Science In Energy Systems And Industrial Automation

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

CMMS or Computer Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) is a type of software program that allow for the support of operations in maintenance programs within a facility or building. (U.S Department of Energy, n.d.). The main reason for CMMS systems is to allow maintenance workers to perform their jobs with greater efficiency and to ensure reliability of the equipment. Maintenance within a facility has always been seen as a necessary evil because a maintenance department does not contribute to the company profits directly. As the equipment that company uses is probably one of its most valuable investments they will make, they must also invest in then maintenance of that equipment. With company profits also being affected by the global recession, maintenance and reduced down time of equipment is becoming even more important, with the implementation of a CMMS system both costs and downtime can be reduced and productivity can be increased . CMMS systems have been around for more than 30 years (Plant Serivces, n.d.). Originally a CMMS system was just a computerized version of a manual maintenance plan with 4 basic modules, work order control, inventory control, preventive maintenance and equipment history. Although modern CMMS have these functions, they have a much broader range applications such as barcode tracking, shift management and report generations. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast three computer maintenance management systems from different software companies and one of which being a free version.

CMMS Feature Comparisons

Table : CMMS Feature Comparisons below shows the comparisons between the three chosen computer maintenance management software packages. Although the table is designed to be as accurate as possible it was not possible to compare all features of each computer maintenance management system, the main software features that were available were compared.

MPulse - http://www.mpulsesoftware.com/ Paid For Software

CWorks - http://www.cworks.com.my/ Free Software

eMaint - http://www.emaint.com/index.php Paid for software (subscription)

Features

CWorks CMMS

eMaint

MPulse

Cost

Free

$40pm

n/a

Product tutorials

Equipment catalogue

Locations catalogue

Work order generation

Requests over internet

Automatic estimations

Work distribution

Spare parts and consumables inventory

Labour catalogue

Smartphones and tablets

Suppliers and external services catalogue

Tools receipt and return control

Resources and activities association

Resource flow

Automatic supply calculation

History of consumption and jobs performed

Scheduled vs. performed graph

Failures and root cause analysis

Graph of costs, stoppages etc.

Maintenances indexes

Maintenance plan libraries

Security

Automated work order email notifications

Web based Service

Shift Management

Barcode tracking

Key Performance Indicators

Budgeting and tracking

Employee Records

Customizable KPI’s

Third party application integration

Real time data analysis

Table : CMMS Feature Comparisons

MPulse

This computer maintenance management software offers four different levels and is a paid for service. These levels range from bronze to platinum with bronze being the basic version and platinum offering the full range of options. As a paid for package with a one off fee, MPulse offers a comprehensive list of tools and is ideal for more complex integrations such as companies spread out over numerous facilities or countries . Some of the available features are, automated work order e-mail notifications which generate work orders and sends them to the required team or personnel, web based service request form which allows for the submission of requests over the internet from anywhere within the facility or where else it is needed. The platinum package also does the general tasks required of computer maintenance management systems, generally these include: work orders, service requests, and tracking and controlling of inventory and managing vendors. The platinum package also includes some more in-depth features compared to free versions. Most of the tasks within the software are conducted at a computer station. So when technicians are out in the field, MPulse allows for the connection of wireless devices such as tablets or smart phones allowing them to ‘Manage, initiate and complete work orders wirelessly on your handheld device’ (MPulse Software, n.d.). The security feature is another good point within the system as it allows for each employees access to be limited to the work that they are need to perform on the system. A maintenance manager might need access to generate reports based on the costs and time taken to perform the tasks would have full access to the system whereas a maintenance operative or line operator may only need access to use register a problem, access work orders, fill them out and complete them might only have limited access to tools and information. The system also manages parts requisitions and purchase orders which can generate purchase orders when needed as the minimum levels of stock are reached. MPulse also has the option to allow for condition based maintenance which can measure and monitor multiple meters to record revolutions, pressure or hours and it can then trigger work orders if the machine has pasted a selected service interval set out by the equipment manufacturer. Because each company that implements a CMMS will differ in what they require from the system in the way of information recording, MPulse offers ‘Customization on the fly’ (MPulse Software, 2013) this enables a company to customize fields or to add completely new information such as plant tag numbers or even photographs. The approval routing management tool allows for specific tasks to be sent to specific departments. If a problem was found with a part of the mechanical system, the work order could be sent to a mechanical engineer, if it was an electrical problem it could be then sent to an electrical technician and so. This

CWorks CMMS

This computer maintenance management system is free software with a good amount of useful features. Just like MPulse, CWorks offers a web based service with no software need to be installed. All that is required is some online registration. The benefit of a web based system is that there is no need for a network infrastructure. CWorks seems to offer a great deal of features that are included in some of the paid for CMMS. It allows for the tracking and of spares and consumables, employee details, labour rates, report generation, setting of minimum and maximum stock levels (CWorks, n.d.). When it comes to asset or equipment management, CWorks allows for the tracking of warranty and contracts, multiple sites functionality which allows for the system to be rolled out in a number of facilities owned or maintained by the company similar to the MPulse software. Another good feature of this computer maintenance management software is the work order system that can track all the information from the task, from who conducted it, where it was conducted, parts consumed and to track the costs associated with the task such as parts costs and labour costs depending on the employee who completed the task. The ability to generate work orders dependant on meters such as with the MPulse system is also include in CWorks allowing work orders to be generated when a piece of equipment passed a set threshold which determines when preventive maintenance is required.

eMaint

This computer maintenance management software package is another paid for package with a monthly rate instead of a one off payment. Similar to MPulse, eMaint offers four levels for the software, standard, self-starter, get on board and all in package which allow for the software to be tailored depending on the size and requirements of the company implementing the computer maintenance management software. eMaint has a great deal of features, one feature with this software that did not seem to appear with the other packages was that the company offers access to training with the eMaint university subscription. What the eMaint university subscription allows is users to learn to use the software efficiently from online video tutorials and best practice concepts. Just like the other software packages, eMaint offers a wide range of features from the basic features like, tending, up to date data on work orders, monitoring equipment performance based on down time, customizable key performance indicators and report generation. Similar to CWorks, eMaint has the ability to automatically generate reports for each piece of equipment, or if needed reports can be generated manually within the software. eMaint also allows for barcode tracking. This allows maintenance personnel help track work orders by scanning the barcode on the equipment. eMaint also offers X3 which is a browser based software package that can allow maintenance personnel to access the computer maintenance management software when out in the field and does not need to be tethered to a desktop computer, similar to the feature offered with the MPulse software. The software also allows to the tracking of inventory between different store rooms which is a feature that is offered by both MPulse and also CWorks CMMS.

Conclusion

From the research conducted, it can be seen that all of the computer maintenance management software packages offer a wide of features, the free software package CWorks offers large range of features. Even when compared to the more expensive software such as MPulse it compares very favourably and offers a lot of the same features. Although all three computer maintenance management offer a web based service of some description, it seems that CWorks is the only software package that is an entirely web base CMMS which would allow easy expansion of the system although this would be wholly dependent on the possible connection to the internet which could also be considered a downside. By far the software package with the most features is the MPulse software which is one of the most professional and costly systems which were researched.