CMMS/EAM Software Review
Pressures from the real world are driving computerized maintenance management/enterprise asset management (CMMS/EAM) software vendors to rethink and revise not only their products, but how they can help users actually achieve a larger portion of the potential they shrink-wrap in every package.
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More than ever, CMMS/EAM vendors need you, their clients, to succeed. Many have identified room for improvement and are focusing their efforts on four key areas: industry specialization, implementation, integration and functionality. The changes they wrought have prompted us to revise and expand the Plant Services CMMS/EAM Software Review, our detailed hands-on comparison of current offerings.
This new version of the review allows you to decide just how in-depth you want to be in controlling product comparisons, from simple browsing of vendor survey data to creating customized scores for each product based on the aspects most important to you.
Go to Plant Services CMMS/EAM Software Review
Learn more about the review
The Plant Services CMMS/EAM Software Review is designed to allow you to compare packages across a comprehensive range of capabilities. It offers the option of weighting capabilities to reflect their importance in your application and receiving a calculated ranking of the software offerings according to your specifications.
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As the “Introduction” screen explains, you can use the Review to simply browse the results of our verified vendor survey data, compare products and find further information on particular packages and vendors. Or, you can have the system rank packages according your customized and advanced criteria. Clicking on “Software Aspects” lets you weight them individually so the comparison engine can calculate scores and present packages according to how well their strengths match your weightings.
Clicking on an individual software aspect in the “Introduction” screen brings you to a “Priorities” screen, which shows the exact survey questions used to establish the package score for that aspect. Exercising your option to rank a question less than “very important” factors its score so it has less weight in the calculated comparison.
You can hand-pick packages and compare them for various aspects, or enter weightings and priorities and click “calculate” to bring you to the comparison screen. Here, you’ll see a side-by-side comparison detailing the level of functionality for each capability.
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View Plant Services previous CMMS/EAM reviews
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2010 CMMS/EAM Review: CMMS/EAM software tackles today's toughest challenges 10 key trends in the industry. |
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2008 CMMS/EAM Software Review: CMMS Field Guide Spot emerging trends, find your best choices. |
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2009 CMMS/EAM Software Review: Power up a winner How to find the right asset management system for your plant. |
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2006 CMMS/EAM Software Review: Key trends drive CMMS/EAM Define, refine and source your requirements using our 2006 Software Review. |
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2007 CMMS/EAM Software Review: To the last byte Our 2007 CMMS/EAM Software Review is your guide to a five-star experience. |
Special Report: How CMMS/EAM packages are meeting today's maintenance and asset management challenges
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Despite the uncertainty regarding the global economy and the maturing of the computerized maintenance management system/enterprise asset management (CMMS/EAM) software industry, companies from every sector continue to upgrade, replace, or buy new asset management software applications. This is especially true for asset-intensive industries because of the pressure to better manage ever-rising asset lifecycle costs, while improving the quantity, quality, and efficiency of production through greater asset reliability and performance.
This Special Report analyzes 10 key trends in CMMS/EAM systems, describes how they impact the performance of industrial facilities, and connects you to a wealth of information on best practices in asset management practices. It also includes a tour of Plant Services CMMS/EAM Software Review, where you can conveniently understand and compare in detail the capabilities of 20 different packages, prioritize capabilities according to their importance in your operations, and see vendor offerings automatically scored and ranked according to your priorities.
Download the CMMS/EAM Special Report
Meet David Berger, Plant Services' resident CMMS/EAM expert
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David Berger, a Certified Management Consultant (C.M.C.) registered in Ontario, Canada, is a Principal of Western Management Consultants, based in the Toronto office. Mr. Berger has written more than 200 articles on a variety of topics such as maintenance management, operations management, information technology, e-commerce, organizational design, and strategy. In Plant Services magazine, he has written a monthly column for the past 14 years on maintenance management in the United States, as well as three very extensive reviews of maintenance management systems available in North America.
View David Berger's complete profile
Read David Berger's monthly Asset Manager column
 Strategy and technology for optimizing return on industrial assetsThis monthly e-newsletter explores the rapidly evolving practice of enterprise asset management. Core content encompasses best practices in maintenance management and related systems and predictive tools and methodologies. View a sample of the e-newsletterSubscribe to Plant Services’ free CMMS/EAM e-newsletter |
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Asset Manager
Energy management and the CMMS
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says what it represents will be here long after "Green" is gone.
The growing value of a CMMS
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, explores how to build the business case for better asset management.
Asset lifecycle management
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says it's characterized by complexity, and it's driven by risk.
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The detailed information presented at www.plantservices.com/cmms_review is the result of a 181-question survey probing the details of some 450 aspects of vendor companies and their packages, covering 30 categories. Vendors that complete the survey are required to demonstrate their performance for each question under the watchful eyes of Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng. When vendors’ self-evaluations don’t align with Berger’s criteria, he corrects the survey responses accordingly. The six-hour, in-person reviews guarantee consistent interpretation of each survey question and ensure that the same criteria are applied to every vendor. Berger examines responses that must be audited (number of sites, pricing, annual sales, etc.) for reasonability in the context of his considerable experience. Participating vendors pay a fee of $4,000 (plus travel and related expenses, where applicable) to defray some of the the costs of performing and Web-hosting the Plant Services CMMS Review. Berger has conducted numerous maintenance audits; helped senior managers develop maintenance strategies involving maintenance, operations and engineering; assisted companies in implementing process improvement initiatives with significant results; and led a variety of IT projects, from developing a detailed specification to package selection and implementation for CMMS/EAM, PdM, RCM and supply chain software. He was recently awarded the Sergio Guy Memorial Award in recognition of his significant contribution to the maintenance and asset management profession. You can use the data in the Plant Services CMMS/EAM Software Review with confidence to help refine your requirements, find packages that best fulfill them and compare them feature-to-feature with assurance that they were judged and are represented fairly and consistently. |
Improving shutdown management
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says it's a matter of timing, scale and using the CMMS.
The best and brightest
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says get more from your CMMS with effective recruiting and retention.
Prove it
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, explores CMMS strengths that help you handle regulatory compliance.
Planning versus scheduling
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says think of it as "what" as opposed to "when."
Optimize spare parts
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says get more from your inventory and suppliers.
Step by step
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, explains how to get more from your CMMS through process mapping.
Flexible, agile and scalable
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, details critical CMMS properties for organizations on the move.
CMMS provides real-time transparency
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, explains how your CMMS gives maintenance a clear view of the current situation.
The changing role of the CMMS vendor
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says you should expect more than a shrink-wrapped box of software from your supplier.
The good and bad of OEE
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says overall equipment effectiveness is a powerful, meaningful metric if you’re aware of what it excludes.
Keep maintenance up in a down economy
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng., says these techniques can help you avoid getting hurt by a sharp budget cut.
CMMS versus EAM
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng., says it’s the most frequently asked question during the past decade.
Aging workers
Contributing Editor David Berger, P. Eng., shows you how to make the most of tough demographics.
Threats or opportunities?
Here are seven trends that Contributing Editor David Berger, P. Eng., says you’d best address with your CMMS.
Change management
In Part 2 of this article, David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, reminds you not to forget the human factor when designing a CMMS implementation process.
Change management
Part 1: David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says it's important to focus on getting universal buy-in when you’re trying to launch an initiative.
Where are your assets?
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng., says integrating GIS/GPS with your CMMS reveals where your assets are and much more.
Knowledge from a distance
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng., says RFID smart tags can minimize your data-entry drudgery.
Watch your language
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng., explains how communications planning is vital to the success of your CMMS project.
Avoid the rocks
David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor, says if you steer your CMMS project carefully, you’ll be able to manage the risks.
Grow greener plants
Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng, says adopting an aggressive energy-management program is the right thing to do, regardless of rationale. Many of the initiatives under such a program are low-cost and easy to implement.
Enterprise thinking
Companies stand to lose a lot by allowing individual sites to deviate from an enterprise-wide CMMS solution.
Asset Manager: Why Six Sigma?
Because three isn’t enough, says Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng. Maintenance departments can benefit from Six Sigma programs.
CMMS/EAM white papers
Building the digital foundation for enterprise O&M solutions
With the advent of FDT/DTM technology, process manufacturers’ options for monitoring and managing field devices over digital and wireless networks are wide open.
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PlantServices.com is continually |
Industrial Ethernet
The use of Industrial Ethernet in the manufacturing environment is increasingly becoming a viable way of interconnecting the machines on the plant floor with users in the office, as well as with each other.
Intelligent information management
This paper will discuss how refiners can optimize their information management by changing their business processes and adding additional applications, while not putting any additional data collection or management burden on operations.
The link between automation KPIs and enterprise KPIs
This seven-page paper explains how keeping up to date with your short-term automation KPIs can greatly affect your long-term enterprise KPIs.
View more CMMS white papers
CMMS products
PlantServices.com editors are constantly reviewing and posting the newest CMMS products to the marketplace.
View more CMMS products
CMMS/EAM vendors
Asset management software knowledge centers
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Create a true management-by-exception manufacturing environment |
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