This week, American Machinist ran an article titled “Why Configurability Matters for Manufacturing Enterprise Software” (form fill required). In it, author Katie Hilyar details the importance of flexibility in enterprise software solutions, citing the substantial differences between the processes that companies of different sizes use to meet their objectives.
At the conclusion of the article, Hilyar outlines the following set of criteria for determining whether a particular enterprise-level software is sufficiently configurable:
– “Ability to extend your application with new functionality (e.g. business processes) not just changing the presentation of existing functions.”
– “No requirement to write or maintain software code – this is one of the key hallmarks of configuration vs. customization.”
– “Drag-and-drop modeling and design tools to rapidly define your processes.”
– “Built-in workflow automation (BPM) to save you time and improve productivity.”
It’s not often that you see a broad concept like configurability addressed in such specific terms, so we thought it might be interesting to assess ManagerPlus maintenance management software solutions using these criteria to see how we stack up.
Here’s what we found:
Ability to extend application functionality
ManagerPlus uses a modular design, making it easy to expand functionality as needed. Customers can add features like inventory control and purchase order functionality depending on their specific needs. This enables ManagerPlus to be utilized effectively across a broad range of industries, by companies of all sizes.
No requirement to write or maintain code
One of the advantages of being in the CMMS industry for over 20 years is that we have gotten very good at anticipating customer needs and building our software in such a way that no external coding should be necessary to achieve the functionality you’re after. We have worked hard to put all of the customization tools you need directly into the software, so that you don’t have to spend extra time and money programming over the top of our program.
Drag-and-drop modeling and design tools
Configuring basic list views in ManagerPlus is easy to do with drag-and-drop functionality, and each module features its own customization area to achieve the look and feel you want (see screenshot above). Without these intuitive tools, it would be virtually impossible to serve such a diverse range of organizations in different verticals.
Built-in Workflow Automation
This is where ManagerPlus really shines. Our solutions make it easy to automate critical workflows for greater efficiency and accuracy. For instance, routine maintenance schedules can automatically generate work orders when they come due, eliminating the unnecessary hassle of tracking everything manually on a calendar and creating work orders from scratch.
Work order statuses can be customized to streamline operations and improve resource allocation. Critical data on costs and work history is automatically tracked for every asset, so our customers don’t have to waste time with paper files or time-consuming (and inaccurate) spreadsheets.
So how do we feel we stack up to Hilyar’s criteria? It’s pretty simple: when it comes to customization, there are few applications as flexible as ManagerPlus.
Be sure to subscribe to this blog for all the latest news, tips, and insights from ManagerPlus!
