Whether you’re managing a handful of cars and trucks or an entire fleet of diverse vehicles, the success or failure of your maintenance program (and therefore your budget) is dependent on the little details. If they aren’t already, these 10 items should be part of your comprehensive fleet management checklist.

Essential Fleet Maintenance Tasks

1. Eliminate paper work orders. Once the number of vehicles being managed extends beyond a handful, the maintenance scheduling can quickly become a full-time job in and of itself. If you’re using software for fleet management that is still largely paper-based in the field, you’re not getting the full tracking ability to keep things on schedule and analyze patterns to correct preventive maintenance plans. A fully automated system lets you track every aspect of fleet management, inventory and budget under one dashboard. Continue reading →

Months of cold temperatures and increased precipitation take a heavy toll on facilities’ piping. Here are a few items that your workforce should be watching for as they perform their spring maintenance inspections. It’s a good idea to make these checks a permanent part of your preventive maintenance schedule, as they could save you substantial costs down the road by identifying problems early.

Key Facility Maintenance Pipe Checks

Winter Wear

Frozen pipes are the facilities-equivalent of the seasonal flu. Unfortunately, there’s nothing as simple as a shot to prevent pipes from freezing, but there are some straightforward measures that can be taken to prevent the problem from occurring in the future. Spring is a good time to fit exposed pipes with insulating sleeves that can prevent their temperature from falling below freezing. Areas where pipes are directly exposed to cold air should be patched and sealed over. Continue reading →

One of the key advantages of using ManagerPlus CMMS products is the ability to gain visibility into asset data quickly and easily. Because ManagerPlus uses a relational database, you have the power to organize your data in more precise and complex ways that will enable you to identify key trends, add clarity to your reports, and more.

The following walk-through will give you a basic grasp of how to perform more accurate searches by using custom criteria:

1. Open ManagerPlus and Click the Assets tab

2. Below the Assets tab, you will see the following binoculars icon, click here:

Continue reading →

Healthcare providers are being squeezed from two directions, dealing with the ever-present demand to reduce costs while improving quality of care and outcomes for their patients. The cost-efficiency demanded simply cannot come from reductions in quality, so savings must be derived from a more efficient use of resources and operational reforms that result in a better level of care.

There are many hurdles to these goals, but the particular inefficiencies that crop up in managing a healthcare facility’s vast equipment resources bring special challenges to anyone trying to tackle costs.

Proliferation and Distribution of Healthcare Assets

The number of assets in play in healthcare environments has increased dramatically over the past two decades, and just mobile assets can represent millions in capital expenditures for a single facility. More treatment options and technologies mean better care and improved outcomes for patients but also more cost introduced into the system. Continue reading →

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week! To celebrate, the facility maintenance management experts at ManagerPlus have identified six aspects of our education system that are directly impacted by school maintenance and facility condition.

The following are based on a comprehensive report by the 21^st Century School Fund, which aggregates numerous studies on the impact of well-maintained, new, and up-to-date facilities on quality of education in the United States. The studies featured in the report focused on key variables such as teacher retention, student discipline, and test scores in order to isolate the effect that facility condition has on each of these measures.

Here are six of the key findings from these studies:

1. Retention. Teachers are 5% more likely to stay working for a school whose facilities conditions are rated “A” versus “F”, according to one study.

2. Attitudes. Evidence suggests that facility condition has a significant impact on teacher attitudes—the better the condition of the facilities, the more positive teachers are about their work.

3. Discipline. There is a correlation between physical disorder and social disorder. Dilapidated facilities are associated with higher rates of discipline problems.  This effect extends to behavioral problems such as truancy, and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. Continue reading →

ManagerPlus held its 2012 Awards Luncheon Thursday to celebrate the company’s achievements from the past year, and honor stand-out employees for their excellence.

ManagerPlus achieved numerous milestones in 2012, including growth in every department, a rapidly expanding customer base, and the creation of the Enterprise and Partners sales divisions, which will drive future growth.

The following ManagerPlus employees were honored for their exceptional performance:

Sales Representative of the Year 2012

Brandon Gunn

Achievement in Sales 2012

Josh Kelly

Greg Dibble

Marcus Heygster

Impact Award  

Cody Gray

Mike Wesemann

Mike Flanders

Glen Kingston

5 Year Award

Ian Stewart

Kerry Hyland

Christine Ware

3 year Award:

John Gibson

Congratulations to these outstanding employees and everyone at ManagerPlus for making 2012 one of our best years ever!

Depreciation is the single largest cost of managing a fleet, with maintenance coming in second. Learning to manage asset depreciation is key because even small changes in performance can reap huge savings or incur significant costs.

Understanding Depreciation

The formula for depreciation is deceptively simple: vehicle acquisition cost minus resale value, plus any fees involved with the sale. But the factors that influence resale value, and the utility derived from your fleet vehicles in the meantime are various and complex.

Vehicle depreciation consists of two main factors: Utility and Prestige Value. Utility is essentially a function of mileage; every mile you drive depreciates the vehicle, though not all miles incur equal depreciation throughout the lifecycle. Prestige Value is the perceived value of a vehicle, which is obviously highest for vehicles right before they’re driven off the lot, and drops precipitously in those first few months of ownership. Continue reading →

After a long winter that saw some extreme weather, spring is the perfect time to do a thorough check of your facilities to ensure that they aren’t deteriorating or damaged.  For facilities, roofs, foundations, masonry walls and chimneys are particularly vulnerable to precipitation and temperature swings, and should rank among facilities professionals’ top priorities for inspections and preventive maintenance.

As you begin to map out your spring maintenance schedule, take a look at our tips for spotting problems early before they become critical emergencies.

Roof Inspections

Continue reading →

Sign up today and take advantage of our early bird discount for ManagerPlus Enterprise and Pro product seminars in sunny Las Vegas!

Enterprise Seminar, Tuesday June 25^th & Wednesday, June 26 2013

Register by April 26^th and you’ll save $199 on our Enterprise seminar. Attendees will learn how to improve their department’s productivity, create effective reports, help relieve maintenance management stress, and much more. Seats fill up fast, so be sure to sign up now to reserve your spot!

Pro Seminar, Thursday, June 27^th & Friday, June 28^th 2013   

Sign up for our Pro seminar before April 30^th and save $169.50! Learn tips, tricks and best practices from ManagerPlus experts, and get answers to all of your questions in two power-packed days. If you have multiple attendees, sign up now and save an extra 5% on each individual you add!

ManagerPlus is excited to announce NEW job openings in the direct sales and technical support departments! ManagerPlus is a fast-growing company that offers a positive work environment and  fosters professional growth by helping employees develop their skills and maximize their potential. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, challenging job that could develop into a long and satisfying career, send us your resume today!

Direct Sales

Our sales representatives are among the best you’ll find anywhere,and  is highly knowledgeable and detail oriented, with a true team player mentality. If you enjoy learning new things, working for ManagerPlus is a great way to expand your skill set and learn valuable and marketable experience. There is a lot of room to grow and evolve with ManagerPlus, so if you are a friendly and people-oriented, send us your resume and let’s talk about the skills and background you would bring to ManagerPlus!

Technical Support

Do you love technology? Are you the type who loves to dive into software and learn every function, option and feature? If so, ManagerPlus technical support is the perfect job for you. Gaining a deep understanding of ManagerPlus products can lead to other career paths such as working in our Training and Implementation, Quality Assurance, or Development Departments.

If you’re looking to start a career in software or technology, ManagerPlus technical support is the perfect place to start. Click here for more information.