Is your maintenance team always running to the office or shop to check which tasks and requests are next on their list? Are they spending time going back and forth across the building because they don’t realize they have another upcoming task in the same area? Even if your plant has a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), these inefficiencies may still exist in your facility. As a maintenance manager, it’s your job to figure out how to solve these inefficiencies and maximize your department’s return on investment (ROI). A mobile CMMS may be the answer.
While a desktop-based CMMS allows you to easily create, assign and track work orders, you’re still tied to your computer to view them. Since everyone carries a smartphone or some kind of mobile device around with them these days, why not use that? If your maintenance team tries to use their CMMS on their phone or tablets, chances are it will not be very user-friendly, and notifications will be non-existent. What you need is a CMMS with a mobile-friendly app. When technicians have access to a mobile CMMS, they will see many benefits, including the following:
Information in Real Time
One of the main advantages of a mobile CMMS app is that your technicians can receive and send all the information they need about a work order in real time. They can edit tasks, send additional work orders and see the current orders, no matter where they are. Communication between maintenance department members will improve as well, which makes for a more efficient facility.
Better Accuracy
A big reason why many manufacturing plants choose to implement maintenance management software in general is the increased accuracy of work orders. A mobile CMMS only further enhances this. Instead of having to write down or remember their work order instructions when leaving the shop, technicians can use a mobile app to see the information when they get to the task location. You no longer have to worry about missing notes or hearing something wrong. Just use the app to enter your information.
Increased Efficiency
When maintenance team members are in the field and away from the shop, they do not have access to their work orders and requests. This makes it difficult for them to perform tasks in an efficient manner. This is especially true in larger plants. Workers must come back to the shop to see what’s next, write it down or try to remember. Throughout the day, they may be going back and forth all over the building performing tasks in the order they were received when time could be saved by completing tasks in the same area all at once. All this back and forth can waste lots of valuable time. However, with a mobile CMMS app, technicians can easily access all their tasks from their own mobile device, which means they can complete them in the most efficient order, saving you time and improving your ROI.
Extra Features
Of course, the biggest advantage of a mobile CMMS is right in the name: mobility. The above benefits are the result of technicians being able to use the CMMS on the go rather than having to go back to check their desktop computers. Other helpful features include the ability to upload photos, find inventory and more.
When you choose the right CMMS software for your facility, you can get all the mobile advantages your technicians need for the most accurate, efficient work orders.
About the Author
Dan Roberge is the CEO of Maintenance Care, a maintenance management software company providing custom CMMS solutions to companies of all sizes in various industries, including manufacturing.
