CMMS specifications: save time by downloading our template!

Writing a CMMS specifications is an essential but tedious step in any project to adopt maintenance software. In its desire to facilitate the work of maintenance professionals and to save them time, Mobility Work provides you with a GMAO specification template to download free of charge, which you can use as is or by customizing it!

Download our CMMS specifications template

Why a CMMS specifications?

Of course, the choice of a CMMS concerns above all the maintenance department. But it also has an impact on the whole company: the adoption of a CMMS software involves the computerization of all activities related to maintenance: management of spare parts stocks, production, purchases... The implementation of this tool will undoubtedly be an opportunity for you to focus on the overall organization of maintenance within your company, in order to optimize human and material resources, improve processes and thus gain in responsiveness and productivity.

It is therefore important to take the time to study the various solutions available to you, by writing and completing a CMMS specifications in connection with all the company departments that will be concerned.

The key steps in setting up a CMMS

For the implementation of a CMMS to be both quick and successful, it is best to follow certain key steps:

• the preliminary study;
• specific developments;
• user tests;
• data integration;
• user training, if required;
• getting started.

Who should be involved in the drafting of the GMAO specifications?

The keystone of setting up a CMMS is the person in charge of the project. Eventually surrounded by the team he will have set up to carry it out successfully, he will have to centralize the needs, lead the meetings and write the specifications.

Future users of maintenance management software must of course be involved in the project: in a structured context, they must be questioned and their needs collected in order to take into account the difficulties they encounter in the field and their requests for improvement.

The company's other services related to maintenance, such as production, accounting or purchasing, must also be consulted, in order to take into account all the needs in the choice of software.

It is imperative that management fully approve the project: in addition to the financial aspect, its support will promote the involvement of all teams in the implementation of the new tool.

Finally, the IT department must absolutely be involved in the project: it will be able to integrate the company's software security requirements into the GMAO specifications.

The essentials of a specification

If you are not sure where to start or what your priorities are, focus on 2 essential elements: functional scope and processes.

The functional scope

To determine the functional scope of your future CMMS, be careful not to get lost in the details and do not try to make an exhaustive list of all the functionalities that could be used. Focus on what matters most by prioritizing the needs of each department. Remember that these will change over time anyway, as will the solution you choose.

Also, don't hesitate to listen to the advice of CMMS software providers and discuss it within your company.

Maintenance processes: the heart of a CMMS

The number 1 advantage that a CMMS should give you is to simplify and streamline all processes involving the maintenance department. So list a dozen important processes that you will manage in the software you choose. For example, this could be:

• requests for intervention: who creates them? how? who receives them?
• intervention planning: who is in charge of it? Who is concerned?
• of inventory management
• parts purchases: will they be managed in the CMMS?

5 tips for writing a CMMS specifications

• clearly state your goals;
• be precise and synthetic: specifications that are too detailed pose more problems than they provide solutions;
• work collectively to write specifications that build consensus between all future users and remain attentive to your collaborators;
• don't be too ambitious: focus on the features that will actually be used without trying to have everything;
• beware of spectacular offers that don't suit your needs.