Best Maintenance Management Software

Almost all businesses rely on their assets and resources to conduct their routine activities. For long-term business success, organizations have to ensure that their business assets are in good working condition and perform without any breakdown. In fact, the business revenue or profit is directly influenced by the organization’s maintenance management strategies.   Maintenance management has never got attention on this scale before. Stiff competition from rivals, technology evolution and higher customer expectations forced organizations to enhance their maintenance management process. 

A few decades ago, the maintenance management was limited to paper-based tracking by a handful of technicians.  But the legacy system was not effective and reliable. The technicians have to deal with unplanned maintenance and exercise the maintenance work in an unorganized manner.  Managing the record, and updating them is another set of challenges that organizations have to face with the traditional approach.  Maintenance management software takes an optimal approach to maintenance and saves costs, resources, and time. However, with so many options available in the market, selecting the right maintenance management software becomes critical.

This buyer’s guide for maintenance management software is intended to help business owners in their software selection process and give a general understanding about the best maintenance management software.

Inconsistent performance of the equipment and resources can add an inconsiderable amount of costs to the organization. The organizations investing heavily in infrastructure and paying attention to every business component cannot afford to lose business due to inefficient maintenance. Even small negligence in maintenance can take the entire business down and spoils the brand reputation. Poor maintenance could do more harm than the business core issues. It can result in poor product quality, idle manpower, industrial accidents, extension in product delivery time, breach of customer’s trust, unplanned downtime, etc. A robust maintenance management plan can immune a business from all these risk factors and ensure the business performs as per expectations.  It can even help to schedule the tasks and manage the manpower respectively.

But poor maintenance is not alone the culprit; the improper operation could lead to equipment failure, so along with the maintenance schedule, the staff training on handling the equipment is equally important. 

Undoubtedly maintenance management is a strategic area around which business plans their work process and business growth.  It has evolved from merely a business protocol to an integral part of business growth strategy. 

Enterprises are quickly integrating the maintenance management system in their work environment, but the conventional process is slow and time-consuming. On top of that, there are few other challenges that prevent business enterprises, especially SMEs, from implementing the traditional maintenance management system in their business processes.

• High downtime:  The manual maintenance is vague, and tracking information about the previous maintenance could be difficult to retrieve. In manual maintenance, technicians often use history cards or files to detail the previous maintenance work.  But if the file is misplaced or destroyed, the technician cannot trace the details about the defects. Also, whenever the same issue occurs, it is difficult for technicians to quickly identify and fix the problem.  Overall, it increases downtime.
• Unplanned and unscheduled maintenance:  The manual maintenance management system does not guarantee smooth transactions; as such, it does not follow systemic methods or protocol to address unplanned and unscheduled maintenance work, which usually takes more time and resources.
• High maintenance cost:  The maintenance cost is the priority for any organization, but the manual maintenance system does not support the cost-saving model. In fact, the high downtime and manual process can add more cost to the business enterprise.
• Unorganized work schedule:  The manual maintenance system is quite messy and so is the workforce.  In a manual maintenance system, the technician does not have scheduled tasks, and they handle maintenance work randomly. The unorganized work schedule can create confusion and lead to errors in the maintenance work. It can be dangerous for the organization.
• Manage spare parts inventory: Maintenance work often involves replacing spare parts, and with manual maintenance, it takes a lot of time to find the right spare parts for the equipment.  The unorganized inventory can sometimes cost more than the actual defect in the equipment.

The maintenance management could become a burden with the above challenges, and it can mess up the entire business process. Business owners should consider the best maintenance management software to eliminate these obstacles and strengthen the bottom line.

Maintenance management software is a tool that monitors and manages all maintenance-related activities like facility equipment, labor, and inventories. The maintenance management software allows identifying and fixing the equipment outages quickly and conducting business processes smoothly.  The maintenance management software is also referred to as CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems).

It enhances equipment life, reduces operating costs, and increases productivity. Many industries use maintenance management software, but they are commonly used in manufacturing, energy plants, automobiles, healthcare, and fleet management.

• Reactive maintenance
• Preventive maintenance
• Predictive maintenance
• Condition-based maintenance
• Reliability-centered maintenance

Some people prefer using assets management software and maintenance management software interchangeably because there are few features that overlap with each other. But there is a very thin line between these two that sets them apart.

• Maintenance management software:  The maintenance management software is particularly focused on enhancing the equipment lifetime and all the activities related to maintenance like optimizing workflows, tracking inventory, boosting uptime, tracking KPIs, etc.  Some maintenance management solutions offer features that are covered by asset management software.   The software is used majorly by maintenance and operation teams.
• Asset management software: Asset management is about monitoring the company’s assets and tracking the whole asset life cycle right through its installation to its decommissioning.  It is used for managing the organization’s physical assets and optimizing the performance across the business.  One of the significant differences between the asset management software and maintenance management software is that the asset management tool tracks finance-related metrics like accounts payable and receivable, depreciation, invoicing, etc. All asset management software can have some maintenance management tools capability but not all maintenance management systems have the asset management capability.  The users of this software are maintenance, operations, productions, finance, and compliance teams.

• Cost management:  Maintenance management software can help business owners to track the equipment performance and identify the defect before it gets worse. It helps to cut the cost of buying new equipment and improves the durability of the existing equipment. By streamlining the existing maintenance work and better time management, the companies can significantly reduce the labor cost. Besides that, it manages and monitors the inventories, which stops them from overspending on the inventory.   
• Reduce downtime:  By tracking the equipment’s health, the maintenance management software can speed up the repair tasks and reduce downtime.  The preventive maintenance ability of software allows early identification of issues in the equipment, which gives enough time to fix the problem without affecting the business process.
• Minimum backlog: The maintenance management solutions allow scheduling the maintenance work, which helps the technician to complete maintenance work quickly and reduce the backlog.
• Enhance organization visibility:  The top maintenance management software enables the organization to tap on the resources and KPIs, giving the organization a clear view about their capacity and plan the business process accordingly.
• Better service: Businesses can plan the work and ensure the client receives deliverables in a given time period.
• Automation: In the manual maintenance process, generally, communication is done through word of mouth, sticky notes, phone, or whiteboard. But with maintenance management tools, the work request process can be automated and allocate the maintenance work to whoever is responsible. The automatic email reminders ensure that technicians do not miss the maintenance work.  The maintenance management solutions can also be used to automate the monitoring tasks of non-assets like safety regulations and environment safety checks.
• Better regulatory compliance: Preventive maintenance can identify problems in the equipment before they occur, and this approach could help meet regulatory compliance in advance.  Assets can be inspected by the regulatory bodies with complete documentation; so that there won’t be any legal issues or doubts about following the regulatory laws.
• Better safety: Low-grade equipment is prone to accidents, which can put the lives of people working around it in danger.  The regular maintenance of equipment can protect employees from fatal accidents.

There are numerous other benefits that organizations can leverage from maintenance management tools for which they have to thoroughly study the maintenance management software features.

• Tracking spare parts
• Generate work orders (work requests)
• Email and push notifications
• Condition-based maintenance triggers
• Multi-site management
• Inventory management
• Reporting and analytics
• Daily status
• Custom API integration
• Scheduled maintenance
• Audit log
• Database export
• Technical support
• Payment
• Measuring KPIs
• Asset tracking

• Work order automation: Work order management is an essential constituent of a maintenance management tool.  It allows the technicians to prioritize the maintenance work based on the criticality of the issues as well as perform the routine job efficiently.  Automating the work order helps to schedule the work and plan in advance to ensure that all the resources and equipment are available to perform the maintenance work.
• Technical support: The top maintenance management software provides strong technical support, which includes phone, email, live-chat, and user community forum.   The maintenance management software works on a granular level for managing and maintaining facility equipment. It is, therefore, necessary that there is robust technical support to respond to the user’s queries. Some maintenance management software also offers access to support such as product documentation, videos, and knowledge base. In some cases, the vendor also provides class-room based training or sends a trainer to the facility. This may come with extra cost, so it is recommended that users verify with vendors about the charges for technical support.   
• Pricing: Pricing is a key factor that decides the ROI of the software. There are numerous pricing models that vendors offer and may affect the maintenance management software cost.  Some vendors follow the license pricing model, where the price varies based on the number of users, while few allow the unlimited number of users but calculate the price based on the number of assets or work orders to be processed.  It is essential that users align the software pricing to their business requirements to get maximum ROI on software.  The users must also check if there are any hidden costs associated with the maintenance management solutions.
• Scalability: Scalable software can accommodate the demand of a growing business.  The users should always choose the maintenance management software that is easily scalable and does not affect the budget on a big scale.  The software deployment decision could be made wisely because as the business grows, the resources also need to adjust.  The users should also see that maintenance management software vendors provide software deployment options (cloud or on-premise).  
• System integration: Integration of maintenance management system software is paramount for business owners to get the desired results from it.  Condition-based maintenance uses sensors and meters to check the equipment’s life; it can use the properties like temperature, vibration, and pressure to evaluate the equipment’s performance. It is essential that maintenance management software integrate well with any hardware devices or software applications.  The system integration is also crucial as the maintenance management software needs to import maintenance data from other sources.
• Customization: Customization is an essential factor when it comes to choosing the maintenance management system software, as this facility allows the flexibility to customize and adapt to the future changes.

These are some key considerations users can use to filter the best maintenance management software, but they can go the extra mile by comparing software on review and rating sites.  The decision to buy maintenance management software is not a small consideration, and review and rating sites like GoodFirms can help in this process.

Yes, maintenance management software is effective in streamlining maintenance work.  Business enterprises can take unlimited advantages with the maintenance management software that aligns with their business needs. The maintenance management software equips business owners with tools that automate, digitize, and optimize maintenance operations. As per one of the leading survey reports, the global predictive maintenance market will reach around $23.5 billion by 2024.  It clearly indicates the effectiveness of maintenance management software and its role in enhancing maintenance activities.

There is no doubt about the maintenance management software's role in facilitating the maintenance work, but technologies could change the way it is functioning now.  It is essential that users also tap on the future trends that will further fine-tune the maintenance management software capabilities.

• IoT:  The Internet of things has changed the dynamics of the maintenance management process from calendar-based inspection to real-time maintenance.  It facilitated the communication between various electronic devices and allowed practicing predictive maintenance.  Besides maintenance, it has a significant role in reducing the organization’s capital cost by managing the inventory. It transmits real-time data about the inventory to the maintenance department, and based on the data, they place the order.
• Cloud computing:  Cloud computing can be beneficial for the maintenance team working remotely. They can access all the maintenance data in real-time and schedule their work accordingly.  The IoT devices that are connected with the maintenance equipment can collect all the maintenance-related data and transmit those data on cloud storage. It helps maintenance technicians to get quick access to the maintenance data and fix the issue quickly. Cloud computing also helps in reducing infrastructure costs.
• Machine learning:  Machine learning is changing the face of maintenance management. Machine learning techniques are used in predictive maintenance to predict the defects in advance that could lead to failure.  With improvisation in technology and internet speed, machine learning is expected to deliver more accurate results in predicting the maintenance work and reducing the risk of business downfall.    
• Augmented Reality: Augmented reality can take a big stride in maintenance management; it can be used to visualize the defect on a microscopic level. The augmented reality can help maintenance technicians detect the defects that are impossible to see because of the complicated structure of the equipment. Detail analysis features and the ability to see the objects in 3D will help technicians to solve the maintenance issues better and double the life of the equipment.

The average cost of maintenance management software could be anywhere around $10/month- $240/month or more. The maintenance management software offers a range of features, which can affect the price of the software. The other factors that influence the maintenance management software price are deployment methods and the number of users. The software vendors offer pricing per user, per month, and one-time licensing fees. While finalizing the pricing models, the users must always consider the scope of the business, infrastructure, and operation requirements.

• Maintenance Management Software for startups:  One of the expenses that startups consider is the technology expenses. There are maintenance management software solutions that enable startups to take advantage of the software without exceeding the budget. CloudApper facilities is a cloud-based maintenance management software with a starting price of $10/month. The software allows users to access maintenance information in real-time and manage maintenance tasks from anywhere.  The notification feature further makes the tool productive and the best tool for startups. The users can also consider maintenance management tool QRmaint, which is another exceptional tool for startups with a starting price of $12/month.  The basic version allows monitoring 100 assets, which can be upgraded as per the user’s requirements and budget.  Both these tools offer a free trial.  If users want more alternatives on low pricing tools, then AssetFit and Easy Preventive Maintenance are ideal.

• Maintenance Management Software for mid-size and large scale businesses: Companies that have more utilities to monitor and flexible with the budget can use software like EZOfficeInventory with a starting price of $35/month.  Besides basic maintenance features, the tool comes with asset management features like measuring depreciation of equipment, audit trail, and location management.  The other top maintenance management software that qualifies for the mid-size business includes Limble CMMS, which offers its services at a price of $40/month. Both these tools offer a free trial.  A few more maintenance management system software that could help mid-size businesses to solve their maintenance issues includes Pruvan, FieldPromax, and Maintenance Partner.  The organizations planning to reduce the staff efforts for maintaining facility equipment and automate the tasks can consider the premium level maintenance management software like PlantLog. PlantLog, with a starting price of $239/month, supports 18 standard reports, which allows users to understand the maintenance work from various perspectives.  The other tools that fit in the premium maintenance management tool category include Asset.Guru, Trackplan, and Dozuki.

• Free and Open Source Maintenance Management Software: Free and open source maintenance management software allows users to modify the source code and enhance tool features for better performance. The cost of using free and open source maintenance management software is a bare minimum or almost zero, which makes it the best option for startups and small-scale business owners.

GoodFirms is a top review and rating platform for IT solutions.  It has been listing software for various industries and businesses. GoodFirms team follows a rigorous review and rating process to ensure that customers get a genuine product. The customers can select software by comparing its features, pricing, and services.

Business assets are the heart and soul of the company to run the business process efficiently. However, the wear and tear of these assets without regular maintenance can lead to unexpected breakdowns and costs to the company.  A major breakdown can even cause irreversible damage to the company, and it can take an ample amount of time to recover from the damage.  Several companies have started investing in a robust maintenance management software to fill the gaps of the traditional maintenance system. The maintenance management software solutions are capable of taking complete control of the maintenance work and resources. If you are looking for one, then do not miss to check the list of best maintenance management software exclusively prepared by the expert team at GoodFirms.