Controlling costs isn’t just the financial department’s job in these tough times—everyone is joining in to figure out new ways to use the available assets, staff and equipment more efficiently. And the use of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a great place to start.
CMMS provides organizations with features that document work to improve visibility, track performance to save labor, and organize work to improve customer relations. But not surprisingly, one of the biggest reasons for investing in a quality system is the proven ways CMMS can control costs. And with the use of today’s mobile technology, an organization can quickly see a better bottom line, using some of these features:
- Improved Scheduled Maintenance: Good preventive maintenance goes a long way in controlling costs; by extending the life of equipment and machinery, repair and replacement costs go down, along with the costs due to breakdown and downtime. With mobile technology, you can make good maintenance better. When your field technicians have access to all necessary information, maintenance is done quicker and with fewer mistakes. And they can automatically generate work orders if necessary, ensuring that repairs are done in a timely manner.
- Improved Quality Inspections: What would it mean to you—and your efforts to control costs—if you could cut your inspection times by half? Through the use of mobile technologies, that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do. And don’t discount the amount saved in paper by using your system to optimize your inspections.
- Improved Employee Management: How much did you pay in overtime last year? If your company is like most companies, this is one area that needs some help. Through the use of mobile technologies, you’ll know who’s doing what, and how effectively the job is being performed. When your employees have access to all the information they need while onsite, less time is spent on the road or searching for parts. And with fingerprint time keeping, your employees spend less time at the office and more time on the job.
- Improved Inventory Control: How many times have you ordered parts that, as it turned out, you already had? Or needed a part, but couldn’t figure out where it was? Using your CMMS with available mobile technology, you’ll be able to track equipment condition, supply consumption and even evaluate vendors. And with an additional barcode system, you can give your staff all the information they need regarding the status and history of any given tool or part, so they quickly have the information they need to perform their jobs more efficiently.
“But we’ve just invested in a good CMMS; we really can’t afford to invest in a lot of additional mobile equipment!”
Luckily, most of the better systems work with the mobile technology you probably already use every day; handheld devices such as SmartPhones and Tablets can be used to access any information needed from the system, without the need of special software or upgrades. So contact your vendor today, and see how mobile technology can cut and control your company’s costs.