We asked mobile CMMS developers about the ways maintenance and engineering departments in institutional and commercial facilities can benefit from the technology.
Here are their responses:
Jeff Thompson, co-founder and executive director, AwareManager: “Using mobile applications for facility management decreases response times, improves visibility into building operations, and boosts tenant and employee satisfaction. Mobile unchains staff from their desks or the office, eliminating paperwork and unnecessary trips back to a central office. Automatic triggers of incoming requests can notify the right people at the right time while escalating issues as needed. This improves operational efficiency and the real-time information mobile provides powers smarter decision making for facility leadership.”
Susan Spring, senior director of customer success, Corrigo Inc.: “With Corrigo mobile CMMS, facilities managers collect and use asset data to:
• maintain up-to-date condition assessments
• make better repair vs. replace decisions
• make smarter purchasing decisions, which includes improved reporting back to manufacturers on unusual failure rates and early end of life
• make better purchasing decisions through understanding true lifecycle costs — total cost of ownership — by equipment manufacturer and model
• identify assets which fail at a higher than expected rate and the ability to ascertain the causative factor
• maximize warranty coverage
• demonstrate regulatory compliance – such as life, health, and safety documentation
• better allocate proactive resources and optimize periodic maintenance requirement schedules
• more accurately predict budget requirement
• better understand energy use.”
Margeaux Girardin, marketing coordinator, Hippo CMMS: “The most common benefits that mobile CMMS provides a maintenance department is its ability to increase work order management efficiency in the field, reduce downtime between jobs, and remove double entry or input errors. Efficiencies are gained when a maintenance technician has access to their work order processes as they work in real time. Due to the nature of most maintenance work being conducted offsite or in remote facility locations, it isn’t realistic to expect work order management to take place on a desktop computer. Allowing techs to view, modify, sort and close out work orders on the spot is much quicker and more intuitive. As technicians or managers discover repairs in the facility, they can quickly submit a work order right on the spot. With work order info at their fingertips, technicians can easily go from job to job without having to come back to the office, thus reducing downtime or workflow confusion. Lastly, by taking note of work order modifications directly on an app, information is stored and saved immediately, removing the need to transfer info from paper into a software system and reducing the risk of forgetting important updates.”
Heather Wilkerson, marketing coordinator, Mapcon Technologies: “The most beneficial thing about a mobile CMMS is its portability and convenience. When a machine is down, time is of the essence, since downtime can cost a facility thousands of dollars. Most people have their smartphones with them at all times, so a mobile CMMS allows workers to enter work orders on the spot, which saves time because the user does not have to go to a desktop computer to enter the information.
“Once the work order has been submitted, the correct technician will receive a notification, so work can begin immediately. The ability to note and close work requests via mobile app is also a timesaver, as opposed to entering the information on a desktop computer.
“Another important feature of Mapcon mobile is the ability to add attachments to work orders. Workers can take pictures of exactly what part of the machine needs repairing and attach it to the work order. This saves time by ensuring the technician will be able to quickly locate the problem.”
Paul Lachance, president and CTO, Smartware Group Inc.: “Mobility allows users to easily move from their desk to the shop floor to the road, home, and even vacation and holiday spots without ever losing touch with their maintenance operations. The main benefit is actionable visibility — to see issues immediately and initiate action from anywhere. Other benefits include the ability to update statuses, re-assign work orders, ensure work is properly prioritized — all while being away from the traditional desktop, laptop, or terminal. The immediate accessibility of maintenance operational data is simply huge. We recently published a video at bigfootcmms.com that highlights these and other benefits. For example, if a work order comes in with a high priority because an asset is down, you may initially have an automatic e-mail sent to you while at lunch or over break. Modern, mobile CMMS solutions can allow you to rearrange the work of your teams to accommodate this critical ticket right then and there.”
