c

1. Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems:
A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Management of Maintenance, Labor,
and Inventory
by William W. Cato, R. Keith Mobley
• ISBN: 0750674733
• Pub. Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Elsevier Science & Technology Books

2. Preface
Effective resource management and reliable equipment are essen-
tial for optimum plant performance. Both depend upon accurate,
timely management of massive amounts of data and on the effective
use of maintenance resources. Computer-managed maintenance sys-
tems (CMMS), also called computerized maintenance management
systems or computerized asset management systems (CAMS), are
designed to fulfill these needs. These systems can provide a
cost-effective means of managing the massive amounts of data that
are generated by maintenance, inventory control, and purchasing. In
addition, these systems can provide the means to manage effectively
both the human and capital resources in your plant or facility.
For those planning to implement a CMMS in the future, this book
will provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that will help you
to: (1) develop functional specifications that match your needs; (2)
select the fight system and vendor; (3) develop a project plan that
will minimize risks and ensure cost-effective, timely implementation;
(4) create a justification, package that will gain management support;
(5) develop employee involvement and training programs that will
ensure effective use of the system; and (6) develop a long-term plan
that will promote continuation of the system.

3. Unfortunately, too many attempted CMMS implementations fail
to achieve their full potential or are abandoned after a few years. If
you have attempted to implement a CMMS and failed, or if your sys-
tem failed to deliver the expected benefits, this book is a must. It will
provide all the information you need to salvage your CMMS pro-
gram so that it can achieve its full potential and will show you how
to identify the problems that limit success and how to resolve them.
This book is designed to address the information needs of all levels
of plant management. For senior plant or corporate managers, it will
provide a clear, factual understanding of CMMS that can be used to
minimize financial risks and maximize the benefits that this type of
system can provide. For maintenance and inventory control man-
agers and their staffs, the book provides all the information they
need to implement a successful, effective system. Topics include:
DETERMINING THE NEED FOR A CMMS
How do you know if you need a CMMS? What questions need to
be answered before you make the decision? This section will give
insight into making this determination. A CMMS may not be for
everyone.
SELLING THE PROGRAM
This section prepares you for one of the most difficult of all tasks
in the purchase of a CMMS~selling the program to management,
peers, and the hourly workforce. Selling is a daily activity for all of
us, whether we realize it or not. The better we are at selling, the
more successful we will be in all our endeavors. Learn the tricks of
the trade used by sales professionals.
Xl

4. DEFINITION OF A CMMS
This overview defines functions of a CMMS and discusses who
uses the CMMS and how they use it. It also discusses the benefits
that can be derived from a fully implemented program. Finally, it
describes the fundamental requirements of a total system that will
produce maximum return on investment, as well as the most com-
mon reasons a CMMS program fails and ways to avoid these pitfalls.
CMMS JUSTIFICATION
A step-by-step approach is presented for developing a justification
package for a CMMS. This approach includes development of several
key documents, including the functional specification necessary for
vendor selection and the cost-benefit analysis that can be critical for
gaining management approval for procurement and implementation
of a CMMS.
CMMS VENDOR SELECTION
There are several hundred active CMMS vendors worldwide. Their
offerings range from very simple work order generation systems to
very complex, fully integrated enterprise systems. The total price for
these systems can range from less than $1,000 to more than $1 mil-
lion for installation at a single site. In this section, you will receive
detailed instructions that will help you select the right system and
vendor to meet your specific needs and objectives.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Developing a comprehensive project implementation plan and fol-
lowing the plan are the two key factors in guaranteeing successful
implementation of a CMMS and providing the infrastructure that
will permit long-term continuance of the system. The implementa-
Xll

5. tion plan begins with development of the software, hardware, and
installation requirements. It also covers user training, database devel-
opment, and system start-up. The entire implementation plan should
be developed, reviewed, and approved before a system is selected. As
with most plans of this magnitude, revisions will be required as the
project progresses, but you should not begin the project without first
having developed a complete implementation plan.
INTEGRATING OR INTERFACING A CMMS WITH OTHER
SYSTEMS
Often it is necessary to connect your CMMS with other systems,
which may be either developed in-house or purchased from a third
party. The two options for creating this connection are integrating
and interfacing systems. We will discuss the circumstances under
which each of the two actions is appropriate.
CMMS AND CLIENT SERVER
For the past few years, client server technology has become an
important component of many types of computer systems, including
maintenance systems. This section helps define client server and
related features and their role in a CMMS.
WHY A CMMS FALLS
There are many reasons why a CMMS may fail to meet the expec-
tations of the user. But very seldom is the CMMS itself, rather than
human error, the culprit. Perhaps there was very little preparation
and research done before selecting a CMMS, or limited involvement
by management and the work force in the selection process; the sys-
tem may have been simply installed rather than fully implemented;
training may have been minimal; or incorrect or insufficient data may
have been entered. Any one of these mistakes can result in a less than
XIII

6. successful experience and a great deal of frustration on the part of
those who are expected to use the system.
HOW TO ASSURE SUCCESS
After the CMMS is purchased, implemented, and operational, how
can you assure that it will be successful and that the return on invest-
ment will justify the expenditures? This section will discuss how
organizations other than maintenance can affect the final outcome of
the CMMS implementation and their role in assuring success. It will
also discuss the obstacles facing both small and large plants as they
seek to gain maximum benefit from the CMMS.
XIV

7. Table of Contents
Preface
Ch. 1 Determining the Need and Selling the Program 1
Ch. 2 Definition of a CMMS 13
Ch. 3 CMMS Justification 56
Ch. 4 CMMS Vendor Selection 81
Ch. 5 Project Implementation 94
Ch. 6 Integrating a CMMS with Other Systems 111
Ch. 7 CMMS and Client Server 119
Ch. 8 Why a CMMS Fails 125
Ch. 9 How to Assure Success 133
Ch. 10 The Application Service Provider: Internet Based Solution 141
App. A Comparison of CMMS Systems 149
App. B Typical CMMS Data Fields 160
App. C Sample CMMS Vender Evaluation Form 163
App. D Benchmark Criteria for World-Class Organizations 167
App. E Work Measurement: Key Performance Indicators 170
Index 177

8. Chapter 1
Determining the
Need and Selling
the Program
DETERMINING THE NEED
THE NEW VIEW OF MAINTENANCE PRODUCTIVITY
In today's environment, maintenance costs are rising faster than
production costs. Some surveys have shown that, at many plants,
typical management goals for maintenance~such as 95% or better
equipment availability and reliability, 99% product quality, reduced
maintenance overtime hours, reduced contract labor hours, and
improved record keeping on repairs~are not being met. Mainte-
nance has tended to be viewed as a "black hole" where too much
money goes with little measurable return. But as most companies
find themselves looking for ways to reduce cost and increase produc-
tivity, management is beginning to realize that maintenance offers
real opportunities in both areas.

9. 2 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
Maintenance can account for as much as 60% of controllable plant
operating costs. Because maintenance costs can be not only con-
trolled, but often substantially reduced, efficient management of
maintenance can influence the bottom line much more than is usual-
ly realized. All cost savings in maintenance are, in actuality, cost
avoidance. For example, if the profit margin in a manufacturing plant
is 33%, it would require $3.00 in increased sales to equal a $1.00
savings in maintenance costs. Normally, it is much easier to reduce
maintenance costs than to increase sales.
Controlling the maintenance activities in any facility requires an
effective organization. Also required is an accurate, comprehensive,
easily accessible database of relevant information. Some maintenance
organizations still manage their operations with a manual system or
with no system at all. In all but the smallest of maintenance operations,
manual systems break down under the burden of the vast amount of
information generated and required by maintenance. For this reason,
the computer is now being recognized as a powerful tool for mainte-
nance. Only a computer has the ability to store, retrieve, calculate,
organize, and present vast amounts of data efficiently and accurately.
It is highly unlikely that any organization with at least ten mainte-
nance craft personnel or an annual maintenance budget of $500,000
or more will not benefit from a computer-managed maintenance sys-
tem, or CMMS. Smaller organizations can benefit as well if they can
justify the implementation cost. A CMMS can be purchased for as
little as a thousand dollars or as much as several hundred thousand.
But the purchase price is only a portion of the total implementation
cost. Other costs include hardware, networking, training, data collec-
tion, data entry, and procedure development. Many of these costs,
such as data collection and data entry, may be internal labor costs
and can be very high. All costs must be considered in justifying the
purchase. Chapter 3, "CMMS Justification," provides an in-depth
look at how to justify the implementation of a CMMS.
DETERMINING THE NEED FOR A CMMS
There are many factors to consider in determining whether a
CMMS can benefit your operation. The most important factors

10. Determining the Need and Selling the Program 3
relate to reduced cost, but you also need to consider such results as
better organizational methods, reduced paperwork, and improved
communications. From a cost standpoint, if planned maintenance
work is less than 90% of the total maintenance work load, if craft
productivity is less than 80% of capacity, or if craft overtime is more
than 10%, a CMMS can help you. If your finished product quality is
consistently less than 95% or your equipment availability is less than
95%, a CMMS can help you. If your maintenance inventory cost,
including holding cost, is more than 30% of your annual mainte-
nance budget, a CMMS can help you. If all of the above conditions
apply to your operation, a CMMS can probably work miracles for
you. This assumes that you implement the CMMS that is best suited
to your needs, that you implement it fully and properly, and that you
use it to its fullest extent. In Chapter 2, "Definition of a CMMS,"
we will discuss how a CMMS can help you improve these measures
of efficiency. For now, the point is that if you are not achieving the
benchmark criteria shown in Appendix D, you will very definitely
reap the rewards of a CMMS.
HOW A CMMS MEETS THE NEED
First and foremost, it will help you to better manage maintenance
by organizing and tracking the myriad of data required to run main-
tenance operations effectively. Examples of such data are work sched-
ules and backlogs; preventive maintenance plans and schedules; labor
use; and maintenance cost distribution. A CMMS will also track
materials used, including quantities and cost. It can control your
inventories and maintain optimum, cost-effective levels of parts. It
can also provide historical, current, and future information in both
summary and detailed format.
Most maintenance professionals who have used a good mainte-
nance software system agree that it produces tangible results in four
key areas: (1) increased labor productivity; (2) better inventory con-
trol; (3) improved availability of equipment; and (4) improved prod-
uct quality. Additional benefits may be increased equipment/asset
life, reduced energy costs, improved environmental controls, and

11. 4 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
improved record keeping to meet regulatory requirements or ISO
9000 requirements. Many of the benefits and cost savings possible
with a CMMS will depend upon the features of the system you
implement, how well you implement it, and how well you use it.
Increased Labor Productivity
Maintenance productivity in U.S. and Canadian industries aver-
ages about 35%, or 2.8 hours per 8-hour shift. The problem normal-
ly is not caused by craft personnel who do not work conscientiously.
Instead, it is the result of poor organization and planning, which lead
to too much travel time and wait time, parts and tools that are not
available when needed, and poor or missing work instructions and
procedures. These are the problems associated with a "firefighting"
environment~one driven by the need to repair equipment as it
breaks down, rather than one centered around planned maintenance
that prevents breakdowns.
Most maintenance organizations using a CMMS have been able to
achieve labor productivity rates of 70% to 80%, which is an improve-
ment of at least 100%. The CMMS can improve labor productivity in
several ways:
~
0
0
Accurate information about equipment/assets is readily avail-
able. The time spent searching files and manuals for historical
information, or for information about parts required for a
repair, is practically eliminated.
Planning time is reduced dramatically through the immediate
availability of information required for planning. A CMMS also
provides several planning aids. For example, the ability to copy a
previously completed work order into a new work order plan
can eliminate one planning process.
Work order plans are accurate and complete. This can eliminate
having the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time.
It also eliminates waiting for parts, getting the wrong parts, or
searching for procedures. Travel time between jobs can be
greatly reduced.

12. Determiningthe Need and Sellingthe Program s
4. In most cases, a CMMS will provide resource scheduling assis-
tance to ensure all resources--labor and materials--are available
before the job is scheduled to begin.
5. An intangible benefit, one more difficult to measure in dollars,
is improved employee morale as a result of better planning,
scheduling, and organization.
Better Inventory Control
In most facilities where maintenance repair order (MRO) invento-
ries are maintained with a manual system, either too much or too lit-
tle inventory is the norm. There tends to be an excess of items that
are frequently used. The opposite is true for infrequently used items.
This situation results because reordering is based on guess work,
with no real means of determining the best stocking quantity for
each item. There are also the problems of obsolete parts and dupli-
cate items purchased from different vendors. Another critical prob-
lem is lack of control over parts issued from the storeroom. With a
CMMS, MRO inventory costs should be reduced, on average,
between 5% and 12%. Reductions as high as 20% are not unrealistic.
These reductions are the result of:
0
0
0
The ability to quickly and accurately review inventory catalogs
for duplicate parts.
The elimination of guess work on part reorders and stocking
levels. The CMMS will automatically create reorder requisitions
based on established stock levels and work order requirements
for parts.
The identification of obsolete parts once bills of materials have
been created. If a part in inventory is not on a bill of materials,
it is probably obsolete. Bills of materials can also help control
inventory stocking levels. If an equipment/asset item is perma-
nently removed from service, the CMMS can quickly show if
any other equipment/assets use the same parts. If the answer is
yes, the stocking levels for those parts can probably be reduced.
If it is no, the parts are probably obsolete.

13. 6 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
4. The control of storeroom issues, that is, parts can only (legally)
be issued to a work order or an account code.
5. The work order reservation or commitment function, which
reserves parts for a work order so that they are no longer avail-
able for other issues. This assures that parts will be available for
a work order when it is scheduled.
Improved Equipment/Asset Availability
and Product Quality
Improvement of equipment/asset availability and product quality
results from better planning, less firefighting, and better analysis of
repair histories. A good preventive maintenance system, made avail-
able with most computerized maintenance systems, will also lead to
these results.
WHAT A CMMS SHOULD DO FOR YOU
Once you determine that you need and can justify a CMMS, you
then need to determine what the system should do for you. If you
plan to develop the system in-house, you have the opportunity to
design it exactly to your requirements. But bear in mind that systems
developed in-house usually cost considerably more than purchased
systems and often require more than a year to develop. If you are
purchasing a system, you should be aware that apparently similar
functions can in fact vary greatly. For example, all systems provide an
equipment/asset file. In some systems, this file allows the storage of
only basic information, such as equipment/asset identification num-
ber, description, location, and cost center. Other systems might
accommodate, along with this basic information, other valuable data,
including manufacturer and vendor information, date of purchase,
date of installation, warranty data, purchase price, and specifications.
Some systems allow only a very basic work order, while others may
allow work orders to be broken down into steps or tasks, each for a
specific operation and each capable of being scheduled separately.

14. Determining the Need and Selling the Program 7
The point is that not all systems are alike, even if they provide similar
features. Therefore, you need to determine what you want to accom-
plish with the system and how you want to accomplish it.
If you are considering replacing an existing CMMS with a new
one, you should ask yourself why this change is required. If the cur-
rent system cannot fully meet your needs, then you are probably
right to upgrade to a system that can do so. However, if the current
system provides all the functionality you need, then you should ask
yourself these questions: (1) Was the system fully implemented the
way it was intended to be? (2) Is the system being fully utilized? (3)
Were all the people who are expected to use the system trained? (4)
Was there involvement and buy-in from everyone who could affect
the success of the system? If you can't answer "yes" to all of these
questions, then you should first consider corrective action to make
the existing system work. Chances are very good that if you purchase
a new system and again neglect the key factors in its implementation
and use, you will again have a system that does not meet your needs.
Later chapters in this book will cover, in detail, how to ensure a suc-
cessful implementation and how to correct an implementation that
was not successful.
WHAT YOU NEED IN A CMMS
With any system, there are files, modules, or functions that are
required to meet basic maintenance needs. These include:
* Equipment/Asset Data
9 Inventory/Stores Data
9 Employee Data
9 Work Order Processing
Information about equipment/assets
to be maintained
Information about parts, spares, and
inventory items
Information about employees who
will charge time to a work order~in
particular, their hourly rates
Creating, tracking, charging, and
completing work orders

15. 8 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
9 Preventive Maintenance
9 Planning
* Scheduling
9 Inventory Processing
* Purchase Order Processing
Creating preventive maintenance
plans and associating them with
equipment/asset records and sched-
ule frequencies
Planning work orders to specifywho is
to perform the work, materials need-
ed, instructions, and other information
Scheduling when jobs are to be per-
formed as well as scheduling labor to
perform them
Issues, returns, replenishment, and
cyclical inventory processing of parts
and materials
Purchase requests, purchase orders,
and receipt of parts and materials
Some systems offer other features that are not required but cer-
tainly add value to the system. These include:
9 Bills of Materials
9 Bar Code Capacity
9 Graphics Importing
9 Report Writer
The breakdown of an equip-
ment/asset item into its compo-
nent parts
Bar code printers and readers for
part and inventory labeling,
equipment/asset labeling, and
work order identification
The ability to import drawings,
schematics, and other documents
into the CMMS from other systems
A program that allows custom
reports to be developed

16. Determining the Need and Selling the Program 9
* Modifiable Screens and Reports The ability to change the layout
and content of CMMS screens
and reports
Finally, some systems offer new features that are not required and
may not add enough value to justify their cost. You must make that
decision. These include:
9 Hand-Held Computers
9 Digital Cameras
Devices that provide the ability to
download work orders, inventory
pick tickets, or other information
to a hand-held device for process-
ing, and then to upload the
processed data back to the prima-
ry computer
Cameras that allow the pictures
taken to be entered into the
CMMS for permanent storage
and retrieval
Each organization must decide, based on its own needs, what the
CMMS should do and how it should do it. With the large number of
systems available in the marketplace, there is almost a guarantee that
one of them will be fight for you.
SELLING THE PROGRAM
In Chapter 3, "CMMS Justification," we will discuss specific activ-
ities related to selling the CMMS program internally. However, we
felt it would be beneficial to cover the basic tenets of selling at the
beginning of this book because, once you determine that you need a
CMMS, you need to begin selling your need to others who will
influence the purchase and the implementation of the system. One of
the major reasons many CMMS implementations are not successful is

17. t o Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
that the maintenance organization had little or no input into the sys-
tem selection or implementation process. Repeatedly, we have heard
maintenance personnel say that they are stuck with a system selected
by corporate or plant management or purchasing. This situation
rarely leads to success because there is no buy-in from maintenance
and, without buy-in, there will be limited effort expended or even
counterproductive effort. How do you ensure that maintenance is
involved in the decision or, if maintenance has the lead, that other
areas become involved and are supportive? The answer is selling.
Proper selling can ensure that you get the system you need. It can
also ensure you get adequate funding and total buy-in from all per-
sonnel from whom you need support. Finally, properly selling the
program can ensure that you get continuous support long after the
purchase is made and the system is implemented. The most success-
ful people in any endeavor are those who know how to sell them-
selves and their ideas. Do you think the president of your company
reached that position on merit alone? Not likely. This person has
been selling since the beginning of his or her career. If you feel you
can't sell, you're wrong. Whether you realize it or not, you are sell-
ing something every day. You sell vacation plans or major purchase
plans to a spouse. You sell ideas to your children. Some people use
their authority to force family members to "see it their way," but
most of us know how this turns out. Instead, you can usually get the
results you want without too much grief if you just sell others on
your idea. The same holds true with coworkers and subordinates.
You may be in a position to dictate, but selling almost always leads to
more positive results.
How do you become proficient at selling? First you must look at
your self-concept. Your self-concept is how you see yourself and your
abilities. It is based on what you believe about yourself and it regu-
lates every action you take. If you believe you are Something or can
do something, then that is what you are or can do. You cannot be or
do anything your self-concept doesn't include. So, if your self-con-
cept doesn't include selling, you probably won't be able to sell suc-
cessfully. But remember that self-concept does not exist in external
reality, but in the mind, and you can change what is in the mind. You

18. Determining the Need and Selling the Program 11
must first convince yourself that you can sell others on your ideas. To
do this, you need to continue telling yourself that you can do it,
until you absolutely believe you can. This may sound a bit foolish to
some of you, but it works and the results are well worth the effort.
You must also learn to overcome the psychological obstacles to
selling. These obstacles are linked to self-concept and are primarily
the fear of failure and fear of rejection. Often, you may look at the
failure to get what you want as a personal failure, or you may feel
that when your ideas are rejected, you too are being rejected. Very
seldom is this true. The fact that you failed to achieve your end in a
particular matter does not mean that you yourself are a failure.
Instead of being personal, failures or rejections usually mean that you
just didn't do a good enough job selling. There are definitely ways to
overcome the psychological obstacles. First, you must totally believe
in what you are selling. You must believe in the benefits of what you
are selling, not only for yourself, but for those to whom you are sell-
ing. Second, you must be well prepared before you make "the sales
call." You should have prepared your information and arguments
about the cost of the project, its benefits, and the advantages of your
recommendation. This will impress your audience with the thought
and work you have put into your plan and, at the same time, make
you much more comfortable with the presentation. Selling "from the
hip" seldom succeeds. Further, you should prepare your presentation
differently for upper managers than for middle managers and hourly
personnel. The benefits of your project will be different for each and
you are selling benefits, so know what they will be for each audience.
This approach takes more preparation time but results in a "win-
win" solution.
Try to present at least five to ten features and benefits for each
audience. Have very concise goals and objectives that relate to your
audience. Have a detailed implementation plan and, particularly for
upper and middle management, have a return-on-investment plan.
When making the presentation, don't limit your viewpoint or your
terminology to maintenance. Think like the audience, and express
ideas and concepts in terms the audience will understand. You may
be the only person in the room who thoroughly understands mainte-

19. !2 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
nance, so don't overwhelm the others with maintenance terms.
Remember, you are trying to get them on your side with their full
support. It is usually best if you meet with the various groups sepa-
rately so you can focus on each group's interests.
When you meet with various groups or individuals, there are basic
rules you should always follow. Your opening remark should answer
the question, "Why should I listen to you?" Your opening remark
should also raise the question "What is it you're offering?" This
approach will get audience members' attention immediately. Once
you have their attention, keep it. You want them to ask questions
and voice their objections. Without their questions or objections,
you do not know if they understand what you are presenting or what
aspects of it they may not like. If you don't know the objections, you
can't counter them. You may leave the meeting thinking that all is
well and that you've sold the idea when, in actuality, the audience
was not convinced.
Finally, you must control the meeting without offending. You do
this by listening attentively and pausing before answering questions.
Let other people know you are seriously considering their questions
and your responses. Ask questions to keep the audience involved.
You should ask a lot of closed-ended questions, questions that
require a "yes" or "no" answer. For example, ask "Does this make
sense?" or "Can you see the benefit?" If the audience does not, then
ask for clarification with questions such as "How do you mean?"
This allows you to control the flow of the meeting, makes your audi-
ence feel you value their opinions, and takes the meeting to the point
you intended to reach.
Selling is a mind game that can be won by being better prepared
and more confident in the outcome than your opponent. No matter
who you are, you can sell successfully if you truly believe you can and
if you are thoroughly prepared to reach your objective.

20. Chapter 2
Definition of a
CMMS
A computer-managed maintenance system is an integrated set of
computer programs and data files designed to provide its user with a
cost-effective means of managing massive amounts of maintenance,
inventory control, and purchasing data. These systems can also pro-
vide a means of effectively managing human and capital resources.
But it is imperative to understand that the CMMS is a tool used to
improve maintenance and related activities. All that the CMMS man-
ages is the data that has been input to it or that it has created as a
result of data input. It does not itself manage the maintenance opera-
tion. In this chapter, we will discuss typical functions of a CMMS,
the CMMS files, the users of a CMMS, and the tasks a CMMS will
and will not perform.
13

21. ! 4 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
CMMS FUNCTIONALITY
The software programs and data files of a CMMS provide function-
ality that is normally grouped into subsystems or modules for specific
activity sets. These subsystems may include but are not limited to"
EQUIPMENT/ASSET RECORDS CREATION
AND MAINTENANCE
This subsystem provides for creation, maintenance, and viewing of
the equipment and asset records and associated files. Since the
majority of work orders are written against an equipment or asset
record, this database is required and is usually the first database cre-
ated with a new system.
EQUIPMENT/ASSET BILLS OF MATERIALS
CREATION AND MAINTENANCE
These programs are usually part of the equipment/asset subsystem
and provide for the creation, maintenance, and viewing of bills of
materials associated with equipment and asset records. A bill of mate-
rials lists the parts that make up a piece of eqt,ipment or other asset.
Each item on a bill should include part number, description, and
quantity required. Some systems will automatically create bills of
materials based upon parts issued to work orders for equipment/asset
repair. It may however take years to build a bill of materials using this
auto-create method, and some bills may never be completed.
EQUIPMENT/ASSET AND WORK ORDER HISTORY
Normally, the system automatically adds records to the history data-
bases when work orders are completed. These records contain all perti-
nent information about the work performed. Some systems also allow

22. Definition of a CMMS ! s
manual entries to be made to the history databases. Programs provided
with this function primarily allow for sorting, selection, and viewing of
historical information. Historical information may be viewed for a spe-
cific equipment/asset record; a type of equipment/asset; an area,
department, or cost center; or a specific work order. Some systems may
also allow information to be sorted by additional criteria.
INVENTORY CONTROL
The inventory control subsystem consists of modules and pro-
grams that provide for the creation, maintenance, and viewing of
inventory data and for management of other inventory-related activi-
ties. These other activities should include issues of parts and materi-
als to work orders or account codes; returns of unused items; auto-
matic and manual creation of purchase requisitions; cycle counting;
adjustments to inventory quantifies; and receipt of purchased items
into inventory. Some systems may offer additional inventory control
functions.
WORK ORDER CREATION~ SCHEDULING~
EXECUTION~ AND COMPLETION
The work order subsystem consists of modules and programs that
allow for the creation, planning, viewing, approval, tracking, execu-
tion, and completion of work requests and work orders. Some sys-
tems begin the work order process with the creation of a work
request that is then automatically converted to a work order upon
approval or some other trigger in the cycle. Some work orders, such
as preventive maintenance work orders, are created automatically
from a predefined plan when a set execution frequency or other con-
dition is met.
The work order planning subsystem is normally linked to the
equipment/asset, inventory, bills of materials, and history subsys-
tems, thus allowing the planner to access critical planning data

23. !6 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
directly from this subsystem. The work order scheduling subsystem
contains programs for developing work order execution schedules
and for maintaining and viewing the schedules. Many systems allow
for both manual and automated scheduling and for a combination of
the two. With automated scheduling, the system creates the sched-
ules based upon work order selection and priority criteria specified
by the scheduler and upon resource availability, including labor and
materials requirements.
Most systems process work orders through various stages or sta-
tuses. The way this works can vary widely among systems. The sys-
tem will automatically assign some statuses based upon actions taken
in regard to the work order, and other statuses will require manual
assignment. Examples of statuses are: approved; waiting for parts; or
work in progress.
As a work order is executed, it is updated with information that
includes the number of hours worked, who performed the work,
parts and materials issues, cause and effect codes, and follow-up
comments. When a work order is completed, the completion code or
status entered indicates that the work is complete and the work order
may be moved to the historical records.
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN DEVELOPMENT
AND SCHEDULING
This subsystem allows for the creation of preventive maintenance
master plans and their execution schedules, frequencies, or trigger
points. Preventive maintenance work orders normally begin with the
creation of a master plan that, like other work order plans, describes
what work is to be performed, who is to perform the work, the
materials and tools to be used, and any procedures that are required.
The plan itself is not executed as a work order. The plan is linked to
one or more equipment or asset items, and each link has a defined
execution schedule, frequency, or trigger point. Once the execution
point is reached, the system automatically copies the plan into an

24. Definition of a CMMS ! 7
executable work order. Programs are also provided for maintaining
or updating the plans and the schedules.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The human resources subsystem provides programs for creating,
maintaining, and viewing information about personnel who will
charge time to work orders. In many systems, this may be referred to
as the labor rate file because the only information maintained is
employee identifier, employee name, skill codes, and hourly rates.
This is the basic information necessary for the CMMS to be able to
charge the work order the correct hourly rate for the individuals who
performed the work. Some systems allow additional information
such as personal data, promotion history, training history, and acci-
dent history.
PURCHASING AND RECEIVING
Not all systems provide a purchasing and receiving subsystem. In
those that do, this subsystem allows the creation, maintenance, and
viewing of purchase orders, vendor information, and information on
the receipt of purchased materials. Purchasing subsystems receive
automatically and manually created purchase requisitions from the
inventory system and permit direct input of non-requistioned items
to purchase orders.
INVOICE MATCHING AND ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
The invoice matching subsystem provides programs for matching
and reconciling receipt documents to vendor invoices and purchase
orders, prior to the payment of the invoice. The accounts payable
subsystem provides for the payment of invoices including freight and
tariff charges. A CMMS that provides these invoice matching and
accounts payable functions will usually be an enterprise system; see

25. ! e Computer-Managed
Maintenance Systems
Chapter 7, "CMMS and Client Server," for more information about
enterprise systems.
TABLES AND REPORTS
Tables are normally supporting files of information associated with
a major file. The details of their function varies from one CMMS sys-
tem to another. For example, in some systems, the equipment/asset
database will allow, for each equipment/asset record, the creation of
an associated table containing detailed specifications for 'the asset or
piece of equipment. The CMMS will also provide programs for pro-
ducing the various reports associated with each subsystem. For
example, the work order subsystem may include reports for backlogs,
work in progress, work orders by status, and completed work orders.
CMMS DATABASES OR FILES
The typical CMMS provides databases and/or files for the storage,
manipulation, and retrieval of information. The terms database and
file may be used synonymously, though a database is often defined as
consisting of one or more related files.
The typical CMMS consists of the following databases or files:
EQUIPMENT/ASSET IDENTIFICATION
AND SPECIFICATIONS
The equipment/asset file is a primary, and usually a mandatory,
file in a CMMS. Most work orders are written against one of the
equipment/asset records maintained on this file. For a list and
description of equipment/asset data fields, see Appendix B, "Typical
CMMS Data Fields." Most systems allow codes to be used as input
for many of the data fields on the equipment/asset file as well as
other files. These codes are normally defined by the user and are
maintained in tables within the CMMS. A code table should also

26. Definition of a CMMS 19
provide space for a description of each code entered. By establishing
code tables, and controlling who can update them, you are assured
of consistent input to the related fields in the records. Examples of
code tables are equipment type, used to group similar equipment
such as motors, pumps, or cranes; building, floor and room, giving
the location of equipment/assets; and units of measure. The number
and type of code tables will be specific to each CMMS.
Specification data includes unique equipment/asset identifiers such
as size, weight, color, rotations per minute, or flow rate. These data
may be maintained in the equipment/asset file, in a separate specifica-
tion file, or in tables that are referenced to each equipment/asset
record. Specifications may also be associated with an equipment/asset
type. For example, specification codes for motors may include horse-
power, amperes, volts, and cycles. For each code, a value specific to
the equipment/asset can be assigned, e.g., AMPS = 60.
Specifications provide two major benefits. First, it is beneficial to
have as much information about the equipment/asset on the com-
puter as possible, to eliminate the need to search file cabinets or desk
drawers for information. All data will be together in one easily acces-
sible location. Second, most systems allow equipment/asset records
to be sorted by their specifications. For example, to find all 50 horse-
power, 60 amp, 2 cycle, AC motors, you enter those values into the
corresponding specification sort fields, and the system will find and
display all records that match the combined specifications entered.
When a work request is initiated, the requester will normally be
required to give an identifer for the equipment/asset on which work
is to be performed. The CMMS will first verify that the equipment/
asset identifier is valid by checking the equipment/asset file. If the
identifier is not valid, the requester is notified and required to enter a
valid one. If the identifier is valid, the CMMS should automatically
copy certain information from the equipment/asset file to the work
request. This information will normally include equipment/asset
description, assigned cost center, physical location, and in some sys-
tems warranty information. Depending upon the CMMS, other
information that is beneficial to the planner and craft personnel may
also be retrieved and placed in the work request.

27. 2o Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
EQUIPMENT/ASSET HIERARCHIES
A piece of equipment or an asset may be a component of another
piece of equipment or asset, a process, an area, a department, a plant,
a division, and a company. For example, a motor may be part of a
drive system that is part of a process located in the finishing area of
the fine paper department in the Detroit plant of the newsprint divi-
sion of ABC Paper Company. Each of the elements that make up this
series may be represented in the equipment/asset file as either an
equipment/asset record or a location record. An equipment/asset
hierarchy is the relationship of one item to another item that is either
higher or lower in a tree or chain. These relationships are usually
referred to as parent-child relationships. Most systems allow hierar-
chies to be built from their lowest level up. This is the easiest way to
build hierarchies, since each record will have a field in which its par-
ent record can be identified. Records can also be moved from one
hierarchy to another, or to a different location within the existing
hierarchy, in most systems. Figure 2-1 is an example of an equip-
ment/asset hierarchy.
Establishing hierarchies is usually not mandatory. However, they
offer numerous benefits. First, maintenance costs may be automati-
cally rolled up from the level in the hierarchy against which a work
order was written to higher levels. For example, the cost of repairing
the motor in the paper company is not only recorded for the motor
but is also recorded at all or selected levels in the hierarchy above the
motor. This feature is very useful when total maintenance cost for a
department, area, or process needs to be determined. With one
inquiry, the total maintenance cost for all equipment assigned to the
selected level of the hierarchy will be presented. The inquiry can be
made at any level in the hierarchy.
Second, all items above and below the hierarchy level selected can
be viewed. This quickly shows, as in the example of the paper com-
pany, where the selected item fits into the larger organization and
what its component elements are. From this inquiry, a planner might
determine that the work request was initiated against the wrong
equipment/asset identifier in the hierarchy and can easily determine

28. Definition of a CMMS =
~print i ] FinePaper h
IBillofMaterials
I
Figure 2-1. Equipment/Asset Hierarchy.
which identifier should be assigned to the request. For example, a
work request may have been written for the paper company's drive
system when it should instead have been written for a motor within
the system. The planner can see the relationship of the two items and
obtain the identifier for the motor so that the work request can be
corrected.

29. 22 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
Third, hierarchies provide a quick method of determining the
physical location of an item. This results from creating location
records for equipment/assets and including these records in the hier-
archy. When you enter an equipment/asset identifier, the hierarchy
will show where that item is located. This inquiry can be invaluable if
an equipment item in a critical process breaks down and there is no
spare available. An identical item that can be used until a spare is
available may be located in another hierarchy.
Finally, the system should store work order history data for the
equipment/asset record and the records that are above it in the hier-
archy. This information can be used to determine each location the
item has been in and the work orders written against it at each loca-
tion. Conversely, an inquiry on a location will show each equip-
ment/asset item that has been at that location and the work orders
completed against the item while there. This information can be crit-
ical when trying to determine the cause of certain kinds of equip-
ment failures. For example, does a particular piece of equipment only
fail at a specific location? Or does it fail no matter where it is located
and always for the same reason? This information can help determine
whether problems are due to the equiment itself or to the location.
EQUIPMENT/ASSET BILLS OF MATERIALS
The equipment/asset bills of materials file is usually separate from,
but linked to, the equipment/asset file. A bill of materials is the lowest
level in the hierarchy for a specific equipment/asset record and lists all,
or at least all the major, parts and components of the equipment/asset.
The bill of materials for a pump might include the housing, shaft,
beatings, seals, and impeller. The user determines how detailed the bill
of materials should be for any given item. There are vendors, including
some CMMS vendors, who sell bills of materials for the most com-
monly used equipment. Some manufacturers may provide, at no cost,
bills for equipment purchased from them. The objective is to get bills
of materials on some form of electronic media that can be loaded
directly to your CMMS with little or no effort on your part.

30. Definition of a CMMS 23
Creating bills of materials manually can be extremely tedious and
time-consuming. If you elect to do so, it is recommended that you
begin with the most critical parts and components of your most criti-
cal equipment, then add less significant items as time permits. Some
systems will automatically build a bill of materials for you based on
the parts issued against work orders. A system that provides this fea-
ture should allow you to flag any items on the inventory file that you
do not want automatically added to a bill of materials. The problem
with the automatic method, as mentioned before, is it can take years
before a significant bills of materials file is developed.
Having a bill of materials available is very beneficial when planning
work orders. It provides the planner with a list of the exact parts
used in the item to be serviced. The system should also allow the
planner to select required parts directly from the bill of materials and
add them to the work order plan.
CROSS REFERENCE OF INVENTORY TO
EQUIPMENT/ASSET "WHERE USED"
Bills of materials and the related "where used" function are also
useful when making decisions about which parts to maintain in
inventory and in what quantifies. If an equipment/asset item is to be
permanently removed from service, can all of its associated parts be
removed from inventory? Or do the reorder points and reorder
quantifies need to be adjusted because these parts are still required
for other equipment/asset items? To determine if other equip-
ment/asset items use a given part, most systems provide a "where
used" function that is basically an inverse of the bill of materials. If a
part identifier is entered into this function, the system will display
records for all the equipment/asset items that use that particular part
and the quantity of the part required for each one.
If no other equipment/asset items require the part, you should be
able to remove it from inventory. If other items do require it, you
may still be able to reduce the inventory quantity because demand
will be reduced.

31. 24 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
Another benefit of the "where used" function is its ability to locate
a required part that is not currently available in inventory. The part
may be on an equipment/asset item that is not in service or is not
part of a critical process. As a temporary measure, the required part
may be "borrowed."
SPARE PARTS AND STORES INVENTORY
To fully control and account for maintenance costs and to ensure
reliable maintenance practices, control of maintenance inventories
must be in place. Most systems provide a maintenance inventory
database and the programs necessary to create, maintain, and access
the data files. The inventory database, along with its associated files
and tables, is where all the information about maintenance repair
order (MRO) parts is stored. Each inventory record will include
descriptive information about the part as well as quantity fields. For a
list and description of typical inventory data fields, refer to Appendix
B, "Typical CMMS Data Fields." An MRO inventory record differs
from a raw materials inventory record in that the MRO record usual-
ly contains quantity fields for the cumulative total of items required
for open work orders as well as the cumulative total of items reserved
for or committed to open work orders. Other quantitative data,
either stored on the file or calculated by the inventory programs,
include reorder point and reorder quantity.
If the inventory files are integrated with the other functions of the
CMMS, parts can be selected from an equipment/asset bill of mate-
rials directly to a work order plan. The CMMS will automatically val-
idate the selected parts against the inventory file and, if valid, update
the "quantity required" field on the inventory file. The system will
also inform the planner if a part is not valid or is not currently avail-
able in the quantity required. In most systems, the quantity available
for issue is calculated as the current balance on hand minus the total
quantity reserved or committed. For example, if the balance on hand
is eight and open work orders require six of the eight, the quantity
available is eight. If four of the six required are also reserved or com-

32. Definition of a CMMS 2s
mitted, the quantity available is four. The system should also make
available, on request, any open purchase requisitions or purchase
orders for a part. This information will only be available if there is an
interface with the purchasing functions. Many systems will automati-
cally generate purchase requisitions for parts when the quantity
required or reserved (depending upon the CMMS) will cause the
current balance on hand to drop to or below the reorder point.
Parts are issued from inventory to the work order for which they
were planned. The CMMS should also permit unplanned parts to be
issued to the work order. Unused parts returned to inventory will be
credited to the work order or control number against which they
were issued.
Some systems maintain stores stock inventory and spare parts
inventory in separate files, based on the premise that spare parts and
stores stock are not the same. These systems will also provide sepa-
rate functions for accessing and maintaining these two kinds of files.
Other systems consider a spare to be an inventory item until it is
placed into service, at which time it is considered to be an equip-
ment/asset item. It is then maintained on the equipment/asset file
until it again becomes a spare.
It is not uncommon for a company to use its existing inventory
system instead of the one provided with the CMMS. If this happens,
an interface between or integration of the existing system and the
CMMS should be developed. Without an integrated system, one of
two major problems will certainly occur. The first is that there will be
two separate, stand-alone systems. Personnel will be required to
maneuver between the two systems, often using separate terminals or
work stations. Manual updates to the CMMS files for issues, returns,
and associated cost data will be required. The alternate problem is
that inventory will not be included on the work orders at all. This
will result in disastrous loss of one of the major benefits of the
CMMS~tracking of the materials used in work orders and their
cost. On average, about 30% of maintenance repair costs are for parts
and materials. As well, the work order history and equipment/asset
history files will not contain data about parts used.

33. 26 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
WORK ORDERS
Work orders are the backbone of the CMMS. The work order
defines the equipment/asset item that is to be worked on, the activi-
ties to be performed, the procedures to be followed, the skills/crafts
required to perform the activities, an estimate of the time required
for each skill/craft, and materials and tool requirements. The work
order also provides the means of reporting what was actually done,
by whom, how long it took, when it was done, whether or not the
work was completed, whether there is callback work required, and
whether there was production time lost, as well as comments about
the work. Many systems also allow for input of codes to specify the
cause of the problem and the resulting effect, such as "motor over-
heating, resulting in bearing replacement."
Most systems allow different types of work orders for different
types of work. The types, and the names used for them, vary among
systems, but the basic types are preventive maintenance; project;
emergency; miscellaneous or unplanned; corrective; and repetitive.
Usually, work orders originate as work requests. The work request
may be a paper document originated by anyone who wants to
request maintenance action, or the requester may input the work
request directly into the CMMS from a computer terminal. With
direct input, controls can be built into the request process. For
example, when an equipment/asset identifer is entered, the CMMS
determines whether it is valid and, if so, will automatically add the
description, cost center, and physical location to the work request.
This enables the requester to verify that the equipment/asset item
identified is the one to be serviced.
The planner has the opportunity to review the work request before
converting it into a work order. In most systems, the planner can
change the equipment/asset ID if the requester entered the wrong
one. The requester may have selected an item in the hierarchy above
or below the actual item to be serviced. The planner may also deter-
mine that the request needs to be organized into several, more man-
ageable work orders. Many systems allow a single work order to be
broken down into multiple steps or tasks. Each step or task may be

34. Definitionof a CMMS 27
for a specific skill or craft or for a specific work activity. Depending
upon the CMMS, multiple skills or crafts may be allowed within a
single step or task, and each step or task may be for a different asset
or piece of equipment. The costs charged to each step or task will
roll up to the work order header record. Normally, the work order
cannot be closed until all of its steps or tasks are closed.
The information maintained within the work order file will vary
between systems and, within a system, may vary among the types of
work order. A work order record will normally contain, in some
form, the data fields shown in Appendix B, "Typical CMMS Data
Fields." At the completion of the work, the record will include actual
hours worked by craft/skill, actual parts/materials used, and any
completion comments.
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PLANS
Preventive maintenance (PM) plans contain information very simi-
lar to that contained in a work order. These are work plans that are
associated with equipment/asset records and that are usually created
automatically by the CMMS, as determined by their execution fre-
quency. The frequency may be time-based, cycle-based, or condi-
tion-based. In most systems, a single plan may be associated with
multiple, similar equipment/asset records, with each association hav-
ing a unique frequency or trigger point. When the frequency is trig-
gered, the system will copy the standard preventive maintenance plan
into a PM work order. Once copied, the work order will be placed
automatically in the work order backlog and tracked and executed
like other work orders.
REPETITIVE MAINTENANCE PLANS
Repetitive maintenance plans are similar to preventive maintenance
plans and are often maintained on the same file. But there is no auto-
matic execution frequency for repetitive maintenance plans. Instead,
they are manually copied into work orders on demand. These plans

35. 28 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
are designed for jobs, such as rebuilds and overhauls, that are per-
formed repeatedly but not with a predefined frequency. A single
repetitive maintenance plan may be used for many similar equip-
ment/asset items. One example of a repetitive maintenance plan
would be a plan for the rebuilding of a certain class of motor. When
it is time to rebuild one of the motors, the plan is selected from the
file and copied into a work order. The work order may then be mod-
ified for this specific rebuild.
COST ACCOUNTING DATA
A major advantage of a CMMS is its ability to capture and retain
cost accounting data. For example, data stemming from a work
order, such as labor hours and cost, inventory/material quantity
used and cost, contract cost, and miscellaneous costs, are automati-
cally charged to the cost center, area, and department associated with
the equipment/asset for which the work order was written. The sys-
tem stores these data automatically on the equipment history file and
can, at the same time, pass them to a general ledger file. By using the
equipment/asset hierarchy for cost roll-up, the cost data may be
passed to the general ledger at a level that is more useful or meaning-
ful to the accounting organization. Accounting may want to receive,
as a single entry, total labor or material cost for a department, line,
or process. The CMMS eliminates the need for accounting to con-
solidate these records.
WORK ORDER HISTORY
Work order or equipment/asset history data provides the basis for
analyzing how well the maintenance organization is meeting its
goals. When a work order is closed, it is automatically stored on a
history file. Stored work orders can be retrieved by either the work
order identifier or the equipment/asset identifier for which the work
order was written. A summary of skill/craft hours expended and of
labor, material, and other costs should also be provided for each

36. Definition of a CMMS 29
equipment/asset item. Summaries of all hours and costs for specific
areas, departments, cost centers, and other units should also be avail-
able. It should be possible to break down this data into the cate-
gories month-to-date, year-to-date, and life-to-date, with totals for
each period. With this information, maintenance personnel can
determine actual expenditures versus budget for any period of the
year. This information may also be used as the basis for planning the
coming year's budget.
Trend analysis can be performed on historical data. If cause and
effect codes are used on all work orders, the CMMS should provide
the means of locating all closed work orders, for a given equipment/
asset type, that have the same cause and/or effect code. From this
information, trends by cause can be determined. Repeated problems
with a specific equipment/asset item can also be identified.
From historical data, mean time between failure and mean time to
repair can be determined. It is also possible to assess when it is more
cost-effective to rebuild or replace an item than it is to continue to
maintain it. Equipment/asset hierarchies provide information about
the location of an item each time maintenance was performed on it,
as well as information about the items present at a particular location
when maintenance was performed there. Hierarchy data is invaluable
for tracking moveable equipment/assets items. Take, as an example,
a motor or type of motor experiencing high failure rates. If a search
of the historical data shows that a certain type of motor has a repeat-
ed record of failure at a particular location, always or often for similar
reasons, the problem is likely not with the motors but with the loca-
tion. Perhaps an alignment problem is causing excessive vibration. If,
on the other hand, one motor is failing no matter where it has been
located, the problem is with the motor.
Many systems allow closed work orders to be copied from history
into a new work order. This is a true time saver for planners. Once
copied, the work order data can be modified to meet the requirements
of the new job to be performed. The work order may be located in his-
tory by using the cause code or work order descriptions for the search,
or by searching for an equipment/asset item that is the same as, or sim-
ilar to, the item for which the new work order is to be written.

37. 3o Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
CRAFT/SKILL DATA
Most systems provide an employee file that maintains data about
each employee who can charge time to a work order. Basic data in
this file should include the employee ID (normally badge number),
craft/skill code(s), and hourly rate(s). The system should accommo-
date multi-skilled crafts with multi-rates. Some systems allow storing
additional information in this file, such as home address; home tele-
phone; emergency contact; training or educational history; accident
history; and promotion and pay raise history. The system uses the file
to obtain the actual hourly rate to be charged to the work order for a
specific employee. In many systems, a craft/skill code, with an aver-
age hourly rate for the code, is used when planning the work order.
Actual hours charged to the work order are for a specific employee
ID with that employee's rate.
PURCHASE REQUISITIONS
The purchase requisitions file maintains all requests for the replen-
ishment of maintenance stores and direct-buy items. There are two
ways for a purchase requisition to be created in a CMMS. The first is
the system's automatic creation of a requisition to replenish stocked
inventory. Although each CMMS may perform this function in a
slightly different way, in essence the system generates a requisition
when the balance on hand or the available quantity of an inventory
item reaches its reorder point.
The second method of creating a requisition is to manually enter it
using the CMMS requisition entry function. Manual requisitions are
created for the purchase of direct-buy, non-stock materials and ser-
vices. They may also be created for stock items when it is known that
an above-normal quantity will be required during a particular time or
for a particular project. Some systems allow stock inventory items,
such as seasonal items, to be flagged if they are not to be included in
the automatic reorder process. Flagged items will require a manually
created requisition.

38. Definition of a CMMS 3 !
The information contained on a requisition record may differ for
each CMMS. Examples of what might be on the requisition include
part number or ID; description; quantity to requisition; recommend-
ed vendor; vendor part number or ID; lead time; and priority. Some
systems have the ability to automatically update the requisition quan-
tity before the requisition record is converted to a purchase order.
These updates are based on changes to the inventory record's on-
hand quantity or available quantity of the item in question. Invento-
ry record changes are the result of returns to inventory, cancellation
of work orders, inventory adjustments, or additional requirements
for the item. Once the requisition record is moved to a purchase
order, additional updates are usually not permitted.
Requisitions may be reviewed and updated until they are moved or
added to a purchase order. It is important that the requisition
records remain intact, at least until the required parts or materials are
received. The requester or, in the case of automatic requisitions, the
stores personnel may need to access a record for information. It is
also desirable that the CMMS reference the purchase order number
to the requisition once the purchase order is created. This allows
viewing of critical information about the order without having to
contact purchasing personnel.
PURCHASE ORDERS
The purchase order file contains information about open purchase
orders, including line items, pricing, terms, and vendor. Either the
purchase order file or an associated file will maintain a record of each
closed purchase order and each associated line item. The historical
records should include receipt information such as date(s) received,
quantifies received, and whether or not an overage or short quantity
was accepted. In many systems, the purchase order cannot be closed
until all line items are closed.
Purchase orders are normally created from approved purchase req-
uisitions. The way this process is executed varies between systems.
Most systems allow requestions to be selected and consolidated by

39. 32 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
vendor into a single purchase order, or into groups of purchase
orders by vendor and commodity code or other selection criteria.
The purchase order number should be automatically cross-referenced
to the requisition so that the requester can look up the requisition to
determine if a purchase order has been created and, if so, its number.
The manual creation of purchase orders without a requisition may
also be permitted.
Parts and materials are received, on-line, against the purchase
order. Partial receipts and overages, within controlled limits, should
be permitted. These limits may be set to prevent the shipment
received from exceeding a specific percentage of the quantity
ordered or from exceeding a specific dollar amount. The system
should also allow for the closing of a line item when the amount
received is less than the amount ordered. Normally, all line items on
a purchase order must be closed before the total purchase order may
be closed. The system should automatically close the purchase order
when all of its line items have been closed.
If the requisition/purchase order was for a direct-buy, non-stock
item, and there is an associated work order or project number, that
number should automatically be added to the purchase order record.
Since the associated number will display with the line item on the
receiving function, receiving personnel will know that this material
likely will not require warehousing and that they should notify the
requester of the receipt.
It is not uncommon for a company to use a purchase order system
other than the one provided by the CMMS. When this happens, it is
desirable to have an interface or integration of the two systems. This
allows the requisitions created in the CMMS to be passed to the pur-
chasing system and information about the purchase order to be
passed back to the requisition on the CMMS. Also, when materials
are received, they are normally received via the purchase order sys-
tem. The CMMS inventory records must be updated with the
receipt data. This may either be done manually or, with an interface
or integration, automatically.

40. Definition of a CMMS aa
WHO USES A CMMS AND HOW
There is sometimes a misconception that maintenance personnel
are the only users of a CMMS. While maintenance personnel are the
system's primary users, many other plant organizations can benefit
from access to the information that is available within a CMMS.
These organizations include engineering, production, inventory con-
trol, purchasing, accounting/finance, and executive management.
How the personnel in each of these organizations use the CMMS
may differ from plant to plant, but some of the more typical uses are
covered in the sections below.
MAINTENANCE
As the name implies, computer-managed maintenance systems
were originally designed and developed for the maintenance organi-
zation. Over the years, functionality has been added that makes these
systems highly useful to other organizations, but the basic system is
still a maintenance tool. The software programs and associated data-
bases provide the means to acquire, store, manage, and retrieve the
myriad of data needed to use maintenance resources effectively. As a
minimum, maintenance personnel using a CMMS perform the fol-
lowing functions:
Work Order Initiation
Work orders may be initiated in several different ways, depending
upon the CMMS and the policies and procedures of the CMMS
user. Initiation may begin with a written request, usually on a
preprinted form. This method is often a carryover from pre-CMMS
days. The request must then be entered into the CMMS by some-
one, usually a maintenance clerk or a planner. The advantage of the
written request is that it can be reviewed and either approved for
entry or rejected before entry into the CMMS. The disadvantage is

41. za Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
that the request has, in effect, been written twice, first by the
requester and then by the person who must enter it into the CMMS.
A second method is the telephone call-in request. This method is
also a carryover from pre-CMMS days. There are very few advan-
tages to the call-in method except for an emergency request. The
disadvantages are many and often cosily. The person receiving the
call must either write down the information on paper or key it direct-
ly into the CMMS while on the telephone. Untold errors can occur
through misinterpretation. Taking the calls is frustrating to the
receiver and the errors that occur are frustrating to the requester.
Productive maintenance hours may be lost because craft personnel
are sent to the wrong location, have the wrong parts, or are prepared
to work on the wrong problem. At least one CMMS vendor provides
a method of placing requests with a touch-tone telephone. This was
originally designed for maintenance settings like hotels, where a
room number could be keyed in along with a specific problem code,
such as 3 for a problem with the room's television.
A third method is for the requester to enter the request directly
into the CMMS. The advantages of this method are the request is
only written once, the software will assist the requester, and it is the
least time-consuming approach for the maintenance organization.
Software assistance means that the requester normally enters only the
equipment/asset ID, a description of the problem, and his or her
own ID or badge number. The CMMS will validate the equip-
ment/asset ID and then will display on the request screen such
information as equipment/asset description, location, area, depart-
ment, and cost center. This allows the requester to verify that the
request is for the correct equipment/asset. If the equipment/asset
ID entered is invalid, the CMMS will immediately notify the
requester. Some systems have problem description tables associated
with specific equipment/asset types. The requester selects one of the
codes to define the problem. This makes entry easier for the
requester and standardizes problem descriptions for maintenance. It
also eliminates the overused description of "broken." Requests
entered directly are normally reviewed and approved, disapproved, or
modified by maintenance personnel before becoming a work order.

42. Definitionof a CMMS as
The disadvantages to this method are that terminals must be easily
accessible to anyone who can enter a request and that all personnel
who can enter a request must be trained to do so.
A fourth method of work order initiation, the automatic creation
of preventive maintenance work orders by the CMMS, was discussed
earlier in this chapter.
Work Order Planning
Work order planning is the task of defining what resources are
required to perform a job and what instructions or procedures are to
be followed when executing the job. Resources include labor, parts,
materials, tools, and contracts. The process of planning usually
begins with a work request that has been entered into the system.
The planner may review the request for accuracy and may make
changes as required. It may also be necessary for the planner to phys-
ically inspect the asset or piece of equipment to be worked on to
determine requirements for the job. The planner determines which
craft/skills are required and adds them to the plan. Normally, an
estimate of the time required for each assigned craft/skill is also
included. In many systems, only the craft/skill type (for example,
welder) is identified, not the specific individual who will perform the
work. Selection of specific individuals is left up to the maintenance
supervisor or foreman when the job is assigned. Some systems allow
only one craft/skill type per work order. Other systems allow multi-
ple craft/skill types, while others allow the planner to break the work
order down into steps or tasks. In the case of particularly large, com-
plex, or long jobs, or for jobs in which contract labor is to be used
for some steps and in-house labor for others, this capacity to divide
work orders into separate tasks or steps is especially useful. The order
in which the steps have been planned can be altered, as needed, in
the final execution sequence for the job.
Planned instructions include specific steps or actions to be per-
formed, standard operating procedures, safety procedures, lock-out
and tag procedures, and sign-off requirements. Many systems pro-

43. 36 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
vide software to retrieve documents, such as procedures and draw-
ings, stored in other systems. These documents may then be printed
with the work order plan.
Work order planning is paramount to controlling maintenance
performance and cost. Therefore, it is very important to define the
role of a planner. A planner is a well-trained, intelligent, conscien-
tious, highly motivated individual. Work order plans that are accurate
and concise can result in dramatic savings to the company. There-
fore, planners should not be looked upon as either clerks or "gofers"
for the maintenance manager or the maintenance department. Their
position is key to the success of the maintenance operation and
should be equal to or very nearly equal to that of the maintenance
manager.
Preventive Maintenance and Repetitive
Maintenance Planning
Preventive maintenance planning and repetitive maintenance plan-
ning are both very similar to normal work order planning. The dif-
ference is that these plans are created once and stored in the CMMS
to be used many times, although they can be modified as needed.
The plans are copied into work orders, as required, and contain a list
of required parts, materials, tools, crafts/skills, and estimated times
for each craft/skill. Although PM work orders are generated auto-
matically by the system and repetitive maintenance work orders are
not, both kinds of work orders are modifiable.
Work Order and Resource Scheduling
Once the total planned hours for each craft/skill exceeds the num-
ber of hours available in one work day--and that should happen the
first day of planning---decisions will have to be made about schedul-
ing the backlog of work. One of the major activities that a CMMS
supports is the scheduling of work orders and their required
resources. All open work orders are maintained on a file that is

44. Definitionof a CMMS 37
referred to as the work order backlog. Each work order will have indi-
cators to be used in determining the schedule. The indicators include
work order type, input date, status and priority, equipment/asset crit-
icality, and requested completion date. There may be other indicators
as well, depending upon the CMMS. Most systems use a work order
status code to define where a work order is in its cycle. There should
also be a status code indicating whether or not all the parts, materials,
or tools planned for the work order have been committed or reserved
yet. Their availability is, of course, a prerequisite for the work, unless
it can begin without all or some of them.
The CMMS should allow the scheduler to input criteria for the
selection of work orders to be scheduled. These criteria include, but
may not be limited to, area, department, supervisor, and craft/skill
type. They should also include the indicators, such as work order
type and requested completion date, already listed. From the input
provided by the scheduler, the CMMS will select and sequence work
orders in accordance with the criteria given. The selected work
orders will then be maintained on a schedule file. Work orders can be
removed from the file, or unscheduled, and the sequence can be
rearranged to meet the specific requirements of maintenance and
operations. Many systems allow schedules to be created for periods
of up to 12 months. A schedule created more than a week in advance
should, however, be revisited before being finalized, since unknown
factors can develop in the meantime to make the schedule invalid.
Once the work orders are selected for the schedule, the CMMS
should compare the planned labor requirements for each work order
in the schedule against the actual labor hours available to produce a
workable schedule. The scheduler, should be able to adjust the avail-
able labor hours and have the system re-create the final schedule.
Adjusting available labor hours may mean adding overtime hours,
additional personnel (possibly from another group), or contract labor.
Requisition of Non-Stock, Direct-Buy Parts and Services
A CMMS should allow for the on-fine creation of purchase requisi-
tions for non-stock or direct-buy parts, materials, and services. Direct-

45. 38 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
buy requisitions usually follow the normal (that is, stores stock replen-
ishment) purchase requisition process and may require approval
before a purchase order is written. A CMMS provides several advan-
tages over manually requisitioning these items. First, the requisition
may reference the work order for which the items are being pur-
chased. This work order reference should carry through to the receipt
process so that receiving personnel will know who requested the
material. This helps ensure quick notification or delivery of materials
to the requester upon receipt. Second, the requester can use the
CMMS to determine the status of a requisition. Has it been approved,
has the item been ordered, what is the purchase order number, who is
the vendor, what is the expected receipt date? The answers to these
questions should be available on-line, eliminating the need to call the
buyer for this information.
Analysis of Equipment/Asset RepairHistory
A key benefit of a CMMS is its ability to serve as a repository for
large amounts of data. Its files contain thousands of records that can
be combined, sorted, and displayed or printed in meaningful for-
mats. These displays and reports often provide critical information
for analyzing equipment/asset repair history. Historical data for
work order records includes the nature of the problem; where it
occurred; when it occurred; its cause; the resulting effect; the correc-
tive action taken; resources used; how long the repair took; and
comments concerning these activities. The CMMS can quickly
retrieve information from many different records, combine this
information, perform any required calculations, sort the results, and
present them in an organized format.
Analyzing history for a single equipment/asset can show break-
down trends, provide information for estimating future breakdowns,
and provide repair cost data for any period. With repair cost data, a
decision can be made about whether to continue repairing the item,
overhaul or rebuild it, or replace it. Failure trends for a specific type
of equipment/asset can also be produced. What may be determined

46. Definition of a CMMS 39
is that the majority of failures or types of failures occur with items
from a particular manufacturer. Or the case may be that most failures
are occurring at a specific location, perhaps because of an operator
problem. The types of analysis that can be performed with a CMMS
are basically limited only by the imagination.
Increased Labor Productivity
Increased labor productivity is another major benefit available with
a CMMS. This benefit alone may result in enough savings to pay for
the implementation of the system. If your CMMS performs automat-
ed resource (labor) balancing or leveling, you should be able to
schedule all personnel full-time on "wrench turning" activities. As
discussed in the earlier "Work Order and Resource Scheduling" sec-
tion, the CMMS will automatically match all work orders on the
schedule against available skill/craft hours and finalize the schedule
with those work orders for which the required hours are available. If
there are sufficient hours planned for each skill/craft, the system will
schedule them at 100% unless you specify otherwise. Most systems
allow you to set the percentage at which each skill/craft will be
scheduled.
If your system does not have automated resource balancing or lev-
eling, you should still be able to accomplish this goal of maximum
labor productivity. You accomplish it with job planning and manual
scheduling. Job planning will eliminate or greatly reduce the delays
caused by starting a job only to find that required personnel, parts,
tools, or permits were not planned for and therefore not provided.
This lack of planning usually results in personnel waiting, unproduc-
tively, for the missing items. Obviously, the greater the proportion of
jobs that are planned, the more productive the personnel.
To manually balance the available skill/craft hours with the
planned hours on the schedule, you must sort the schedule by
skill/craft type and determine the total planned hours for each type.
Select the number of work orders from the schedule that will equal
the available hours for the next day. This becomes the final schedule

47. 4o Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
for that day. Do this each day and you will achieve maximum pro-
ductivity. When a job requires different skills/crafts at different
times, planning the work order in steps, if your CMMS allows this,
can make scheduling the personnel easier. You should be able to
schedule each step independent of the other steps.
Budget Preparationand Tracking
Because the CMMS maintains all maintenance repair costs for past
periods and can present these costs in many sequences or groupings,
reliable information is available for preparing budgets. Cost data may
be grouped for specific areas or departments and may be separated
into labor, material, contract labor, and miscellaneous costs. These
costs may be further separated by the type of work performed, such
as preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, or specific pro-
jects. The CMMS and its myriad of data make estimating a future
budget fairly routine.
The CMMS should also track actual costs against the budget on a
daily, weekly, monthly, or user-defined basis. For preventive mainte-
nance plans that are executed on a calendar basis, the CMMS should
provide a look-ahead capability for determining future labor and
material requirements, by week or month, for at least a one-year
period. With this capability, PM schedules can be adjusted to balance
labor requirements over specific periods, and part and material
requirements can be determined by week or month, for up to a year.
These factors may not seem important, but the planning capability
they provide is extremely cost-effective.
ENGINEERING
Engineers may use a CMMS to plan projects just as maintenance
planners use it to plan work orders. They may also use the CMMS to
store and retrieve data on equipment specifications, drawing refer-
ences, and modifications to equipment/assets. They will be able to
quickly and accurately identify and locate identical equipment/assets

48. Definitionof a CMMS a I
throughout the facility. This is very important when an engineering
change is to affect all members of a group of related or similar equip-
ment/asset items.
Project Planning and Tracking
Engineering personnel may use the CMMS for planning a project
of any size. One or more work orders may be required depending
upon the size of the project. Separate work orders may be used for
each project activity, or if allowed by the CMMS, multiple steps may
be planned within a single work order. Project work orders normally
have a field for assigning a project number or identifier. Using the
project identifier field as the sort criteria, all work orders associated
with a project may be selected as a group for viewing or printing.
One advantage the CMMS provides through the use of project
work orders is its ability to group and display or print all planned
resource requirements and their cost. As work on the project pro-
gresses and charges are made to the work orders, comparisons of
projected and actual labor hours, labor costs, and material costs will
show if the project is falling within, below, or above the targets of
the project plan. Contract as well as in-house labor should be tracked
in this way. If the purchasing module is integrated with the mainte-
nance module, purchase order commitments may also be tracked
through the CMMS.
Review of Equipment/Asset Specifications
The CMMS should provide for the storage and retrieval of multi-
ple specifications for each equipment/asset record. Many systems
allow one set of specifications to be associated with all identical
equipment/asset records. Specifications are usually in the form of
user-defined codes with descriptive text for each code. They may be
maintained within the equipment/asset record or in a separate file or
table linked to the equipment/asset record. Specifications provide
several benefits to engineering. If a specification is to be modified for
all similar equipment/asset items, one update to the specification

49. aa Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
table or file will be all that is required. Not only is this quick, it also
ensures that no equipment/asset item is overlooked. Engineers may
also use these specification data when purchasing a new equip-
ment/asset item that is to be identical to one already owned.
Additionally, using specification data provides one of the best ways
to locate all identical equipment/asset items and the CMMS should
show where each item is physically located.
Equipment/Asset Modification History
Often equipment/asset items are modified to meet specific needs.
If these modifications are made using a CMMS work order, the sys-
tem will maintain a history of the modification. The history records
will include what was modified, when, by whom, and why the modi-
fication was required. If the same modification is to be made across a
group of identical or similar items, the CMMS provides, as men-
tioned already, a very quick, accurate way of locating and grouping
these items.
PRODUCTION
In many plants and facilities where Total Productive Maintenance
(TPM) or other team concepts are in use, production personnel may
use the CMMS as frequently as the maintenance personnel. Where
team concepts are not in use, production personnel may still use the
CMMS to inquire about the status of a work request without having
to contact maintenance. There are several other areas in which the
CMMS can be beneficial to production personnel:
Downtime Scheduling
Production personnel can use the CMMS to search all open work
orders for an equipment/asset item, fine, or process that is to be taken
out of service. The inquiry will show all work orders, both scheduled
and unscheduled, that have been planned for the item. Maintenance

50. Definition of a CMMS 4a
may then be notified that the equipment will be available for servicing
during this production downtime. The benefit to production is that
routine work may be scheduled and performed when it is most conve-
nient. When an unplanned breakdown occurs, the backlog of work for
the line or process can be quickly viewed to see what routine work can
be performed during the stoppage. Production personnel must take
the initiative to review the CMMS work order backlog when a process
or equipment/asset item is to be out of service, but the benefit~
reducing the extent to which routine maintenance cuts into produc-
tion time or levels~will definitely justify the effort.
Repair Request Backlog
A CMMS provides production personnel with a means of inquir-
ing on the status of work requests or work orders without having to
contact maintenance for the information. Usually, when people have
the ability to make inquiries for themselves, they have a higher level
of satisfaction with the answer. The CMMS provides, in effect,
improved communication, which leads to improved relations
between maintenance and production.
Equipment/Asset Repair History by Cause and Effect
Too often, repeated breakdowns are blamed on poor or incom-
plete work by maintenance personnel. If cause codes for the failures
are entered into the work orders upon completion of the work, it
becomes possible to determine why an item is repeatedly failing. It
may turn out that some failures are the result of operator error.
Cause codes may also show that the equipment in question is not
suited for the job it is required to do, e.g., a motor may be insuffi-
cient to pull the load placed on it. A review of the effect codes asso-
ciated with each cause code will also show how serious the results of
each failure have been. For these reasons, it is advisable to provide
production personnel with the ability to use the CMMS to analyze
failures for themselves. Give them as much opportunity to use the
CMMS as they are willing to take and encourage them to use it.

51. aa Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
INVENTORY CONTROL
Inventory control, storeroom, and receiving personnel are normally
active users of a CMMS. It is through the CMMS that they receive
and issue parts, materials, and tools and that they adjust inventory bal-
ances. There are a variety of other uses the system will have for them:
Parts Usage History
A CMMS should only permit issues of parts and materials to a
work order, an account number, or some other control number. This
practice eliminates unauthorized and unaccounted issues. When all
parts are issued through the CMMS, a history record of each issue
will be created. Each history record should contain the quantity
issued as well as the work order and/or account number against
which the issue was made. This historical information can then be
used to determine part usage trends, such as abnormal issues or inac-
tivity for any period. Tool issues can also be tracked, so that invento-
ry personnel will have a record of the person to whom the tool was
issued, when it was issued, and when it is to be returned.
Cross-Reference of Parts to Equipment/Asset
As mentioned earlier, the parts to equipment/asset cross-refer-
ence, often referred to as the "where used" function, is the inverse of
the equipment/asset bill of materials or parts list. This means that a
cross-reference inquiry on a part number should result in a list of all
equipment/asset items that use the part. The cross-reference allows
inventory control personnel to make critical cost-saving decisions.
For example, when equipment/assets are being permanently taken
out of service, this feature will help determine whether inventory can
be reduced. When a part currently out of stock is needed in an emer-
gency, the cross-reference will show whether it can be taken from an
equipment/asset item that is currently out of service or non-critical.
For more information, see the discussion of the "where used" cross-
reference earlier in this chapter.

52. Definition of a CMMS as
Advance Notice of Parts Requirements for Planned Work
In most systems, planning a part on a work order will result in an
automatic update to the "quantity required" field on the corre-
sponding inventory record. This field contains the cumulative quan-
tity of the part required for planned work orders. At some point in
the work order planning and scheduling process, such as approval of
the work order, the quantity required will be added to a field
referred to as quantity reserved or quantity committed. Either the
required quantity or the reserved/committed quantity, depending
upon the CMMS, will update a system-calculated value referred to as
quantity available. Quantity available is, in effect, the balance on
hand minus the required or reserved/committed quantity. If a part is
requested by a means other than a work order, such as an over-the-
counter unplanned request, storeroom personnel can immediately
determine if the part is available for issue.
The CMMS should print pick lists or pick tickets corresponding to
the planned parts on a work order. The pick list will show, for each
part planned, the part number, description, quantity planned, and
the location of the part in the store room. Printing the list and hav-
ing the parts picked before the job is to be started will mean that
parts are ready on time, whether they are to be picked up by the
maintenance personnel or delivered to the job site.
Automatic Kequisitioning of Parts to Meet
Reorder/Stocking R.equirements
The CMMS will automatically create a reorder requisition to
replenish inventory. In some systems, the trigger point for creating
the requisition is the quantity available. In other systems, it is the
balance on hand quantity. In either case, when the trigger quantity
either equals, or in some systems falls below, the defined reorder
point, the requisition is created. It is important that you know which
trigger point your CMMS uses because that will determine where to
set the reorder point. If balance on hand is used, the reorder is based

53. 46 Computer-Managed
MaintenanceSystems
on the actual quantity of parts remaining. If quantity available is
used, the reorder is based on actual parts remaining less parts
required or reserved/committed. In the second case, the reorder
point will probably be set lower than if the reorder is based on bal-
ance on hand.
Many systems allow selected parts to be flagged so an automatic
requisition will never occur while the flag is in place. Requisitions for
these parts will be created through some other means, probably
manually. Seasonal parts, such as those for snow removal equipment,
may fall into this category.
Cross-Reference of Work Order to
Purchase Order for Direct-Buy Items
Often, direct-buy, non-stocked items are requisitioned for a specif-
ic work order. They are planned on the work order, and the requisi-
tion is either created automatically by the CMMS or is manually cre-
ated, depending upon the functionality of the system. In either case,
the work order number is carried forward to the requisition and sub-
sequently to the purchase order. When the items are received, the
receiving personnel will have available the work order number for
which the item was purchased. With this information, they can use
the CMMS to identify the requester so that immediate notification
of receipt can be given. In many systems, the direct-buy item for a
work order does not have to be stored or issued. It is, in effect,
issued to the work order when received, thus saving storeroom per-
sonnel valuable time.
Storage and Retrieval of Material Safety Data Sheets
The CMMS should provide for the storage, maintenance, and
retrieval of material safety data sheets for those parts and materials
requiring them. It should also allow for either manually selected or
automatic printing of the sheets when a part is issued.

54. Definition of a CMMS 47
PURCHASING
Many companies have a purchasing system in place before they
buy a CMMS. The questions of whether to use it or the purchasing
functions provided with the CMMS must be resolved before the
CMMS is implemented. Often, corporate policy mandates that the
existing system be retained. If you must use another purchasing sys-
tem, integration with or interface to the CMMS is highly desirable.
It will eliminate the need for any double entry of data and ensures
data integrity throughout the process. Other benefits of an integrat-
ed system are:
Automatic Requisition of Stores Stock Inventory
The way the CMMS automatically creates requisitions for replen-
ishment of stores inventories based on reorder points was described
in the "Inventory Control" section. These requisitions, as well as
manually input requisitions, are stored in the system for purchasing
personnel to review, modify, and transfer to the purchasing system as
required. Purchasing may change the vendor, order quantity, or unit
price before transferring the requisition to a purchase order. A fully
integrated system makes it possible to perform these tasks without
switching terminals, using what is basically one system.
Consolida'don of Requisitions for
Same Vendor to Single Purchase Order
Normally, requisitions are stored as individual records in the requi-
sition file. Each requisition should identify the recommended or pre-
ferred vendor from whom the item is to be purchased. Purchasing
personnel should be able to request that all requisitions for a specific
vendor be transferred to a single purchase order. Additional selection
criteria can be used to select all requisitions for a specific vendor that,
for example, contain a specific commodity code or codes, and to
transfer these requisitions to a single purchase order.

55. 48 Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems
Receipts Against the Purchase Order
Items are normally received in the system against their purchase
orders. The system should allow partial receipts with a back order,
or closure of an item with partial receipt. Overage receipts within
predefined maximum levels should also be allowed. These levels
may be a set quantity or dollar value, or may be a percent of the
purchase order quantity or value. When all items on the purchase
order have been received and completed, the system should auto-
matically close the purchase order. Some systems allow the purchase
order to be reopened if additional items are received after the pur-
chase order is closed.
When stock items are received, the inventory file for each item
should automatically be updated with the quantity received and pur-
chase price of the item. How the purchase price updates the invento-
ry record will depend upon the CMMS in use and your inventory
accounting methods. Accounting methods may include average unit
cost, first-in first-out (FIFO), or last-in first-out (LIFO), or the item
may be expensed upon receipt. Automatic updates to the inventory
records will not occur without an integrated system. Separate systems
mean double entries, first for receiving, then for inventory updates.
ACCOU NT! NG/F! NANCE
The CMMS can provide accounting and finance departments
with accurate maintenance cost data in a consolidated format. It is
very important that accounting or finance personnel be included in
the implementation planning process so that early decisions can be
made as to how costs are to be accumulated within the CMMS.
They can help determine the hierarchy structures and cost roll-up
levels. Their input is also needed in determining cost center and
account codes. The following are some of the benefits of a CMMS
for accounting/finance: