Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) are effective tools in managing operations and maintenance costs for any industry that maintains equipment. In general a good CMMS system will reduce overall long term costs dramatically by reducing downtime, reducing energy consumption, optimizing staff functions, improving productivity, and lengthening equipment life.

A well-implemented CMMS helps ensure scheduled and timely maintenance. It will alert managers to problems that often go unnoticed or equipment that continues to fail and is repaired repeatedly. The CMMS also generates scheduled work orders that contain, at a minimum, the manufacturer's recommended procedures to keep the equipment in top operating condition-or peak efficiency. Finally, the CMMS will direct equipment maintenance activities along the manufacturer's recommended guidelines. In combination, these are all designed to extend the life of the equipment.

From a staffing perspective, a key consideration for managers is optimizing staff to meet workflow requirements. Without a CMMS, calculating labor costs and potential savings is time consuming. However, a fully implemented CMMS will contain information, such as base rates, loaded rates, and company fringe rates, to help streamline this analysis-which otherwise may not be done.

In addition to helping managers optimize staff numbers, a CMMS can help improve the staff's productivity. For example, a plant's maintenance staff of 50 has an average labor rate of $30 per hour. If implementing the system increases each employee's productivity by 5 minutes per hour, the annual savings would be about $260,000.