October 26, 2015
Keeping Your City Flourishing with a CMMS
If you were a fan of the game SimCity growing up, or any other type of city-building game, for that matter, you know well the struggles of trying to run a virtual city, let alone a real-life one! Fortunately for city planners and those who keep our counties humming, there are some tools that can help in this endeavor. One such tool is near and dear to our heart: the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).
Most laymen are not aware of the many facets it takes to keep their daily lives running smoothly. They never give a single thought, for instance, to the amount of work it requires for red lights to function properly or how much effort is needed to keep traffic flow, well, flowing. Even those of us in the reliability industry may have a tenuous grasp of all of the behind-the-scenes efforts it takes.
From public roadway systems to parks and recreation, ultimately, at the end of the day, there is a whole army of dedicated men and women making sure things go as planned. And behind that venerable army is a poor fellow trying desperately not to pull his last piece of hair out and keep track of all of the little details that make our cities work. But how do you juggle such a task?
Fortunately, there is help in the form of maintenance management software. And it's not only for the big cheese; every manager (and indeed, every employee) in the reliability industry can benefit from this handy piece of software. Whether you are part of the tourism industry, involved in criminal justice, or have a hand in public works, we all need a tool that lets us manage our assets and maintenance schedules.
For instance, if you manage facilities for the police department, you will need a way to track the many assets under your command, things such as bullet-proof vests, handcuffs, computer equipment, and police vehicles. Without a way to keep track of inventory needs, various city departments will not have the tools they need to perform their jobs, and a crucial part of what a city needs to survive will suffer.
Scheduling maintenance and ensuring that said maintenance gets performed properly and on time is something else a CMMS can help with. This applies not just to equipment and machinery but to grounds and facility maintenance routines as well. In fact, every reliability professional who works for the city can, in some way, benefit from management software.
At the end of the day, the managers for each of the different branches of the city will need to report in on various items: employee hours, productivity levels, budget and spending, and so forth. Gone are the days of spreadsheet invoices and time sheets. The present (and the future) relies on interconnectivity and seamless report flow. For that, you need software suited to the task at hand. Maintenance management software has this connectivity and reporting ability built in.
These are just a few things that a CMMS can do and be used to help keep your city on track and flourishing into the future!