the system. After that, the maintenance planner or maintenance manag- er has to decide how to set up and use the system. Using the system should start without bogging down or slowing maintenance operations. At the start of using CMMS, the first data have to be put in is assets, equipment and facil- ities. After that adding information of spare parts and sup- plies, technicians and so on. Then defining the unplanned and planned maintenance tasks on different equipment or facilities. To simplify this tar- get, it is usually best to start with a few breakdowns type tasks and create work orders. By using the system, you can add more specialized tasks and instructions. The mainte- nance planner or maintenance supervisor accepts work requests, creates work orders, schedules preventive main- tenance and passes them on to technicians. Also, has to keep an eye on work orders and make sure that work is completed in time and not left pending. After a time, the CMMS system can represent useful statistic reports like work order backlog, average days to complete work orders, pending work orders and work re- quests, equipment requiring most breakdown maintenance time and so on. Breakdown maintenance over time will de- crease and a corresponding increase in planned/ preven- tive maintenance. Spreadsheet for Maintenance Management Many companies use Microsoft Excel spreadsheet ap- plications to build maintenance management systems rather than using purpose-built, dedicated software. If the user is quite familiar with Excel can build a useful tool for managing maintenance, equipment and keeping track of inventory. Advantages of using Excel to Manage Maintenance: •Assuming that it is already installed on the company’s computers, as is often the case, it can be considered as free of charge; •Most employees are familiar with its use and do not re- quire special training. •Flexible in handling different types of data in the spread- sheet. •It is easily customizable; •It allows for easy sharing of tables between employees. For all these reasons, Excel can be used for maintenance management in small and medium industries as an afford- able solution. Disadvantages of Using Excel to Manage Maintenance Nevertheless, Excel has serious limitations for those who want to optimize their maintenance management: •It lacks alerting or notification feature; •Hardly used by several users simultaneously; •Uncertainty about the reliability of available data; •Excessive centralization of information; •Its limitations in big data analysis and cross-reference capabilities Despite this, many organizations utilize Microsoft Excel for maintenance tasks scheduling, and asset tracking and still peter than paper documentation.