What to Look for in a CMMS

If you’re starting your CMMS conversion, these steps will help you to identify what it is that you need your CMMS software to do for you. Below are the things you’ll need to consider when choosing a CMMS program.

Goals

The first step when considering CMMS software for your facility is to spell out what you need it to do for your organization:

  • Do you need preventive maintenance?
  • Do you need it to keep up with your work orders?
  • Is parts inventory management important to your organization?
  • Do you need fleet management?
  • What information do you need it to track?
  • Do you have existing IT infrastructure for CMMS?

CMMS Team

Now that you know what is most important to you in a CMMS, get help from those in your team who are familiar with your facility’s existing maintenance processes. This will give you a better idea of your overall CMMS needs.

Consider Preventive Maintenance Needs

Ensure that your CMMS supports Preventive Maintenance. Can it handle inspections? Does it take measurements and then automatically generate corrective maintenance work orders?

Purchase Order Needs

The perfect CMMS solution for your facility should also be able to create purchase orders. Consider your purchase order processes and what you’ll need out of them.

Test the Software

When you have two or three CMMS systems you’re considering, ask for a demonstration from each of them. That way, you can test each one so you can find out which of them is a good fit for your organization.