Maintenance software lets you plan and document your maintenance dates digitally. Additional features such as fault reports, work orders, asset management and an overview of material consumption are a practical part of a maintenance system as well. Compared with an Excel list or handwritten records, it has the advantage that your data is kept in one central place, available to your whole team. Everything you need for the next inspection is there, complete and structured.
Whether it pays off for your company depends on three things above all: how many maintenance objects you manage, how many people are involved in maintenance, and which inspection duties you have to document.
What is a CMMS?
CMMS stands for Computerized Maintenance Management System. In everyday use people simply say maintenance software or maintenance system. As a rule they mean the same thing.
At its core a CMMS answers seven questions: Which maintenance objects belong to your company? Where are they? Which documents belong to an object? How often do these machines and systems need maintenance? Which work steps does the maintenance require? Who is responsible for which maintenance task? Which maintenance measures were carried out in the past?
The CMMS compared with other systems
- EAM(Enterprise Asset Management)
- Covers the whole life cycle of equipment and plants. The CMMS is one part of the EAM. Beyond that, an EAM focuses on investment planning, procurement, cost over the lifetime (TCO), depreciation, compliance and risk, and so supports the decision to replace or retire an asset.
- ERP maintenance module
- Closely tied to purchasing and controlling, but built for the office desk. Extensive screens and limited mobile use make it cumbersome for technicians at the machine.
- CAFM(Computer Aided Facility Management)
- Designed for running buildings: besides building services also floor space, cleaning, energy and contracts. Maintenance is one area among many there; a CMMS concentrates on it alone.
- MES(Manufacturing Execution System)
- Controls ongoing production and concentrates on monitoring and optimising manufacturing. Maintenance planning modules are often part of an MES, but a dedicated CMMS usually goes deeper.
Why do you need maintenance software?
Without a system, your maintenance is almost always reactive. In the daily routine maintenance gets pushed back. That works only until the machine stops unplanned, the forklift fails, the hotel lift breaks down, or the final inspection reveals that the fire extinguisher check is overdue.
You save a good deal of time and searching when you centralise maintenance planning and documentation digitally. Then you no longer work with outdated document links in an Excel list, and you have every inspection record where you need it.
Signs that maintenance software would help your company
- Maintenance intervals are missed, and it is noticed far too late.
- Faults are reported by shouting across the hall, by phone or on slips of paper, and get lost.
- Before an inspection it takes hours to gather all the records.
- Spare parts are missing when maintenance needs them, or sit in stock for years.
Maintenance software turns individual repairs into a plannable process. That is the basis for the step from reactive to preventive maintenance.
Which kinds of maintenance solutions are there?
Maintenance software differs above all in where it runs, how extensive it is and whom it was built for. For most mid-sized companies the decision comes down to a cloud CMMS or an on-premise solution.
Which features should maintenance software have?
Core features
You should not do without these CMMS features:
Asset overview
All machines, vehicles and other maintenance objects, structured hierarchically by location, with all their documents and maintenance tasks attached.
Maintenance planning
Recurring maintenance and inspections at fixed intervals or by meter readings such as operating hours, with an automatic reminder when an inspection falls due.
Fault reporting
Staff report problems right on the spot, for example by smartphone. In a hotel, housekeeping reports a broken radiator straight from the room; a truck driver reports defects on the vehicle.
Work order management
Maintenance measures can be recorded, assigned to the person responsible and given a priority.
Mobile use
To keep important information from ending up on a slip of paper as a workaround after all, the system should offer mobile access. By app or browser, technicians see orders, checklists and asset information right on site and report completed maintenance straight back.
Documentation and inspection records
Records for inspection duties can be linked directly to the maintenance object.
Spare parts management
Everything needed and used for maintenance is registered. That way you avoid running out of resources when the next maintenance falls due.
Extended features as needed
Interfaces to ERP, MES or warehouse management, such as an SAP connection
Condition monitoring through sensors (IoT) and AI-supported analysis as the basis for predictive maintenance
Budget and cost planning for maintenance
Management of external service providers and service contracts
Geo-tracking of equipment and plants spread over large sites or a whole city, and of mobile maintenance objects
What does maintenance software cost?
The cost of maintenance software ranges from a few hundred euros a year to six-figure project budgets. It often depends on whether the solution is on-premise or cloud, on the scope of features, the number of users and the installation effort.
Cloud solutions are mostly billed per user and month, sometimes with cheaper accounts just for fault reports or read access. There are also prices per plant or object, fixed package prices and, typical of on-premise software, a one-off licence with annual maintenance fees.
Typical price ranges (guide values)
Cloud CMMS
- Running costs
- 10–100 € per user and month
- One-off costs
- 0–5,000 € for setup and training
On-premise CMMS
- Running costs
- 15–20 % of the licence price per year for maintenance
- One-off costs
- 10,000–50,000 € for licence and rollout
ERP module or EAM
- Running costs
- 15–25 % of the licence price per year, plus internal IT effort
- One-off costs
- 100,000–500,000 € as the project budget for the rollout
What savings can you expect from preventive maintenance planning?
Against the expenses stand savings that in practice are often higher than the licence costs. The main levers:
- Less unplanned downtime
- Less time spent searching and administering
- Better spare parts planning
- Longer service life of plants and equipment
- Lower liability and inspection risks
Maintenance software pays off when …
- You look after many plants, machines, vehicles or building services that need maintenance
- Several people, shifts or sites are involved in maintenance
- You have to prove inspection duties, for instance for work equipment, electrical appliances or lifts
- Downtime is expensive because it directly affects production, deliveries or customers
The classic fields are industry and production. Orderly maintenance planning pays off wherever a lot of equipment has to run reliably, though.
Maintenance software is less likely to pay off when …
- You look after only a few simple devices without inspection duties
- A single person handles maintenance on the side and reliably keeps the overview
- Maintenance is fully outsourced to a service provider who documents it themselves
- Your ERP already has a maintenance module that is genuinely used day to day
Comparing maintenance software: what should you look for?
Comparison portals, best-of lists and reviews on rating platforms give a first overview. More telling is a trial with your own assets and the people who will use the system later. Many vendors offer a demo or a free trial account for that.
The best maintenance software is the one that fits your team. These criteria help with the comparison.
- Usability
Can technicians work with it without long training? Is there an app or a mobile view?
- Scope of features
Are all core features covered without the system being overloaded?
- Operating model
Cloud or on-premise: what do your IT policies allow, and who takes care of updates?
- Total cost
Does the pricing model fit your number of users and assets? What does the solution cost over three to five years?
- Rollout effort
Is a rollout project needed, or can you start on your own?
- Interfaces
Do you need a connection to ERP, SAP or MES, and is it offered?
- Data protection and security
Server location in the EU, a data processing agreement, regular security audits
- Vendor
Support, contract term and notice periods
How does the rollout of maintenance software work?
Cloud maintenance software is usually up and running within days to weeks. On-premise and ERP solutions often take several months. The biggest effort is almost never the software itself but preparing the data.
Verdict: is maintenance software worth it?
Maintenance software pays off for most companies in which several people maintain assets or have to prove inspection duties. What matters is not the longest feature list but a system that is genuinely used day to day. For many mid-sized companies a cloud CMMS is the quickest way in.