January 21, 2016

6 Ways the Super Bowl Relies On CMMS

As football season slowly winds down, the day of the big game approaches and arguably the biggest yearly event in all of sports gets ready to hit the center stage. We aren't talking Wrestlemania here: We're talking about the Super Bowl. For one glorious day, millions of eyes are glued to their televisions as they watch the Technicolor glory of two weary teams going head to head to battle over an inflatable piece of pork skin.

On top of all of the pageantry, drama, and (sometimes) comedy that the big game brings, there are also the halftime show and, of course, the mad flurry of witty advertisements trying to earn their moment in the marketing sun, and not without paying a hefty sum for the privilege, either.

While the coaches, managers, trainers, and players all expend a great deal of time and hard work making the Super Bowl possible, there is also a group of headstrong individuals who sit in the background, making sure everything runs smoothly. Without these unsung heroes, game day would never exist, in fact, football players would never get to set foot inside of a stadium at all or, if they did, it would be on a much less prestigious piece of greenery.

These heroes, of course, are the men and women in the maintenance and reliability industry. Through dogged determination and a lot of elbow grease, they make arenas and grounds clean and safe for players to run around on. Imagine, for instance, if the groundskeepers and turf professionals were not diligent in their maintenance of the Astroturf the players treat so harshly. That fine greenery would be a slippery, muddy mess in most cases, full of uneven, trip-worthy spots that would not only be difficult to play on but would look hideous on high-definition television sets. And of course, it would cause more injuries as well. Think of Peyton Manning stubbing his toe on a stubborn piece of rock right as he is about to toss the ball down the field to the end zone. No Gatorade celebration would be happening as he limped his way off to the sidelines.

What about all of the food consumed by hungry patrons or beer sloshing around as football fans yell, angry that the opposing team just scored big? Who would clean all of that mess up? How many paint-bellied sports enthusiasts would slip and stumble downstairs if there was no one there to clean up the mess? Think of the hordes of cockroaches descending on game-day hot dog leftovers and crawling up pantlegs as you try to enjoy yourself.

Food safety is another concern, especially when dealing with such a large crowd. You need some way to ensure that all kitchen equipment is functioning properly and that employees are trained in proper food handling, and you need a place to store that information as well as other safety documents.

All of the above can greatly benefit from the help of a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), and I would be hard-pressed to think that any stadium, especially one hosting the Super Bowl, would not use maintenance software of some kind.

Another great benefit that a CMMS brings to the table for large sporting events is the scheduling of employees. From concession stand runners to security guards, there are an overwhelming amount of workers who need to be scheduled and assigned tasks. A CMMS gives you one centralized location to do all of this.

During the game itself, you may need to issue all sorts of work orders. Think of 80,000-plus people relying on your plumbing system: There is bound to be an issue, and if one arises, you will need a way to quickly send a team out to resolve it before things get messy.

And responding to current issues and hazards is only part of the concern during the Super Bowl; the weeks (and months) leading up to the big event require that a stadium has a healthy dose of preventative and proactive maintenance, and this is an area that maintenance software excels in. Monitoring equipment and facility grounds, making sure routine maintenance is performed, and being able to easily track your assets are all part of any event. Without a CMMS in hand, you might as well pack your bags and head home because the game will certainly be over before the coin gets tossed.

Who knows: Maybe one year, the facility manager will get recognized as the true MVP of the Super Bowl and earn himself a Gatorade bath!