Choosing a CMMS: 5 tips for finding the right solution

Equip yourself with a GMAO, that's good. Choosing the right solution, it's better. A lot of software is available on the market, among which it is not always easy to find your way around. Between free but useless solutions and archaic and overpriced software, the risks of making mistakes are multiple, and can have a serious impact on the productivity of your factory.

To help you choosing a good CMMS which will be beneficial to the management of the maintenance of your equipment, here are some simple but wise tips. Follow the guide!

Pay the right price for your CMMS

We find “solutions” of GMAO for all prices. But as is often the case, “free” does not mean “effective”, and “expensive” does not mean “efficient.”

Avoid the “free” CMMS trap

Most of the so-called “free” solutions are either very limited in practice or they mask hidden costs. Thus, the use of Excel, a time practiced in many companies, does not allow real maintenance management in the modern sense of the word. In practice, open source software is reserved for computer experts because it is very complex to use. They are therefore unusable in most businesses.

Free versions... and usable?

As for professional software dedicated to maintenance management, some publishers offer free versions. If they give the illusion of being able to acquire a genuine CMMS solution without paying a cent, they are in reality limited trial versions (limited functionalities, limited number of users, etc.), which do not allow sustainable use. Sometimes, the publisher gives access to the full version of their software, but for a limited time. Then you have to pay. And it's often very expensive.

Indeed, most conventional software is particularly expensive: between 50,000 and 200,000 euros, with maintenance costs around 10,000 euros per year, to which must be added days of service for the installation and training of users. But you are not condemned to make this considerable and uncertain investment to have a powerful CMMS software.

Choosing a CMMS at the right price

There is in fact a new generation of software available at much more attractive rates and not requiring such a massive investment, such as the platform of maintenance management Mobility Work, which offers profiles adapted to the various maintenance professionals. Thus, only Technician and Administrator profiles are invoiced: service providers access the tool for free.

Avoid hidden costs

In addition to the initial investment, traditional solutions usually involve, as mentioned above, hidden costs.

Choose free data integration

All maintenance services rely on data, which is often scattered across different files and software, but needs to be integrated into the CMMS solution that you will choose. However, most software publishers charge for the integration of this data. The company must then choose between abandoning its old data or paying the imposed price.

Our team imports your data for free to guarantee you the adoption of CMMS in a few days

On the other hand, with a Latest generation CMMS such as Mobility Work, a free history import service is offered, as soon as the application is tested.

Save yourself expensive training

The other major hidden cost of conventional software lies in the training required to use it. In fact, these CMMS tools offer outdated and unintuitive interfaces, and are very complicated to use. Maintenance teams must therefore follow training courses that can last up to one month before being able to use them!

La Mobile CMMS by Mobility Work, on the other hand, is designed to offer a very simplified experience, which allows any technician to take ownership of the application in a few minutes thanks to an ergonomics similar to that of everyday applications. In just one day, a company with 20 maintenance technicians can start using this solution.

Mobility Work is built around a community of users, who exchange and follow the activity of their factory thanks to the news feed

Think about the motivation of your teams

When adopting a new method or a major new tool within a company, it always creates reluctance and can cause negative reactions within teams. One CMMS software Classic technology will tend to cause this type of phenomenon because, while it is used for analysis and maintenance management, it often makes the work of maintenance teams more complicated and their tasks heavier.

With an application like Mobility Work, on the other hand, all teams' work immediately becomes easier. For example, writing maintenance intervention reports is much easier, since each operator can do it from a smartphone or tablet as soon as the intervention is over, including by voice input. He can also consult the history of interventions on each machine, at any time and from any location.

Mobility Work allows operators and technicians to be autonomous: calendar, checklists, creation of tasks, maintenance plans, notifications for each new activity...

Don't forget customer support!

Most companies that offer maintenance management solutions provide customer support throughout the duration of use. When it is effective, it saves users time and prevents them from being “stuck” in front of a tool that is supposed to facilitate the work of maintenance teams.

Before choosing your CMMS solution, so make sure that it will be accompanied by free, efficient and easily reachable customer support.

Choose a scalable CMMS solution

Technologies and business needs are changing very rapidly. Toute CMMS solution, however efficient it may be, is therefore destined to become obsolete if it is not regularly updated. While traditional software is rarely and insufficiently updated, a new generation application as Mobility Work is every week. In addition, these updates are enriched, thanks to the community operation of the application, the feedback and choices of users, to be as close as possible to their needs. It is one of the advantages of a SAAS application, which is updated automatically.

In addition, this particularity gives you access to the latest innovations in maintenance management. This will allow you to constantly improve the productivity and therefore the competitiveness of your factory.

You are now a little better equipped for choose CMMS that will best suit your needs and those of your teams. Software vendors often highlight the supposed benefits of their product by hiding their hidden drawbacks, limitations, and costs. Determine your selection criteria in advance and use them as a basis. It is the best way to select the CMMS software that will take you forward.