As the business ecosystem evolves, leaders will rely more heavily on asset management within the value chain. Asset managers are adopting enterprise asset management (EAM) software to lead their organizational transformation toward increasingly complex operations.
In fact, Gartner notes that businesses today are being driven to collect, analyze and share asset data more widely.
EAM software is soaring in popularity, in part because it’s the next step above computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). It undoubtedly solves the challenges of managing enterprise data — but is it the right solution for every type of asset?
Let’s look at the role of EAM software and the assets it handles best.
What is EAM software?
EAM software consolidates widespread data into a single platform. The solution is capable of tracking everything about an asset: purchase price, maintenance schedules, safety records, work history, life cycle, and more. And with APIs, a platform can integrate information from additional sources too.
But collecting data is just the beginning. With an advanced EAM platform, analytics add purpose to the information, making it more actionable while also aligning asset performance with business outcomes.
Across an organization, there are a variety of uses for EAM software. Examples include allowing maintenance staff to check work orders, safety teams to produce reports, inventory personnel to maintain stock, and managers to create schedules and capital planning forecasts.
With an enterprise-wide system, a single source of truth is available across the company. This single source eliminates the problems caused by data stored on separate computers or within different departments. Those problems might include missing assets, incomplete records, and inconsistencies that skew the big-picture analysis.
When comprehensive asset information is integrated in an EAM platform, measuring metrics, such as hours of service or lifetime maintenance costs, is a snap. Those metrics then fuel strategic business decisions.
Equally important is EAM software’s ability to aid decision-making in real-time. When managers have access to up-to-date information, they can identify trends, create data-driven strategies, and plan with confidence.
Which assets should be managed by EAM software?
From a fleet of delivery vans to a cluster of office buildings, EAM is the right choice for managing a variety of assets. It’s especially important for growing companies that want to capture asset data early in their growth cycle.
An advanced EAM solution will allow you to add virtually any type of asset. Best of all, today’s modern systems have the capability to scale up as your business grows.
Expanding from light-duty to heavy-duty fleet vehicles? No problem. Adding drones to your operation? The EAM can manage those too.
Fleet assets
Fleet assets typically include an assortment of vehicles such as cars, trucks, and vans. However, for many businesses, their fleet might take the form of trains, boats, ambulances, or trailers.
Any asset that has the ability to move people or things from one place to another falls into the category of fleet. And all require a strategic fleet management approach to stay operable.
Here are a few common challenges of fleet managers:
- Fleet assets are used outside of company property, making them more difficult to track than fixed assets.
- Operations are subject to regulatory standards that can change over time.
- Fluctuating fuel costs, driving habits, and road conditions make it tough to predict a fleet’s true performance.
Many software systems can compile data (even paper forms can do that), but EAM software takes fleet management to a higher level by streamlining asset performance across the whole organization and tying it to business value propositions. Below are some typical capabilities EAM software offers for fleet management.
Maintenance – Daily reporting helps you prioritize preventive and reactive maintenance, create schedules and track results.
Compliance – Document Department of Transportation inspections, safety reports, and corrective actions. Pull information from cloud-based platforms to fulfill compliance requirements in moments.
Fleet metrics – EAM software surfaces information across the organization to make calculating fleet metrics simple. Onboard GPS and other devices are often integrated into the data flow.
Fuel management – With business intelligence, software drives decisions about managing fuel costs across an entire fleet.
Far-reaching data makes all the difference in the real world of fleet management. With the help of EAM software, Metro Group, a metal recycling and transloading company, was able to optimize their maintenance scheduling, reducing reactive maintenance by 67.4%.
Construction assets
Asset managers in the construction industry count on vehicles as well as tools, handheld devices, and heavy equipment. These assets can be costly as well as complex—from cranes and back hoes, to front-end loaders and specialty power tools.
Construction assets are used on infrastructure and building projects, like skyscrapers and bridges, as well as in residential environments and difficult-to-reach locations. Often, assets are industry specific, or even task specific, making it challenging to maximize uptime.
Here are a few common challenges for asset managers in construction:
- Equipment must be available in different worksites, making maintenance schedules and asset availability tricky.
- Exposure to weather takes a toll on construction machinery, making life cycles more uncertain.
- Smaller assets can be targets for jobsite theft, which slows work and boosts costs.
- Specialized equipment often requires a longer lead time on parts, materials, and replacements, so budgets must be forecasted early.
Because construction assets incur high costs, specialized solutions are needed to ensure they deliver value. EAM software provides a comprehensive picture not just for each asset’s performance but also for performance across the business enterprise. Below are some typical capabilities EAM software offers for equipment management.
Equipment tracking – Tracking technology, coupled with EAM software, allows managers to deploy equipment strategically to maximize uptime and keep construction projects on schedule.
Life cycle management – Advanced software functions add value to an asset’s life cycle by tailoring maintenance tasks to move toward preventive and predictive maintenance.
Mobile access – Construction sites can’t always count on Internet connectivity, so EAM software with offline options and mobile capabilities create efficiencies.
Because projects vary in scope and duration, construction firms need customized EAM capabilities. DeFoe Corp, a highway contractor specializing in bridge construction, reduced downtime by 50% using EAM software to create customized maintenance schedules for its heavy equipment.
Manufacturing assets
There’s no doubt tracking complex manufacturing equipment—conveyor systems, CNC machines, industrial ovens, etc.—is different than managing mobile assets. Within a manufacturing facility, assets are typically fixed in place and endure long production processes that leave little room for downtime. For manufacturing asset management, reliability translates into profitability.
Here are a few unique challenges that manufacturing asset managers face:
- Core business operation, and therefore revenue, is exclusively tied to uptime.
- Specialized industrial assets call for custom parts and more intense training for maintenance teams.
- Some machinery requires external maintenance services that can be hard to source.
EAM software is well suited to manufacturing as it merges diverse, company-wide data into a single platform. The software draws in all available information to create an accurate picture of the shopfloor at any given time.
Here are some typical capabilities EAM software offers for manufacturing asset management.
Safety — Keeping workers safe means completing maintenance tasks according to best practices. EAM software can create workflows and checklists that ensure safety for technicians who do the maintenance as well as operators who are in close contact with machines.
Inventory management — Software that integrates inventory with maintenance makes it easy to ensure stock is available when it’s needed, especially for parts with long lead times.
Preventive maintenance analysis — Preventive maintenance software helps manufacturing organizations optimize maintenance programs and plan the best scheduling approach to reduce downtime.
Track asset value — Critical decisions such as replacing, retiring, or upgrading assets must be made with the help of business intelligence tools contained in an advanced EAM.
With EAM software, compliance is easy and uncomplicated. For sandcasting specialists CPM Industries, fulfilling ISO certification means meeting equipment maintenance intervals.
Facilities assets
Facilities management involves assets contained in a variety of spaces, from warehouse settings to hospitals, to hotels, to government buildings. Facilities assets include equipment such as boilers and security systems as well as elevators and forklifts.
Some of the challenges facing facilities managers include:
- Security issues such as theft, vandalism, and trespassing.
- Stringent sanitation and safety requirements.
- Thermal control for the health of occupants as well as the assets.
- Regulatory compliance activities that call for significant asset updates.
- Managing multiple buildings and keeping track of lease and inspection records.
Use EAM software to improve development planning for everything from installing appliances to bringing a whole new facility online.
Prioritize maintenance – An EAM solution allows a facilities manager to keep track of multiple locations and prioritize the most urgent and important maintenance requests.
Track inventory – Facilities assets cover a vast scope of structures, parts, and equipment. EAM software integrates asset information with inventory to streamline installation, maintenance, and replacements.
Long-term planning – EAM platforms with business intelligence help managers define key performance indicators that drive their growth trajectories.
Modern EAM platforms offer mobile access so managing multiple sites is easy. Deer Valley Ski Resort kept labor and maintenance costs down while maximizing equipment uptime across more than 15 buildings and properties.
Your solution for enterprise assets
Every asset must have true business value. No matter the use case, the best way to gain more value from an asset is through a complete understanding of its impact. EAM software connects information from across an entire organization, effortlessly transforming asset data into powerful business knowledge.
The advanced tools of ManagerPlus Lighting allow you to organize data for superior asset tracking and operational growth.
To learn more about ManagerPlus EAM solutions, schedule your free demo today.
