Did you know the importance of property maintenance software? Read this blog as it will teach you about it.

Understand Property Maintenance Software Is Vital Before You Have It

Running a real estate related business can be tough. It has a lot of interrelated factors that need to be understood and executed properly. This is one of the reasons why you’re advised to get a property manager. However, the tasks can be more complex than what you’re gonna think of. In this case, you need a more efficient solution to remedy property related issues. You have to know the essence and significance of property maintenance software. It is one of the best solutions you can ever have for your real estate related business to become more profitable.

The satisfaction level of property tenants should dramatically be high. This is to assure you that your business will run smoothly, profitably. But having problems is part of the entire process. It’s impossible to have a business without issues and concerns you need to resolve. Hence, having property maintenance software is one of the most basic approaches you need to apply. Through this tool, you will be able to organize things the right way. The tasks can be implemented properly.

There are certain problems you need to address effectively. Some of them are:

  • Home painting
  • Graffiti cleaning
  • Plumbing-related problems
  • Lawn maintenance
  • Kitchen area repair

And a lot more.

Why do you really need property maintenance software?

A computerized maintenance management system is technically a process wherein you can have a smoother transaction now and then. It’s a systemic approach wherein you will be able to fix the concerns of your real property business efficiently, effectively. According to Maxpanda, real estate owners need to streamline the process. Hence, it is of utmost significance that you can use a preventive maintenance software tool. In this way, the approach will be undertaken immediately, thereby producing more favorable results for your business.

House maintenance in a nutshell is not an easy task. There are intertwining aspects that you need to imbibe. Failure to do this can lead to an overall business failure. The house renters can’t be happy at all. And as this happens, it may have an adverse impact against your operation in relation to your property business.

Features of property management maintenance software

You have to first understand the entirety of this software. The features of this tool are as follows:

  • Multiple sites location capacity
  • Smooth communication channels
  • Updated web-based access
  • Cloud storage capacity
  • Tight security measures
  • QR-run scanning
  • Other tools integration
  • 24/7 customer support team

When finding a provider of property maintenance software, you need to ensure that these features are present. The set features serve as your main basis. When a provider doesn’t have those then it might be great if you look for another software source. On the Internet you can find legitimate providers. All you need to do is to find a way on how you’ll be able to find one that best suits your needs and demands.

Clients want an abrupt solution when problems arise. It’s hard to provide a prompt solution to a particular problem when the system is manual. That is why it is recommended to have a computerized process, wherein everything is run using a computer or a smartphone device. The complexity of the actionable plans can easily be executed through the help of a more systemic computer-run solution provided by a legitimate and genuine provider.

Your real property business needs can rightly be addressed through the implementation of computer-generated schemes and processes. Any maintenance tasks are managed without hassles and risks. Regarding a transparency aspect, the reporting system is streamlined as well. It can be downloaded anytime using the computerized program. The metrics performance can therefore be understood without any trouble whatsoever. This is how productive and effective when relying upon a trusted and reliable building management software.

Is it expensive with Maxpanda?

The cost to set up the software starts from $0. And as a user, you can enjoy free upgrading without the need to shell out money for it. The upgrading and support scheme is unlimited for all users. This is how friendly and innovative this company is in providing a more effective and more credible maintenance software tool for business people running any type of property related ventures.

Simple Tips For New CMMS Managers

There might come a time within your journey up the career ladder when you want to become manager or a team leader and be responsible for more than just your own work. Becoming a manager is an incredibly important thing to get right, and being a good manager is something which can be a challenge for anyone starting out in the field today. Today we are going to take a look at some simple tips and tricks you should follow to allow you to be the best manager you can be.

Use software

As a new manager, the hardest thing you might deal with is making sure that everyone is on track with their projects and that you can stay in the loop with everything this year. You can use a building management software to make things a lot easier for yourself and this will allow you to keep an eye on your employees and see where they are at and what kind of things you should chat to them about each and every day.

Be honest

The difference between a mediocre and a great manager is the ability to communicate and be honest with your workers. Honesty is always the best policy and when it comes to showing your employees that you are a great manager, being transparent is incredibly important. You need to be sure that if you have an issue or a problem that you share this with your team and allow them to help you solve it. Working things out together is better than alone and this will make such an impact on your ability to work together in the office.

Show off talents

Every single person who works under your command will have a unique set of skills which they can show off to you, and they will have the ability to work in unique and different ways. It is important that you always talk to each person as an individual and be sure that you give them tasks and jobs which allow them to show off their talents. If you can treat everyone as an individual you should be able to have the most successful team possible working for you.

Learn to be assertive 
When it comes to becoming a manager for the first time, perhaps the weirdest shift in behavior will be going from taking orders to giving them. If you aren’t a naturally assertive person this can be super hard for you to get used to and it will take a bit of time for you to settle into that flow of things for good. It is important as a leader to be assertive because you need to gain some respect from your workers and you also need to make sure that they will listen to you when you speak. Be confident in your conviction and this will make a big difference to how people see you and how they react to you when you speak to them every day.

Three Important Ways To Keep Your Business Protected

Like all business owners, you are probably looking to make sure that your business is protected at all times. The only way this can be done is if you actually take steps to put necessary precautions in place. Too often business owners will overlook this aspect of their business or they prefer to spend money elsewhere not seeing the protection as a necessity. However, all it takes is for one thing to go wrong and it can cost you your entire business.

In this article, we’re going to look at some things you can do to ensure your business stays protected. Keep reading if you are interested in finding out more.

It’s the law

The first thing you need to do is to make sure you are taking all of the necessary precautions to prevent people from getting injured on your premises. You can do this in a number of ways. One way would be to make sure you adhere to all of the health and safety precautions required by legislation. These laws are there to help businesses and clients remain safe from any possible harm. Ensure that you have been through all of the health and safety regulations that could apply to your business but also be sure to enforce them.

You should also be taking other precaution such as getting your employees to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s).  If any employee has access to any confidential information, you need to know you can take action if they divulge company secrets. This is really important if there are certain things your competitors or other people in the industry cannot know about. Or, make sure you invest in preventative maintenance software so that you don’t have to spend numerous hours cleaning up when things start to take a turn.

Get Insured

Do you have business insurance? If the answer to this question is no, you need to really reconsider. There are a variety of types of coverage you could need from workers compensation to general liability and more. Protecting your business should be your top priority, and you can’t do that if don’t have the proper insurance. If you are worried about paying premiums that are not necessary, you shouldn’t. There are specialists who can give you the correct advice to so this does not happen.

Some customers may require you to have insurance in order to do business with them. As an organizational trainer, I had to show proof of insurance before signing a contract to present workshops. Good thing I had it or I would have lost the contract.

Have A Lawyer

Finally, if you have a lawyer on retainer, you can be sure you have someone there to give you the right advice you need if things do go wrong. Some businesses will argue this is a cost they cannot afford, but this should not be the way of thinking that most companies take because just like not following safety regulations and not having insurance, it could cost you your business in the end. It’s always better to have someone there for when you fall to pick you up than to fall and have to navigate your way around the darkness alone.

Spend time assessing your business to make sure you have the protection you need. The time spent will be well worth it. Here’s to YOUR success!

Become Known For Great CMMS Staff Treatment

It’s the case that leaders and employees alike need confidence to conduct their roles. If they have to question themselves too thoroughly each and everyday nothing would get done, and of course, this is why we hire qualified individuals and hope to become qualified ourselves. But there are levels of confidence. Pride could be included into that essential list.

Without pride, it’s quite easy to feel dejected and unhappy in the longer term, especially as a firm hoping to move on from failures and attempt to find successes. Pride can help a firm retain its dignity despite perhaps suffering a bad product launch, or angering a percentage of their customers through a bad decision. Of course, simply suggesting that your firm will never encounter these issues is putting your head in the sand, and isn’t helpful in the least. An issue is likely to befall you at some point.

This means that when it does strike, your business pride will take a hit. But should it be flexible enough to bounce back and motivate your employees to renewed action, or setting up your business in a manner that supports its own operation, you’ll find some positive progress.

Let us consider what that could look like:

Take Care Of It

A business that takes care of itself is one that has pride, front and centre. For example, a business protecting its assets is often seen as one with good sense, but is this the end of the story? Might it be worth implementing measures to ensure that equipment breakdown and staff failure is handled carefully? You’ll be able to implement that wisely with a service such as Maxpanda, as this can help you ensure that your equipment is taken care of, broken down items are kept well serviced, but most importantly that your staff are able to handle these issues well, and organize effectively. This mindset of ‘we will take care of our own value’ is essential to building a firm with self-confidence and the interest to succeed in the end.

Branding Might

Branding might just be something you quickly throw together in your startup days to ensure you have a company name and a logo to promote. But over time, it can often be that you wish for this to be a true representation of that you hope to do. Perhaps your business is changing direction, and the old business logo and name doesn’t quite make sense. You see these rebrands take place all the time, and this can often inject a rejuvenation of pride and a willingness to start afresh, even stronger this time. If your brand feels stagnant, consider this as an option!

Become Known For Staff Treatment

A great product or service success is of course the goal with your business, but it’s also important to become known for staff treatment. For example, it might be that you enjoy a great staff training program, or you’re known to support your staff in aftercare when they leave. Perhaps you have a great maternity package for pregnant employees. Become known for designed programs like this. It can help your staff feel proud to work there.

With these tips, you’re sure to help your business pride.

Avoiding The Waste Of Unnecessary Business Spending

All businesses must spend money to make money. We call this healthy harmony of financial spending and revenue ‘cash flow,’ and this allows companies to develop themselves even when operating at a loss for the time being. This can also be quite common for smaller businesses just trying to get their footing. But no matter the size of your business, big or small, centralized or decentralized, raised or flat in terms of hierarchy, and no matter what assets you’re sitting on or how well known you are, avoiding unnecessary business spending is always key.

Overblown spending can affect your bottom line deeply. It affects your cash flow to the point where expenditure is not longer replenished by the revenue you gain. It can lead to you defaulting on other bills that need to be paid, or can often lead you to an ineffective solution. Often, when budget is a factor, you look for the most efficient means forward. When somehow justifying unnecessary spending, you might actually be harming your productivity.

But how do you prevent this from happening? Let us explore that:

Repair Your Equipment

It can often be that business leaders wish to run their operation from only the most pressing and new equipment needs, especially when it comes to an IT network or when securing the manufacturing line. But in reality, it can often be the case that repairing existing goods can help them remain perfectly functional for a longer time, helping you gain the most value out of them. But of course, maintenance isn’t something you just click your fingers and expect to happen immediately. This also takes effort and time to perfect. Using an CMMS service such as Maxpanda.com can help you implement ticketing solutions to ensure internal and external maintenance priorities are kept in order, helping your staff apply their prioritized skillset to the right task at the right time. This leads your firm to reduce the wasting of precious assets, and instills company pride.

Recuperation

Sometimes, a business will spend money trying to fix a mistake it didn’t need to make in the first place. This can be a true pain, and quite upsetting for those who managed the initial project. Let’s say your marketing effort was a blunder. This is because you decided to arrange this campaign yourself, despite having no marketing hires and little marketing experience. Because you’re not quite up to date with current trends, it might have fallen flat on its face. Only then do you need to hire professionals to once again restore your PR and then acquire the services of a good marketing firm. Consult with the professionals first and foremost, and realize, expert knowledge is priceless.

Staff Turnover

If staff aren’t happy, they will leave, taking the training and development you have invested into them, both in time and budget. You’ll also need to replace them using the same investment. This means that investing a little more in the staff experience, giving them a competitive package and treating them well can help you avoid losing money on your labor engagements over time.

With these tips, you’re sure to avoid the waste of unnecessary business spending.

Planning For The Ideal ‘Zero Mistake’ Automation

There are businesses that can cover their mistakes with added funding, or perhaps wish to experiment and see what they can come up with to innovate. But there are other forms of business that simply cannot tolerate a single mistake, and to do so could mean a complete downfall in their public perception. For example, consider a private clinic. Medical malpractice happening there, even just one case of it, is likely to cause a drop in patient sign-ups and a nasty lawsuit that could cost plenty.

But of course, not all mistakes are as big and messy as these. Simple organizational mistakes, safety hazards or misplaced bookkeeping can truly harm that which you hope to achieve in the long term, and even potentially cause you to worry about your future as a firm.

For that reason, planning for the zero mistake ideal is essential if you ever hope to run as intended. Even if you’re in a firm that can tolerate a mistake here and there, utilizing this ethos can help you better your brand and as an extension, yourself.

Plan Accordingly

It’s essential to make certain you and your team are on the same page, that materials are tracked and inventory is secured. Booked clients must also be taken care of with expert timing and punctuality, and their feedback must be cataloged. In certain advanced practices, hygiene, operational preparedness and a range of other essentially complex and integral duties should be absolutely transparent in how, where, why, when they are happening, and who will be present. Often, finding the best software CRM can help you in this task, particularly brilliant hospital maintenance software designed to track the specialized needs of a clinic like this.

Hygiene & Organization

The old saying suggests that cleanliness is close to Godliness, and it’s hard to deny that emotive use of language. Hygiene can ensure that your business is cared for well, that each day the workplace is refreshed for tomorrow, and that everyone commits their fair share. Unhygienic environments can affect staff and clients or customers, render functional equipment useless and also cause a strong lack in employee motivation. Ensuring that common staff hygiene practices are enforced, a cleaning rota is applied, and specialized cleaning services are hired will help you get some of the way there.

Accountability

Understand that accountability can often prevent untoward action from occurring in the first instance, but also that you are able to get to the heart of a problem when it does occur, helping you learn for next time. Remember, wanton discipline can often lead to staff failing to report issues, so you’re going to have to strike a strong balance between ensuring staff wish to come forward to help educate you of the issue, and being able to discipline willful departure from your policies or simple incompetence from showing.

With these tips, you’ll edge ever-close to the ‘zero mistake’ ideal. To us, that’s a great result.

3 Mistakes That Could Kill Your Medical Practice

If you’re looking for a stable and profitable business to put your money behind, a medical practice is a good option. Everybody needs healthcare so if you set up a good medical practice, you can make a good living while helping out the local community at the same time. But a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that it’s going to be easy and if you set it up, you’re guaranteed to get plenty of patients, but that’s not the case at all. It’s actually very difficult to set up a good medical practice and there are plenty of things that you can get wrong. If you’re thinking about setting up your own medical practice, it’s important that you avoid these common mistakes.

Forgetting The Financial Aspect

A good medical practice is, first and foremost, about excellent patient care. If you can’t offer a good level of care to your patients, you’re going to really struggle to grow the practice and make it a success. However, a lot of people make the mistake of only focusing on patient care and forgetting that this is still a business and needs to be treated as such. It’s so important that you remember the financial aspect and take the same approach that you would to any other business. For example, you might decide that you’re going to invest in a lot of expensive equipment for your practice because it improves patient care. That’s great, as long as you can actually afford it and you’re not going to end up in serious financial trouble because your spending is out of control right at the beginning. You need to have proper financial projections from the very beginning and make sure that you’re managing cash flow effectively. You can increase spending and invest in expensive equipment once you’re well established.

Neglecting Maintenance

Maintenance is so important in any business but it’s especially important in the healthcare industry. You need to make sure that your equipment is working correctly at all times and the building is suitable for patient care, so it’s vital that you stay on top of maintenance. There are a lot of maintenance tasks to keep track of so it’s a good idea to invest in some maintenance management software like Maxpanda for healthcare facilities to help make life easier for you. It will be able to track the maintenance requirements of all of your equipment so all maintenance is carried out on time, every time.

Hiring The Wrong People

The medical professionals that you hire at your practice will make or break the business. It’s important that you have people with a good amount of experience, otherwise, patients won’t have trust in the practice. If all of your staff are younger medical professionals that only have a few years experience, you won’t have that wealth of knowledge to draw on and that means patient care will suffer. It will cost you more to hire these experienced doctors, but it’s worth the investment if you want the practice to be a success.

Medical practices can be very lucrative businesses, but only if you avoid these basic mistakes when you’re setting them up. 

What is CMMS?

CMMS is software that is used to schedule and record operation and preventive/planned maintenance activities associated with facility equipment.

The CMMS can generate and prioritize work orders and schedules for staff to support “trouble” calls and to perform periodic/planned equipment maintenance. Upon completion of a work order, performance information, such as the date work was performed, supplies/inventory, and man hours expended, typically is loaded into the database for tracking, to support future operations/planning.

Not to confuse CMMS with a Computer-aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system, consider a patient room in a hospital, e.g, ensuring that the Nurse Call System in the room is “properly inspected, maintained, and repaired” is a CMMS activity. “Knowledge” about the medical department staff; specific patient(s) in the room; the room’s contents (phones, TVs, beds–including whether they are moved from room-to-room); and equipment hook-ups (electrical, oxygen, communications, etc.) relate to CAFM activities. CMMS and CAFM systems continue to merge into Integrated Work Order Management Systems (IWOMS).

CMMS are used by facilities maintenance organizations to record, manage, and communicate their day-to-day operations. The system can provide reports used in managing the organization’s resources, preparing facilities key performance indicators (KPIs)/metrics to use in evaluating the effectiveness of the current operations, and for making organizational and personnel decisions. In today’s maintenance world, the CMMS is an essential tool for recording work requirements, tracking the status of the work, and analyzing the recorded data in order to manage the work, produce reports, and help control costs. Facility professionals use tools to manage the planning and day-to-day operations and maintenance activities required for a single facility or a large complex. These tools also provide all of the information required to manage the work, the work force, and the costs necessary to generate management reports and historical data.

DESCRIPTION

The goal of a maintenance manager is to employ a management system that optimizes the use of valuable resources (manpower, equipment, material, and funds) to maintain facilities and equipment. The system should provide for integrated processes, giving the manager control over the maintenance of all facilities and maintainable equipment from acquisition to disposal. The system should:

  • Address all resources involved,
  • Maintain maintenance inventory,
  • Record and maintain work history,
  • Include work tasks and frequencies,
  • Accommodate all methods of work accomplishment,
  • Effectively interface and communicate with related and supporting systems, ranging from work generation through work performance and evaluation,
  • Support each customer’s mission,
  • Ensure communication with each customer,
  • Provide feedback information for analysis, and
  • Reduce costs through effective maintenance planning.

A modern CMMS meets these requirements and assists the facilities maintenance manager with work reception, planning, control, performance, evaluation, and reporting. Such a system will also maintain historical information for management use. The manager should evaluate management data requirements and establish electronic data needs prior to acquiring a new CMMS or additions to/replacement of an existing system. The evaluation should include a return on investment (ROI) analysis before investing in additional or new CMMS capabilities. The manager should only acquire what is necessary to accomplish the maintenance organization’s goals. The following paragraphs include details of capabilities that may be included in a modern CMMS.

A. Operating Locations

The CMMS may include an application that allows an operator to enter and track locations where equipment operates and organize these locations into logical hierarchies or network systems. Work orders can then be written either against the location itself or against the equipment in the operating location. Using operating locations allows for the tracking of the equipment’s lifecycles (history) and provides the capability to track the equipment’s performance at specific sites.

B. Equipment

The CMMS may include a module that allows an operator to keep accurate and detailed records of each piece of equipment. This module would include equipment-related data, such as bill of material, Preventive Maintenance (PM) schedule, service contracts, safety procedures, measurement points, multiple meters, inspection routes, specification data (name plate), equipment downtime, and related documentation. This equipment data is used for managing day-to-day operations and also as historical data that can be used to help make cost-effective “replace or repair” decisions. The data can also be used to develop additional management information, such as building equipment downtime failure code hierarchies for use in maintenance management metrics.

C. Resources

The CMMS may include a separate module to track labor resources. This module typically includes records for all maintenance personnel, including their craft or trade categories, such as mechanic, electrician, or plumber. Additionally, this module may include labor rates in order to capture and track true labor costs against any asset or piece of equipment. Some CMMS will allow maintenance managers to also track skill levels and qualifications for each resource to help in planning and scheduling work. Grouping labor categories into common associations can help a manager assign work to particular shop rather than an individual.

D. Safety Plans

With the emphasis placed on safety throughout Government and industry, a capability for safety plans/planning may be included in a CMMS. The following capabilities should be available:

  • Manual or automatic safety plan numbering.
  • Building safety plans for special work.
  • Tracking hazards for multiple equipment and locations.
  • Associating multiple precautions to a hazard.
  • Tracking hazardous materials for multiple equipment and locations.
  • Ability to reference hazards and precautions once they are entered into the system.
  • Tracking ratings for health, flammability, reactively, contact, and Material Safety Data Sheets for hazardous materials.
  • Defining lock-out/tag-out procedures.
  • Defining tag identifications for specific equipment and locations.
  • Defining safety plans for multiple equipment or locations.
  • Viewing and linking documents.
  • Associating safety plans to job plans, preventative maintenance masters, and work orders.
  • Ability to print safety plans automatically on work orders.
  • Allowing tag-out procedures to be associated to hazards or directly to locations, equipment, and safety plans or work orders.

E. Inventory Control

An inventory control module may be included to allow an operator to track inventory movement, such as items being moved in or out of inventory or from one location to another. Stocked, non-stocked, and special order items could be tracked. The module should also have the capability for tracking item vendors, location of items, item cost information, and the substitute or alternate items that can be used if necessary. Some CMMS recommend and provide the ability to track tools and provide basic tool-room management features as part of the inventory module. This feature allows work planners to see what tools are in stock and assign tools to various work categories to reduce research effort by mechanics and technicians working in the field.

F. Work Request

A work request module should be an integral part of a CMMS. The module can provide the capability for a requestor to input the request, such as a trouble call, or it can be entered by the maintenance organization’s work control. The data entry screen should be designed to need only minimal data entry; a requester should be able to enter minimal data, and work control can enter additional information as required. Data should be entered once, and pop-up tables in the system should eliminate the need to memorize codes. The work order number can be assigned manually or automatically.

G. Work Order Tracking

A CMMS must include work order tracking which is the heart of a work order system. Again, the data should require entry only once, and pop-up tables should eliminate the need to memorize codes. The tracking system should provide instant access to all of the information needed for detailed planning and scheduling, including work plan operations, labor, materials, tools, costs, equipment, blueprints, related documents, and failure analysis. Of course, this is dependent on how many modules are installed and how much information has been entered in the system. The manager must evaluate data requirements and the practicality of adding modules.

H. Work Management

A work management module may be a part of the CMMS. The module could provide the capability that would let a planner specify which labor personnel to apply to specific work orders and when. The module permits planning and dispatching.

  • Planning—In planning, labor assignments would be planned for future shifts. Each person’s calendar availability would be considered when the assignments are made. The assignments would be created sequentially over the shift, filling each person’s daily schedule with priority work for the craft. It could even split larger jobs over multiple shifts automatically.
  • Dispatching—In dispatching, labor assignments would be carried out as soon as possible. This system could begin tracking labor time from the instant the assignment is made. The system operator could interrupt work already in progress to reassign labor resources to more crucial work.

I. Quick Reporting

The CMMS could provide a rapid and easy means for opening, reporting on, and closing work orders, and reporting work on small jobs after-the-fact. Labor, materials, failure codes, completion date, and downtime could all be reported.

J. Preventive Maintenance

The following capabilities may be provided in a CMMS to manage a Preventive Maintenance (PM) program:

  • Supporting multiple criteria for generating PM work orders. If a PM master has both time-based and meter-based frequency information, the program should use whichever becomes due first, and then update the other.
  • Generating time-based PM work orders based upon last generation or last completion date. Next due date and job plans should be displayed.
  • Permitting and tracking PM extensions with adjustments to next due date.
  • Triggering meter-based PM by two separate meters.
  • Printing sequence job plans when wanted.
  • Creating a PM against an item so new parts have PM automatically generated on purchase.
  • Specifying the number of days ahead to generate work orders from PM masters that may not yet have met their frequency criteria.
  • Consolidating weekly, monthly, and quarterly job plans on a single master.
  • Assigning sequence numbers to job plans to tell the system which job plan to use when a PM work order is generated from a PM master.
  • Permitting overriding of frequency criteria in order to generate PM work orders whenever plant conditions require.
  • Routing PM with multiple equipment or locations.
  • Generating work orders in batch or individually for only the equipment specified.
  • Capability to be used with the system scheduler to forecast resources and budgets.

K. Utilities

A utilities module that contains detailed information on utilities consumption, distribution, use, metering, allocation to users, and cost may be included. It could include modeling capability and linkage to utility control systems.

L. Facility/Equipment History

A history module that would contain the maintenance histories of the facilities and equipment may be included. It would contain summaries of PM, repairs, rehabilitation, modifications, additions, construction, and other work affecting the configuration or condition of the items. It would include completed and canceled work orders. The maintenance history records can be used to support proactive maintenance techniques such as root-cause failure analysis and reliability engineering.

M. Purchasing

A mature CMMS may also include a purchasing module to initiate the requisition of material against a work order and track the delivery and cost data of the material when it arrives. This capability will allow the maintenance manager improved visibility of matters that can impact work planning and efficiency. Procuring required material outside the CMMS can often leave information gaps that can inhibit the effectiveness of work execution and result in redundant parts orderings and non-standard procurement practices. The purchasing module may include many functions, such as a vendor master catalog, invoicing, purchase orders, receiving, and even request for quotations.

N. Facilities Maintenance Contracts

A CMMS may contain a contracts module that includes information on maintenance contracts. With other database files, it provides a picture of each contractor’s past performance, current loading, and planned work. It could include information on specifications, Government furnished property, quality assurance, payment processing, delivery orders issued, schedules, and related matters. It could cover both contracts for facilities maintenance and support services.

O. Key Performance Indicators (KPI)/Metrics

The CMMS can be utilized to accumulate the data for KPIs for use in evaluating the organization’s maintenance program. The maintenance management organization must select the metrics to utilize in establishing their goals and in measuring progress in meeting those goals. The importance of Selecting the Right Key Performance Indicators cannot be overstated. The KPIs must be based on data that can be obtained and provide meaningful information that will be utilized in managing the organization.

P. Specialized Capabilities And Features

Some CMMS providers have also developed specialized capabilities and features for particular business sectors, functions, or requirements. Maintenance managers today can use their CMMS to track transportation and fleet inventory, including maintenance history, mileages, lease terms, rates, and accounting data. Other managers are using their CMMS to track deployed assets, such as computers and other IT equipment. Through their CMMS, they track changes, additions, and movement of equipment, including software inventory on computers, tablets, and smart phones. When selecting a CMMS; consider the full scope of asset management options, with a focus on consolidated IT solutions.

APPLICATION

A CMMS can be used to manage simple or complex facilities, from a single building to a complete campus. A CMMS can also be used to manage the maintenance program for a grouping of equipment such as a fleet of vehicles. The systems are very versatile, as most are in modular form for various maintenance functions and can be customized to fit the particular application. Whatever system or set of modules are selected for use, careful consideration needs to be given to functional requirements and a sound deployment plan. The CMMS must meet the needs, constraints, and opportunities of the business and be implemented in a way that users will welcome the technology and have a vision for the benefits it brings. Proper configuration, testing, and training cannot be over emphasized when bringing a new CMMS or upgrading an existing system to an organization.

LESSONS LEARNED

Before procuring and implementing a CMMS, it’s critical to determine how the system is to be an asset and a usable tool in the management of an organization’s day-to-day maintenance and operations.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS (DO’S)

  1. Understand the other systems used by your organization with which the CMMS will have to interface, such as financial and geospatial systems, and ensure that this interface can be easily managed. Users and managers of these systems, including the IT group, should be involved in developing the CMMS.
  2. When considering a new system, make sure that the data from the existing system can be easily and accurately transferred.
  3. Look for full support from the vendor during installation and testing. Ensure that this includes ample training of the organization’s staff in both operating the system and how to maximize the benefit of the information within the system. The vendor should impart a clear understanding of what the system can and cannot do, as well as annual maintenance and upgrade costs.

POTENTIAL PITFALLS (DON’TS)

  1. Do not go into the selection of a system without a clear definition of requirements: What you expect it to do and how it is to meet your specialized needs. Also, have a clear understanding of what metrics you want your CMMS to produce and what the work process is for your organization. You may want to bring in outside professional guidance experienced in CMMS but not associated with any particular vendor or system.
  2. Do not try to develop a CMMS in-house. You will spend an inordinate amount of time and money designing a system that is likely already available on the market. There are many vendors of good off-the-shelf systems that have the advantage of years in developing and improving systems for other similar clients.
  3. Do not make your CMMS your primary payroll and accounting system. Remember that it is a work management system that requires data relating to time and costs (thus interfacing with your financial systems) but it should not be the system that employees rely on to get paid, otherwise it will get tied up every two weeks with payroll time entry.
  4. Do not get locked into a structure for which it is difficult to enter data or that lacks the necessary flexibility to be upgraded or modified. Consider who will be entering the data and their computer skills. The CMMS should have the flexibility to accept data from multiple sources and media, and ease of data entry will improve its accuracy and the resulting output. Also, the system should be flexible enough to allow the transfer of data during the design and construction phases of a project, e.g. Construction Operations Building information exchange (COBie).
  5. If you are considering replacing your existing system, do not get locked to “lost costs.” Don’t fall for the logic that what you have now is not doing the job but you have too much time and money invested in it to change. Consider only the time and cost to correct your existing system to meet your needs versus what a new system would cost.
  6. Do not limit yourself to looking at only one system early in the selection process. Develop a short list and “road test” each product. Establish rating criteria and score the actual performance of each candidate.
  7. Do not be the Beta test. Look for systems that have a proven track record with agencies similar to yours. Avoid unneeded complexity.

Failure of CMMS implementations is a continuing problem voiced by industry experts, and avoiding the pitfalls in decision-making about implementing or modifying CMMS in a maintenance organization means research must be a high priority. Conduct a thorough management study of the system to evaluate how it would be used in your organization and to determine the costs/benefits. Not all maintenance organizations require the use of a complete set of CMMS modules. Those that have implemented CMMS programs without adequate study typically fail to use the capabilities incorporated in the software and may eventually view the program as a failure.

CMMS would benefit significantly from a standardized asset identification system, in which each piece of equipment or building component is given an identification number common to all facilities throughout an organization. The General Services Administration (GSA) has such a system called the Government Asset Identification System. It uses National CAD Standards acronyms to identify assets and cross references CAD acronyms with Omniclass. If Government agencies adopt National CAD and Omniclass standards to identify their assets, they will expect to reduce costs, improve information for executive decisions, increase operational efficiency, and integrate facility management with new and existing technologies.

EMERGING ISSUES

The most notable emerging issue is the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM). BIM is an enabler that vastly improves the quality of information available to all facility tools. Information collected during design and construction can and should be used to commission facilities and validate performance. That model information can then be used to ensure the facility continues to perform as intended. A BIM can support all the applications identified earlier in this article. The National BIM Standard-United States™ provides the open formats which allow information to be captured and used by most CMMS tools. In fact, seeking out products that do support these open standards can minimize data lock with any specific vendor.

Guide to the Best Free CMMS

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) help businesses reduce maintenance costs. These solutions track assets including inventory, equipment and labor for identifying the costs associated with maintenance programs. CMMS focuses on:

  • Extending equipment life-cycles
  • Gaining the highest ROI on asset purchases
  • Organizing maintenance workflows
Chapters
  • Overview 
  • Features 
  • Use-Cases 
  • Market Trends 
  • Challenges 
  • Reliability Centered 

What is CMMS?

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) help 
standardize maintenance operations, allowing staff to control procedures and practices, as well as report on daily progress. In the past, maintenance departments have been considered the “necessary evil” of running a business. Accompanying software has also been regarded as a cost-center, so many organizations that could have benefited from CMMS sooner are just now understanding its potential. Through continual development, CMMS solutions have evolved around using data to improve the bottom line. Organizations now have the opportunity to maximize their ROI on high capital equipment and create a Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) program for minimal equipment downtime.

History of CMMS Software

Over time, CMMS has transformed to meet maintenance needs across company sizes and industries. According to Jeff O’Brien of Maintenance Assistant Inc recently writing on American Machinist,the evolution of CMMS started in only the biggest factories with the most computing power.

The First CMMS

Around 1965, CMMS began as punch cards for reminding technicians to complete tasks, and later evolved into printed paper. Maintenance technicians would hand in work order checklists to data-entry clerks for submission to the CMMS. Prior to the mid-1980s, maintenance departments within manufacturing organizations were between 1-12% of a factory’s workforce. Companies investing in the technology managed only the largest asset-intensive businesses on the market.

Scaled Down with LAN Connection

The next generation of CMMS came in the 1980s when it became possible to scale down computers. Small to mid-sized companies were able to invest in the technology for the first time with the emergence of affordable hardware. Throughout the 1990s, companies were able to customize their CMMS solutions and operate through a local-area network (LAN) connection to quickly share data between computers for the first time. With customization came a variety of software features.

Browser and Cloud-based

Moving into the early 2000s, CMMS adapted to the web for browser-based access on local servers. System updates became more complex with highly customized needs for each client. Therefore around the mid-2000s with the rise of the internet, vendors began offering entirely web-hosted solutions with their own servers. Vendors became responsible for backing up the system’s data instead of the company’s IT department.

CMMS Today

The latest generation of CMMS was born on the cloud only in the past few years. This type of system has a multi-tenant architecture, allowing all clients to access the same application. Each user logs on to the system with a unique account, but has access to the same basic security, upgrades and features. This way, vendors are able to provide fast support with no downtime, and clients don’t need a dedicated IT team. Cloud computing continues to dominate the tech space as more people realize the benefits. Some trends happening now with CMMS include:

  • Faster implementation
  • Mobile access
  • Predictive reporting

Who Uses CMMS?

More and more companies are wanting to closely track maintenance expenses, causing CMMS vendors to expand the application of their technology. A variety of industries have started relying on CMMS for tracking maintenance associated costs. Typical users include:

  • Maintenance technicians
  • Floor managers
  • Business analysts
  • Operations administrators
  • Accounting clerks

Because many solutions even have self-service functionality so any employee can access the system for entering asset information or requesting maintenance actions. Traditionally, facilities, manufacturers and warehouses use CMMS for inventory and equipment tracking, therefore as well as assigning maintenance staff to work orders. Organizations that must closely manage their infrastructure, such as universities and hospitals, also have a strong need for organized maintenance operations and use CMMS.

Most importantly companies with transportation fleets need CMMS solutions for tracking vehicle maintenance expenses and driver information. Retail outlets, restaurant chains, hotels and resorts, and other property management businesses involving transportation and inventory also need a streamlined way to track maintenance costs. A wide range of industries use CMMS for asset tracking as small as a bolt within an engine, and as large as a bulldozer on a construction site. CMMS solutions are able to scale according to how closely you need to track your assets.

Top Benefits of CMMS

Implementing CMMS significantly influences maintenance operations. The following benefits come as a result of having full asset control:

  1. Increased maintenance information for better decision making – CMMS solutions allow companies to collect maintenance information, turning historical data into insights for a long-term understanding of how processes work.
  2. Extended equipment life-cycles and reduced downtime – Taking proper care of capital equipment leads to a higher total ROI, prolonging its use and increasing its life cycle.
  3. Increased budget accountability – Understand why equipment malfunctions and the best route for fixing it with the bottom line in mind. Keep your maintenance staff accountable for getting the job done right the first time with reliable solutions rather than spending money on continuous repairs.
  4. Reduced labor costs through better scheduling –
    Most importantly Your maintenance staff might often feel caught off guard by sudden breakdowns and unscheduled repairs.
  5. Improved compliance and standards tracking – Meet mandated regulations on how to inspect and repair equipment, keeping track of all maintenance standards.
  6. Cost savings on replacement parts and inventory stockpiles – Keep just the right balance of spare parts and inventory stock with reliable maintenance predictions. Rather than run out of stock when you need it most, or order unnecessary parts that go to waste, set your inventory levels and automate re-ordering parts only when needed.
  7. Simpler training process – CMMS solutions allow users to enter more than just equipment identification.
  8. Better performance measurements for establishing maintenance standards – Discover statistical trends for how long and how much money it takes to perform maintenance, then set performance standards for your staff to reach.
  9. Increased productivity – Reduce time spent searching through spreadsheets or paper files for pulling vital information on contracts, warranties and more.
  10. Improved customer satisfaction – While customer satisfaction can’t always be quantified, organizing your maintenance structure around transparency.

With one streamlined system, you’re able to carefully track assets in a number of ways. These assets include equipment, inventory and labor, and can be broken down into categories for carefully measuring costs by stock, parts, personnel, and more.

Similar Maintenance Solutions

CMMS is referred to by several terms. Most of these solutions have very similar features. Work Order Management Software: A work order is a request used to detail any maintenance need. Preventive Maintenance Software (PM): A PM system is a method of communicating work orders.

Predictive Maintenance Software (PdM): Predictive maintenance is a recent focus for solutions with analytic functions.Fleet Maintenance Software: Companies with transportation fleets need maintenance systems focused on tracking details on drivers, vehicles, leasing contracts, mileage and most importantly better assets.

Facilities Maintenance Software (FM): FM Software includes work orders for preventive maintenance. Computer Aided Facility Management Software (CAFM): This type of solution goes beyond maintenance needs and helps companies allocate all types of resources within the facility.

Enterprise Asset Management Software (EAM): For large companies, EAM solutions include a full suite of fields for tracking assets. This type of CMMS caters to companies with multiple locations touching on multiple business fields needing an all-in-one solution.

maxpanda screenshots

Choosing the best Computerized Maintenance Management CMMS Software

The computerized maintenance management software is specifically designed to manage maintenance and operations of a single building or national enterprise. The CMMS stores important maintenance data on the desktop that provides any company the capability to track work orders, instantly determine the assets needs for reactive proactive maintenance and generate relevant usage reports.

Most companies are looking to invest in a computerized maintenance management software that helps to saves money in the long run and it extend asset lifespan. The CMMS software is also referred to as enterprise asset management software, facilities management software or preventative maintenance software. CMMS software is designed to improve productivity, reduce downtime on assets and increase efficiencies for maintenance staff, vendors and contractors.

 

CMMS Software minimum Features

Maxpanda CMMS software includes important features that will provide the best experience to any business owner. Some of the core offerings that you can find in most enterprise CMMS software are asset records, technical records, work order management, pm maintenance scheduling and service work capability.

 

  • Work orders – The work order helps to track the repairs and maintenance which outlines relevant information on the asset or location. What parts were required for replacement? Time tracking for maintenance staff and vendor, Task list required to complete prior to completing the work order, Updated photos on job completion and more.

 

  • Technician record – Includes technician records that allows users to store the important about the maintenance employees such as training, certifications and more.

 

  • Mobile interface – It has mobile application offering all employees 24/7 access to the software through Smartphones Tablets.

 

  • Asset records – The asset records centralize purchase dates, warranty, serial number, cost, location etc.

 

  • Multi-location management – It has a Multi-location management feature that has the capacity to handle several facilities within the software. Maxpanda includes up to 100 Sites, that’s 100 different databases managing unlimited amount of buildings, assets, parts and people in each Site.

 

  • Analytics and Reporting – Reporting and analytics can range from the fundamental template reports pre designed by the CMMS provider to customized analytics requested by the client.

 

  • Inventory management – It collects the information on the purchase orders, supplies and parts such as supplier, location, quantity, cost and more. Users receive email and push notifications when stock reordering ensuring fulfillment is always met for work.

 

  • Preventive maintenance scheduling – It helps to define, assign, execute and monitor the scheduled maintenance. It has options for scheduling maintenance depending on calendar dates or time such as cycles.

 

Guide to finding the Best Computerized Maintenance Management Software

CMMS software is an important tool for the organization. The maintenance and facilities management software increases workflow as usage increases. By using CMMS software you can check the details about the parts, assets, locations, buildings and procedures necessary to perform required jobs. When you are choosing the Computerized Maintenance Management Software you should consider:

  • Functionality

The functionality is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing the right maintenance software for your company. Does the app include all the minimum functions required to gather all relevant data for reporting and cost analysis? Is the CMMS simple to use for your nontechnical staff? Is initial setup quick and painless with no costs involved?

  • Mobile devices

Does the maintenance software support mobile devices? Does the software support all mobile devices that allow workers to maintain communication 24/7? The CMMS apps are specially designed for Android, iOS and other devices.

  • Customer reviews

Customer reviews are vital factors to consider before subscribing to any CMMS maintenance software. They offer details about the software such as features, cost, support and general usage. Read a few of Maxpanda’s customer reviews here.

  • Cost

Cost may or may not be a critical factor to consider. Self-hosted maintenance software is expensive when compared to a SaaS subscription model such as Maxpanda CMMS.

 

Benefits of Computerized Maintenance Management software

The Computerized Maintenance Management software is one of the most popular and required operational tools for maintaining capital asset costs towards any size company. This software allows the business owner to track related tasks such as cleaning, inspections and planned maintenance for each asset or building. Implementing CMMS software at the manufacturing plant is a perfect choice. The CMMS assists all users to create and track work order progress and extend equipment life by scheduling preventive maintenance on the assets, locations and tools in the facility.

Reducing Overtime

CMMS helps to reduce overtime and the requirement for emergency repairs and maintenance. With scheduled maintenance, the maintenance work is performed efficiently and within the manufacturers recommended time periods.

Planned Preventative Maintenance

This software automates the planned scheduling of the maintenance, cleaning and repairs. Switching to proactive maintenance helps extend equipment life dramatically while reducing the operating expense for the organization.

Reducing Paperwork

CMMS software helps to eliminate the need for clipboards, spreadsheets and miscellaneous paperwork that can be lost or forgotten. The software helps to capture the information automatically and permanently. Users may view details regarding the work orders on their mobile devices, desktop or print. Users do not need to search folders, filing cabinets and other storage bins to find the important details they need for maintenance and operations.

Enhanced Safety

The CMMS software helps the company in checking as well as maintaining the equipment irregularly. Offering high safety standards to reduce work loss due to accidents or insufficient information making the equipment safer for the environment and operator as a while.

Improving Productivity

One of the main benefits of using CMMS Maintenance software is improving productivity. It can be linked to the mobile device to allow access in real-time for relevant information about the equipment, location, customer, staff, part and invoice.

 

Maxwell Davidson, Support Analyst | app.maxpanda.com

 

Effect of PM Frequency Reduction on Assets Reliability

SUMMARY

limit pm schedulesLean Manufacturing and Lean Maintenance target the identification and elimination of waste through continuous improvement. The problem of under-maintaining assets is often addressed through loss elimination and continuous improvement programs. The problem of over-maintaining by comparison receives little attention. Left unattended the over-maintaining of assets silently and continuously squanders precious maintenance resources.

Industry has been conservative in its approach to setting preventive maintenance intervals. On some sites:

· 80 % of Preventive Maintenance costs are spent on activities with a frequency 30 days or less.
· 30 to 40% of Preventive Maintenance costs are spent on assets with negligible failure impact.

We now explore the impact of frequency on the over maintaining problem and proposes, with the use of a case study, low risk methods for reducing Preventive Maintenance costs. Keywords: Preventive Maintenance, Waste Elimination, Activities, Frequency, Analysis, Cost Reduction.

INTRODUCTION

Buell and Smedley define Lean Manufacturing as “a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement”. Waste is further defined as “anything that adds no value to the manufacturing process. Common sources of waste in manufacturing are identified (2) as:

· Overproduction – Producing product quantity in excess of requirement or demand.
· Inventory – Producing levels of end product or work in progress above the optimum.
· Waiting – Delays in the production process.
· Transportation – Transporting end product or work in progress unnecessarily.
· Motion – Unnecessary motion of workers, assets or materials associated with production.
· Processing – Redundant steps or activities in the production process.

Reducing the Cost of Preventive Maintenance

The application of the term “Lean” to maintenance similarly aims to target waste. Bever estimates that between 18% and 30% of every dollar spent on maintenance is wasted. Greg is reported as observing that maintenance operations may be wasting up to 25 percent of available labour and that up to 60 percent of this waste results from activities that add no value to the performance of the plant. Similar categories of waste identified for Lean Manufacturing can be applied to the exploration of Lean Maintenance. Building on a list developed by O’Hanlon, seven categories of waste in maintenance are summarised as follows:

· Overproduction – Performing preventive and predictive maintenance activities at intervals more often than optimal
· Inventory – Overstocking maintenance spares with slow moving parts and secret inventories.
· Waiting – Waiting for tools, parts documentation, transportation, etc.
· Transportation – Time spent walking, running, driving, and flying associated with maintenance work
· Motion –PM performed that adds no value to the prevention of downtime.
· Processing– Opportunity to improve the quality of repairs in reactive or breakdown maintenance.
· Defects – Asset failure caused by under-maintaining assets or maintenance rework.

Waste in maintenance can be considered as a problem of strategy, planning and control. This paper is specifically concerned with waste arising from strategic decision making. This particularly targets maintenance waste associated with “overproduction”, “inventory” and “motion” from the above list. These three topics are referred to specifically as over-maintaining.

THE PROBLEM OF OVER-MAINTAINING

Under-maintaining assets is characterised by:

· Preventive activities not performed or performed at too long intervals
· Ineffective or non-existent preventive activities
Under-maintaining assets leaves an evident waste trail as it often results in frequent and long breakdowns, high
levels of unplanned work and lost production and output. Under-maintaining is a regular target of continuous
improvement programs.

Over-maintaining is characterised by:

· Performing preventive maintenance activities at more frequent intervals than necessary
· Performing preventive maintenance activities that add no value to the output
· PM activities are ineffective at detecting failure and are a waste of time
· PM Activities are redundant (i.e. duplicate other effort)

Over-maintaining assets leaves a less obvious waste trail. We are inclined to believe that our preventive maintenance activities are effective if we are not constantly rectifying breakdowns. When left unchallenged over-Reducing the Cost of Preventive Maintenance

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

In this paper, the term Preventive Maintenance refers to any activity that is designed to:

· Predict the onset of component failure,
· Detect a failure before it has an impact on the asset function,
· Repair or replace asset before failure occurs.

Preventive Maintenance has two features, an activity to be performed, and a frequency at which the activity is performed. A reduction in waste in Preventive Maintenance can target either the Preventive Maintenance activity or its frequency.

Preventive Maintenance Activities

In many businesses, Preventive Maintenance activities have been established over time with little technical discipline supporting the decision process. This has resulted in Preventive Maintenance
activities that:

· Are ineffective in detecting the onset of failure,
· Duplicate the effort of other preventive activities,
· Are missing for critical failures.

A review of Preventive Maintenance activities requires an assessment of the modes and consequence of failure contrasted with the effectiveness of the proposed or actual activity. One method of performing a review of Preventive Maintenance activities is by hypothetical failure analysis. Analyses in this category develop Preventive Maintenance activities based on an analysis of failure risk.
Analyses in this category are typified by RCM II after Moubray (5), however there are many derivatives of this approach in practice. This type of approach generally ignores the existing Preventive Maintenance activities and compares results with existing maintenance programs after the analysis is complete. Hardwick and Winsor (6) describe the development of new maintenance standards for Energy Australia based on the application of RCM principles. Regarded as a successful technical and change management project, there were significant benefits estimated on 25000 Pole and Kiosk Substations. The traditional maintenance program had demanded an annual budget $6.875M per year. Typically $3.75M per year had been budgeted for, with the budget shortfall showing as work backlog. As a result of the project, new maintenance standards were developed. These changes did not affect the period or frequency of the preventive maintenance, but only the methodology or activities. The resulting maintenance program demanded a budget of $2M per year. With full implementation of the new program, a payback period for the project is estimated to be 4 months. This example clearly demonstrates the extent of the over-maintaining problem as well as the effectiveness of a successful review of preventive maintenance activities by hypothetical failure analysis. Another method of performing a review of Preventive Maintenance activities is a “Reverse RCM” process in which each activity is reviewed and tested for its purpose, value and possible duplication against other

A straw survey of industry supported by published maintenance frequencies shows a distinct preference for certain intervals when specifying Preventive Maintenance frequencies.

These are:

· Monthly
· Quarterly (3 Monthly)
· Semi Annually (6 Monthly)
· Annually

This observation supports the contention that maintenance frequencies based on “personal judgement” are heavily influenced by monthly and annual calendar cycles. If each of these frequencies was extended by just one week most maintenance facilities could realise a 20% reduction in the direct cost of their Preventive Maintenance Program such as Maxpanda CMMS. If Preventive Maintenance activities are allocated to the preferred frequency intervals above in a conservative manner it is easy to imagine a situation for many activities of over-maintaining by a factor of up to 200%. The resulting over-maintaining adds little or no value to the detection or prevention of asset failure.

Impact of Preventive Maintenance Frequency on Reliability

It is assumed that as Preventive Maintenance frequency increases (i.e. the interval between Preventive Maintenance activities is reduced) the cost of performing the Preventive maintenance activity increases. It is also often assumed that the probability of failure reduces with increased Preventive Maintenance frequency. The relationship between Preventive Maintenance frequency and the probability of failure prevention (assumes that the Preventive Maintenance activity is successful and the penalty costs are avoided).

Frequency
Probability of Failure
Prevention

Effect of PM Frequency Reduction on Assets Reliability

The challenge associated with frequency reduction is that without reasonable failure data or history, it is difficult to know where the current Preventive Maintenance frequency sits on the graph. Reductions in the “Danger Zone” indicated in Figure 4, would result in proportional reductions in assets reliability. If the current maintenance frequency is low then significant reductions in reliability may not be apparent for some time. If the current maintenance frequency were high, then reductions in maintenance frequency within the “Danger Zone” would result in more Immediate reductions in reliability.

Frequency reduction may only be a reasonable strategy where the consequences of failure are
low and the current frequency is high. Minor reductions in maintenance frequency with these
characteristics can yield considerable returns as demonstrated in the following case study.

CASE STUDY – WASTE ELIMINATION THROUGH FREQUENCY REDUCTION

The following case study is from the manufacturing sector. The maintenance facility had recently conducted a review of their Preventive Maintenance activities, but backlog was continuing to climb as work was deferred. Site personnel were concerned that:

· Work backlog would rise to unmanageable levels,
· Critical Preventive Maintenance activities were being neglected in the deferred work

A further review of the Preventive Maintenance activities was considered to be of little value. For this reason it was decided to target the maintenance frequencies for possible reduction.

Reducing the Cost of Preventive Maintenance

Assets Criticality Rating: The criticality ratings were applied to individual Preventive Maintenance activities. The relative number of Preventive Maintenance activities in each of the Business Impact categories is shown. This chart shows that a high proportion of activities were directed at the prevention of “Negligible Impact” failures or failures with low levels of “Loss of Production” Safety / Environmental 22% Total Production Stopper 0% Partial Production Stopper 44% Negligible Impact 34%

CONCLUSION

Preventive Maintenance activities can have a significant impact on waste in maintenance and manufacturing as a result of both under-maintaining and over-maintaining. The problem of over-maintaining receives little attention by comparison with under-maintaining. The choice of Preventive Maintenance frequency impacts the total cost of the Preventive Maintenance program.
Conservative approaches to setting Preventive Maintenance frequencies increase maintenance waste while adding little or no value to the detection or prevention of asset failure.
The review of Preventive Maintenance activities has been shown in the past to effectively reduce waste caused by over-maintaining. A review of Preventive Maintenance frequencies offers further opportunities to reduce Preventive Maintenance effort. The reduction of Preventive Maintenance frequencies for high frequency activities on low criticality assets provides a method for quickly and effectively reducing Preventive Maintenance costs and eliminating maintenance waste.

Maxwell Davidson,
Business Analyst – Maintenance PM WO mt
Maxpanda CMMS |max@maxpanda.com | https://www.maxpanda.com | +424-272-6675

operating asset

The Plant Wellness Way EAM System-of-Reliability

Start turning an operation with a production and maintenance rat race into one with world class operating assets by making just one asset world class reliable, then a second asset, then a third, then add a few COMPLETED Work Orders.

Your company’s maintenance and production performance are set by the systems and processes you use daily and in between shutdowns. Organizations with rat race behaviors have their systems and processes made them work as such. Breaking-out of the production and maintenance rat race needs new processes and software systems implemented that don’t allow rat race behaviors to start. Using the Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM strategy will change your enterprise asset management system for the better and the rest of your sub-processes into a world class solution. You will only use those methods and practices that bring the greatest production and maintenance successes by setting up and following your set preventive maintenance schedule and task library units.

Introducing Maxpanda CMMS to stop the maintenance rat race and bring world class reliability success into your company is done one operating asset at a time.

operating assetSuccessful change management needs a true belief that the change is truly worthwhile, and its achievement is certain. In a Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM transition, you start with one equipment item and make it world class reliable within days not weeks. You change to Maxpanda asset management system and processes that impact just that item of plant. Once you get the first operating asset up to world class performance you do the same to another asset, and the rest. Staff will soon view your new process as a winning environment. Stop the paper notes, spreadsheet mentally today, seriously. That thought of saving money from using CMMS software is such an old school methodology that it creates environments of discourse.

Because you designed and proof-tested the Plant Wellness Way Maxpanda EAM system on individual items of plant until they were all world class reliable equipment, everyone knows that you have a highly successful solution on your hand, so what’s holding you back?

Once your people and senior management see how straight-forward, practical, and fast Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM is, you’ll be able to ramp-up the speed and get the rest of your operation changed into a Plant Wellness Way EAM site super fast.

Your system and process should focus now from maintenance rat race to world class asset health and wellness.

Changing from rat race maintenance behavior to world class reliability one asset at a time is done by focusing the power of Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM Asset Management methodology on all the systems and assets. Select and embed into each phase of the asset life cycle those actions and activities that maximize operating asset reliability will be easily Reported on in a week. Running 25 different system Reports in Maxpanda as well as scheduling the reports for viewing in various formats when you want and with data since you start with Maxpanda CMMS.

Because the Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM methodology demands a life cycle perspective, it ensures you build a business-wide, life cycle long “asset wellness system” for your first chosen equipment. Having done all the hard work with establishing design engineering, supply chain, operating, po, maintenance strategy and practices for maximize reliability on the first asset, it’s much simpler to do that for the second asset. In fact with Maxpanda you can and should apply the method to all your assets if you have similar experience in CMMS.

Step by step, one asset after the other, you begin slowly to change your company. Soon you build a track record of great success through Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM.

To learn how Plant Wellness Maxpanda EAM and how our CMMS can get you to your pinnacle of maintenance and operations – contact us or schedule a private webinar.

– Maxwell Davidson

pci compliance

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard

Document Includes:

PCI DSS (PCI Data Security Standard Requirements and Security Assessment
Procedures) Guidance on Scoping
Guidance on the intent of all PCI DSS Requirements
Details of testing procedures
Guidance on Compensating Controls
SAQ Instructions and Guidelines
documents
Information about all SAQs and their eligibility criteria
How to determine which SAQ is right for your
organization
PCI DSS and PA-DSS Glossary of
Terms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms
Descriptions and definitions of terms used in the PCI
DSS and self-assessment questionnaires
These and other resources can be found on the PCI SSC website (www.pcisecuritystandards.org).
Organizations are encouraged to review the PCI DSS and other supporting documents before beginning
an assessment.
Expected Testing
PCI DSS, and provide a high-level description of the types of testing activities that should be performed in
order to verify that a requirement has been met. Full details of testing procedures for each requirement
can be found in the PCI DSS.

PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page v

Completing the Self-Assessment Questionnaire
For each question, status regarding that
requirement. Only one response should be selected for each question.
A description of the meaning for each response is provided in the table below:
Response When to use this response:
Yes The expected testing has been performed, and all elements of the
requirement have been met as stated.
Yes with CCW
(Compensating
Control Worksheet)
The expected testing has been performed, and the requirement has
been met with the assistance of a compensating control.
All responses in this column require completion of a Compensating
Control Worksheet (CCW) in Appendix B of the SAQ.
Information on the use of compensating controls and guidance on how
to complete the worksheet is provided in the PCI DSS.
No Some or all elements of the requirement have not been met, or are in
the process of being implemented, or require further testing before it will
be known if they are in place.
N/A
(Not Applicable)
The requirement does not apply to the environment. (See
Guidance for Non-Applicability of Certain, Specific Requirements below
for examples.)
All responses in this column require a supporting explanation in
Appendix C of the SAQ.
Guidance for Non-Applicability of Certain, Specific Requirements
If any requirements are deemed not applicable to your environment, select the
specific requirement, and –
entry.
Legal Exception
If your organization is subject to a legal restriction that prevents the organization from meeting a PCI DSS
PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 1: Assessment Information January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 2
Part 2b. Description of Payment Card Business
How and in what capacity does your business
store, process and/or transmit cardholder data?
Part 2c. Locations
List types of facilities (for example, retail outlets, corporate offices, data centers, call centers, etc.) and a
summary of locations included in the PCI DSS review.
Type of facility
Number of facilities
of this type Location(s) of facility (city, country)
Example: Retail outlets 3 Boston, MA, USA
Part 2d. Payment Application
Does the organization use one or more Payment Applications? Yes No
Provide the following information regarding the Payment Applications your organization uses:
Payment Application
Name
Version
Number
Application
Vendor
Is application
PA-DSS Listed?
PA-DSS Listing Expiry
date (if applicable)
Yes No

Part 2e. Description of Environment
Provide a high-level description of the environment covered by
this assessment.
For example:
Connections into and out of the cardholder data environment
(CDE).
Critical system components within the CDE, such as POS
devices, databases, web servers, etc., and any other
necessary payment components, as applicable.
Does your business use network segmentation to affect the scope of your PCI DSS
environment?
(Refer to Network Segmentation section of PCI DSS for guidance on network
segmentation)
Yes No
PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 1: Assessment Information January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 3
Part 2f. Third-Party Service Providers
Does your company use a Qualified Integrator & Reseller (QIR)?
If Yes:
Name of QIR Company:
QIR Individual Name:
Description of services provided by QIR:
Yes No
Does your company share cardholder data with any third-party service providers (for
example, Qualified Integrator & Resellers (QIR), gateways, payment processors, payment
service providers (PSP), web-hosting companies, airline booking agents, loyalty program
agents, etc.)?
Yes No
If Yes:
Name of service provider: Description of services provided:
Note: Requirement 12.8 applies to all entities in this list.
Part 2g. Eligibility to Complete SAQ A
Merchant certifies eligibility to complete this shortened version of the Self-Assessment Questionnaire
because, for this payment channel:
Merchant accepts only card-not-present (e-commerce or mail/telephone-order) transactions);
All processing of cardholder data is entirely outsourced to PCI DSS validated third-party service
providers;
Merchant does not electronically store, process, or transmit any cardholder data on merchant systems
or premises, but relies entirely on a third party(s) to handle all these functions;
Merchant has confirmed that all third party(s) handling storage, processing, and/or transmission of
cardholder data are PCI DSS compliant; and
Any cardholder data the merchant retains is on paper (for example, printed reports or receipts), and
these documents are not received electronically.
Additionally, for e-commerce channels:
All elements of the payment page(s) only and directly
from a PCI DSS validated third-party service provider(s).
2018-07-22

PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 2: Self-Assessment Questionnaire January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 10
Appendix A: Additional PCI DSS Requirements
Appendix A1: Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Shared Hosting Providers
This appendix is not used for merchant assessments.
Appendix A2: Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Entities using SSL/early TLS
This appendix is not used for SAQ A merchant assessments
Appendix A3: Designated Entities Supplemental Validation (DESV)
This Appendix applies only to entities designated by a payment brand(s) or acquirer as requiring
additional validation of existing PCI DSS requirements. Entities required to validate to this Appendix
should use the DESV Supplemental Reporting Template and Supplemental Attestation of Compliance for
reporting, and consult with the applicable payment brand and/or acquirer for submission procedures.
PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 2: Self-Assessment Questionnaire January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 11
Appendix B: Compensating Controls Worksheet
YES with CCW
checked.
Note: Only companies that have undertaken a risk analysis and have legitimate technological or
documented business constraints can consider the use of compensating controls to achieve compliance.
Refer to Appendices B, C, and D of PCI DSS for information about compensating controls and guidance
on how to complete this worksheet.
Requirement Number and Definition:
Information Required Explanation

1. Constraints List constraints precluding compliance with the original requirement.
2. Objective Define the objective of the original control; identify the objective met by
the compensating control.
3. Identified Risk Identify any additional risk posed by the lack of the original control.
4. Definition of Compensating Controls Define the compensating controls and explain how they address the
objectives of the original control and the increased risk, if any.
5. Validation of Compensating Controls Define how the compensating controls were validated and tested.
6. Maintenance Define process and controls in place to
maintain compensating controls.

PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 2: Self-Assessment Questionnaire January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 12
Appendix C: Explanation of Non-Applicability
If the (Not Applicable) column was checked in the questionnaire, use this worksheet to explain why
the related requirement is not applicable to your organization.
Requirement Reason Requirement is Not Applicable
Example:
3.4 Cardholder data is never stored electronically
Stripe
PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 3: Validation and Attestation Details January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 13
Section 3: Validation and Attestation Details
Part 3. PCI DSS Validation
This AOC is based on results noted in SAQ A (Section 2), dated (SAQ completion date).
Based on the results documented in the SAQ A noted above, the signatories identified in Parts 3b-3d, as
applicable, assert(s) the following compliance status for the entity identified in Part 2 of this document:
(check one):
Compliant: All sections of the PCI DSS SAQ are complete, all questions answered affirmatively,
resulting in an overall COMPLIANT rating; thereby (Merchant Company Name) has demonstrated full
compliance with the PCI DSS.
Non-Compliant: Not all sections of the PCI DSS SAQ are complete, or not all questions are answered
affirmatively, resulting in an overall NON-COMPLIANT rating, thereby (Merchant Company Name) has
not demonstrated full compliance with the PCI DSS.
Target Date for Compliance:
An entity submitting this form with a status of Non-Compliant may be required to complete the Action
Plan in Part 4 of this document. Check with your acquirer or the payment brand(s) before completing
Part 4.
Compliant but with Legal exception:
restriction that prevents the requirement from being met. This option requires additional review from
acquirer or payment brand.
If checked, complete the following:
Affected Requirement Details of how legal constraint prevents requirement being met
Part 3a. Acknowledgement of Status
Signatory(s) confirms:
(Check all that apply)
PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaire A, Version (version of SAQ), was completed according to the
instructions therein.
All information within the above-referenced SAQ and in this attestation fairly represents the results of
my assessment in all material respects.
I have confirmed with my payment application vendor that my payment system does not store sensitive
authentication data after authorization.
I have read the PCI DSS and I recognize that I must maintain PCI DSS compliance, as applicable to
my environment, at all times.
If my environment changes, I recognize I must reassess my environment and implement any additional
PCI DSS requirements that apply.
PCI DSS v3.2 SAQ A, Rev. 1.1 Section 3: Validation and Attestation Details January 2017
© 2006-2017 PCI Security Standards Council, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Page 15
Part 4. Action Plan for Non-Compliant Requirements
Select the appropriate t for each requirement. If you
o may be required to provide the date your Company expects to be
compliant with the requirement and a brief description of the actions being taken to meet the requirement.
Check with your acquirer or the payment brand(s) before completing Part 4.
PCI DSS
Requirement* Description of Requirement
Compliant to PCI
DSS Requirements
(Select One)
Remediation Date and Actions
(If selected for any
Requirement)
YES NO
2 Do not use vendor-supplied
defaults for system passwords and
other security parameters
8 Identify and authenticate access to
system components
9 Restrict physical access to
cardholder data
12
Maintain a policy that addresses
information security for all
personnel

* PCI DSS Requirements indicated here refer to the questions in Section 2 of the SAQ.

DOWNLOAD MAXPANDA’S PCI / DATA COMPLIANCE DOCS any time at Maxpanda.com

CMMS Work Order & PM Calendar

Healthcare Efficiency using Maxpanda CMMS

If your not on Maxpanda, Your not optimized

Published on 

 cmms for ambulance   cmms for ambulance
 

By Maxwell Davidson

Healthcare companies, hospitals, and medical clinics have tons of equipment, infrastructure, and data that needs to be handled in a structured  and EXTREMELY SECURE manner. Inefficiencies in management not only affect productivity, but also raise the risk of liability. Fortunately, computerized maintenance management systems such as Maxpanda CMMS offer a complete solution.

As healthcare continues to evolve, hospitals, clinics, rehab facilities and other medical centers need to look for solutions that offer streamlined and structured functioning. The Maxpanda healthcare CMMS program ensures that your organizations maintains a high level of efficiency while keeping abreast with constant changes in your space. Here are the top five ways that MAXPANDA CMMS helps healthcare facility managers like you:

  1. Tracking supplies – Medication, chemicals, and other supplies are the backbone of any healthcare facility. A properly maintained database is essential, both for smooth day-to-day workings, reducing the risk of liability issues and adhering to legal/regulatory requirements. The best CMMS software helps facility managers to record ingoing and outgoing medication/chemicals, create reordering alerts, and maintain a database for tracking supplies. Since everything is automated, the time and cost savings are huge.
  2. Tracking maintenance tasks – With computerized maintenance management systems, facility managers can ensure that maintenance jobs are put on a proper schedule and conducted in a timely manner. Other than scheduling tasks, a CMMS system also allows managers to track jobs conducted on an “as needed” basis.
  3. Tracking patient needs – In a healthcare facility, patients are customers and their comfort and security is a priority. MAXPANDA CMMS software can help tremendously, by handling everything from HVAC temperature regulation, handicap accessibility, and food/drink requests to special machinery/medication, plumbing repairs, and more.
  4. Tracking equipment – Healthcare facilities rely on countless of assets, both within the facility and off. Every room has basic medical equipment as well as specialized machinery and accessories (e.g., wheelchairs, stretchers, lifts, arjo beds etc.) that are constantly moved around. Multiply this by the number of rooms, add offsite and backup machinery to your total, and there’s a large inventory of assets. The age of each item, warranty and repair information, quantity, and location are just a few details that need to be tracked at all times. CMMS software can reduce the workload tremendously.
  5. Tracking vehicles – Most facility managers don’t think of vehicles when they’re implementing CMMS maintenance software. However, vehicles used in hospitals and clinics need to be maintained and tracked as efficiently as the facility’s onsite medical equipment. After all, healthcare organizations must track everything from the number of ambulances and emergency vehicles available to their age, repair and warranty history, and their cleaning/maintenance schedules. Automated software makes this easier and faster.

Automated software cuts down time, effort and cost required for tracking patient requests, issuing jobs to relevant personnel, locating items, equipment  and maintaining a proper historical record of these activities (what happens when Mike retires?).

cmms for ambulance

Financial Gains for In and Out

Like any other industry, hospitals and clinics need to make money by maintaining their costs per yearly budget. Facilities that want to stay ahead of their competitors need to ensure that they work at maximum efficiency, increasing their profits in a manner that doesn’t raise the risk of errors, lawsuits, and liability issues. As with any other business, MAXPANDA CMMS systems allows healthcare organizations to save money by streamlining their facility and asset management. Maximizing efficiency is the best way to boost profits, which in turn allows the facility to invest in better equipment, clinicians, support personnel, and other assets that lead to an enhanced patient experience.

cmms preventive maintenance software

Using Maxpanda to Reduce Reactive Maintenance

Reactive maintenance is planned or unplanned work with a priority designation requiring immediate attention

Reactive Problems

Organizations that are reactive typically do not believe it’s possible to perform work any other way. Overall, they get frustrated. Maybe it’s lack of training or leadership resistance. Either way, it’s affecting worker productivity due to the majority of work being unplanned. Unscheduled work also affects job safety. When workers feel rushed, bad things happen. Lastly, those organizations with poor reliability typically waste 10 percent of their company revenue.

Consider This

Maxpanda asset management software plays a major role in the change that you are about to embark on. Typically, users struggle to leverage CMMS in support of asset reliability, this may be because they need better set of instructions or they’re frightened of using computers and smartphones. This is why we built Maxpanda CMMS as well as GoMAX! Mobile CMMS Assistant. Maxpanda will help you improve the way you create, manage and report on your incoming work orders and your preventative maintenance routines. Whether you’re a sole proprietor or national enterprise, Maxpanda has a price plan to fit your budget. We’re pushing the limits of technology and we want you to be part of the journey. Our Mission is to disrupt the CMMS industry with a platform that’s faster, better, and more affordable. Our Fair Pricing Model: For decades CMMS software has been a race to the bottom with clunky outdated solutions offering far more frustration than value. We wanted to change all that by providing software that just works. We want Maxpanda to be an amazing value for your organization — helpful on-boarding with 24/7 support. Maxpanda is an investment in your team and culture. Our fair pricing model is set at a level that allows us to continuously invest in enhancing a solid product & service while providing the greatest user experience & ROI possible.

  1. Establish a solid preventive maintenance (PM). Establish maintenance strategies using formal reliability centered maintenance for quick and easy analysis. Otherwise, rely on manuals from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and staff experience. A problem arises when that staff retires or manufacturer is out of business. Place emphasis on condition and cost monitoring software, such as Maxpanda CMMS. With early asset defects and identifications, the staff can prevent unplanned breakdowns and collateral damage. By proactively planning needed repairs, your ultimately creating an environment of savings. In support of your Maxpanda CMMS PM program, you should ensure that all maintenance staff members have basic computer knowledge coupled with their maintenance skills.
  2. Synchronize your data with +1000 apps: What does mAPI stand for? mAPI is a proprietary Maxpanda API software specifically developed to securely transfer data from your Maxpanda CMMS database to other software that also operate on highly secure API web protocols. mAPI Software Integration. Join millions of people like you who seek to manage their work orders online, seamlessly integrate preventative maintenance routines on buildings, vehicles, locations, assets and much more into their existing systems.
  3. Establish a amazing reliability team. It helps to have more than one person focused on asset, building, location, warehouse and plant availability. These staff should rely heavily on the CMMS system for failure analysis, as well as decision making pertaining towards any root cause analysis.
  4. Perform root cause analysis (RCA) on worst events to identify the true cause based on the trigger point. Use Maxpanda CMMS by setting metered triggers in addition to PM schedules for each major piece of equipment.
  5. Perform localized inspections where and when needed evaluating specific assets to isolate problems and failures comparing the history through Maxpanda Active Reporting Modules.
  6. Utilize defect elimination techniques, such as brainstorming, quality circles and kaizen events, all of which involve working level and cross-functional group discussions.
  7. Conduct system walk-downs and record problems using your GoMAX! Mobile App as individual staff or groups.
  8. Establish a core team to manage Maxpanda CMMS daily or weekly. Train your staff on the importance of data entry, establish business rules, build standard operating procedures (SOPs), set up mandatory fields and TASKS and conduct periodic audits.
  9. Perform formal job planning to provide sequenced task steps, material/craft requirements, safety/hazard precautions, as well as reference materials and permits. Job instructions help keep workers safe, organized and informed. Job plans also help the craft follow standardized actions to ensure asset performance. The planner role is multifaceted, but key points include a well defined pm & task library.
  10. Create a formal weekly schedule process by selecting the fully planned work that can be relied on by operations, maintenance, warehouse/purchasing, and health, safety and the environment.
  11. Train maintenance staff as well as vendors to not perform self-inflicted reactive maintenance whereby they purposely decide to do unscheduled, low priority work. Schedule all work orders and metered and preventative maintenance in Maxpanda with strict priority settings matching industry standards.