Harnessing the Multiple Benefits of a Computerised Maintenance Management System

Those involved in maintenance operations are enjoying the benefits of information and communication technology in the planning and management of maintenance activities, resource management and planned production. In the digital space, the computer-based operating systems, commonly referred to as computerised maintenance management systems (CMMSs), enable quick and effective communication between stakeholders, facilitate improved planning, easy access to historical data, reporting and performance improvements of the maintenance function. However, success in the use of CMMSs depends on the human capacity of the users of the system. In practice, many organisations use the CMMS tool for planning, operations management and reporting, without the aid of detailed analysis of operational information in the CMMS database. They fail to harness all the possible benefits. Three case studies were used to illustrate the situation. Two of them refer to academic institutions and the third is a manufacturing company. In the academic institutions, the CMMS was used for maintenance planning, management and periodic reporting. The manufacturing company included analysis of the information in the operational database, which culminated in identifying the level of the reliability of machines in the production network through benchmarking. The conclusion is that the quality of the human capacity enables organisations to harness and make maximum use of the potentials inherent in typical CMMS software.