How Asset Maintenance Software Benefits Different Industries

Asset maintenance is integral for organisations to achieve sustainability and get more value out of the assets they invest in.

Traditionally, keeping track of asset and inventory records has been a manual process. 

Whether the records were kept in digital, paper format, or a combination of both, it has been very time-consuming. 

It is a lot of work to manage manually, from sectoring assets to conducting physical-accounting reconciliation, tracking asset history and filing maintenance records.

As technology develops exponentially, today’s companies need to keep up with an increasingly complex ecosystem of technology and people. 

Traditional ways of managing asset maintenance in this complex ecosystem can quickly get overwhelming and prone to human error.

Asset maintenance software can help organisations simplify the laborious processes of traditional asset maintenance to save time, reduce error, and achieve better productivity — but do all companies need it?

In this article, we’ll touch upon asset maintenance and its benefits, the six industries need that critically need asset maintenance software, and how these industries can benefit from investing in asset maintenance software.

What is asset maintenance?

Asset maintenance is all the activities required to maintain assets such as buildings, machinery, and equipment.

The purpose of asset maintenance is to ensure they function smoothly to perform their tasks.

There are three types of asset maintenance that organisations need to uphold:

1. Scheduled or planned maintenance
   This is routine maintenance of assets such as equipment, machinery, vehicles, and so on, according to the maintenance schedule recommended by the manufacturer.
   
   
2. Corrective maintenance
   Whenever a routine inspection or incident identifies an issue, corrective maintenance helps to prevent the problem from getting bigger.
   
   
3. Breakdown or emergency maintenance
   Emergency maintenance is required when an asset breaks down unexpectedly or is involved in an accident. This type of maintenance is unplanned and usually costly. 

What are the benefits of asset maintenance?

Proper management of the three asset maintenance types can help organisations:

• Increase asset performance.
• Increase machine efficiency
• Increase time efficiency
• Prolong asset lifecycle
• Minimise downtime
• Reduce the costs and stress associated with downtime
• Optimise inventory control of spare parts and other materials
• Inform future maintenance and budgeting decisions

In the next section, we’ll look at how asset maintenance software can help six different industries maximise the benefits they reap from asset maintenance.

#1 Facilities management

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Servers maintenance
• Information technology license updates
• Electrical
• Plumbing
• Lighting
• Fire safety systems
• Construction and renovation
• Custodial and waste management
• Grounds and pest control

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. Mobile inspections make it easier for employees to conduct routine property inspections on servers, electrical, plumbing, lighting, and fire safety systems.

2. Managers can get real-time data on any issues from inspection reports, allowing managers to assign follow-up actions faster and reduce downtime.
   
3. Employees can see their assigned corrective actions, so nothing gets missed. Managers can view which tasks are outstanding and follow up on any tasks that fall behind.
   
4. Managers can also use filters and labels to manage the different categories for fast viewings, such as (for example, plumbing, lighting, electrical and so on) This can streamline how they organise records without laborious physical paper and filing systems.
   
5. Managers can also easily manage their filters by location, making it easier to search and follow up on tasks for each facility or location their manage.

#2 Transport and Logistics

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Vehicles
• Safety compliance
• Machinery
• Devices
• Spare parts

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. With their mobile phones, drivers or vehicle operators can conduct vehicle safety checks before every shift. Without the hassle of pen and paper inspections to fill out and submit, it’s easier for drivers to complete inspections on the go.
   
2. Since inspections are submitted online in real time, managers can ensure that inspections are completed for each shift. This reduces the impact of missed or delayed inspections, improves safety for personnel, and helps organisations stay on track with vehicle safety compliance.
   
3. Assigning scheduled and preventive maintenance of vehicles and equipment can be streamlined via asset maintenance software. Employees can see what is assigned to them, so nothing is missed.

4. Managers can get real-time data on issues from inspection, scheduled, or preventive maintenance. With real-time data, managers can assign corrective actions faster and reduce the chances of fleet downtime. This can improve supply chain reliability and client satisfaction.
   
5. Managers no longer have to waste time searching through paperwork and collating reports to determine what spare parts they need to order. Through their mobile device, managers can quickly filter out outstanding issues and manage the spare parts inventory accordingly, helping ensure an adequate supply of parts without unnecessary expenditure.

#3 Retail

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Refrigeration 
• Storage facilities
• Shelving
• Lighting
• Flooring
• Heating/air conditioning systems
• Equipment such as computers and scanners
• Shopping carts
• Cash registers

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. Managers can assign and keep track of scheduled and preventive maintenance of essential assets for business operations, such as refrigeration, heating/air-conditioning systems, shopping carts, cash registers, etc.
   
2. Employees can conduct routine inspections on these essential assets to ensure that everything is in tip-top condition. This is very important in retail because a breakdown in refrigeration, for example, can cause damage to a lot of goods.

3. Employees can also conduct inspections on storage, shelving, and other safety-related tasks to adhere to safety compliance, especially in retail environments that deal with customers on the premise.
   
4. An integrated incident and hazard reporting process can alert managers of any hazardous incidents that can happen in retail that require immediate corrective action.
   
5. With real-time data on any issues from inspections, scheduled, or preventive maintenance, managers can issue and keep track of corrective actions easier. By being able to do this, corrective actions can be resolved faster to deliver a more seamless retail experience and improve customer satisfaction.

#4 Manufacturing

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Production line machinery
• Maintenance equipment (such as hand drills, ladders, etc.)
• Safety equipment
• Spare parts
• Quality control inspections

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. Managers can assign and keep track of each piece of equipment’s scheduled maintenance, from production line machinery to safety and maintenance equipment.
   
2. An integrated incident and hazard reporting system can alert managers in real time of any equipment that has broken down and needs emergency maintenance.

3. Asset maintenance software designed for mobile makes it easy for employees to add photos from their phones. Being able to add photos is extremely valuable to report breakdowns and quality control issues while minimising miscommunication quickly.
   
4. Integrated discussion threads allow managers and employees to discuss maintenance or quality control issues within an inspection or incident report. Issues can be resolved faster because managers don’t have to wait until the end of the day to compile paper-based reports and analyse the paperwork.
   
5. Asset maintenance software helps employees report issues faster, upholds quality control, and saves management time processing and filing documents. The result is higher productivity, resolving problems faster, improved quality control, and minimal downtime.

#5 Hospitality

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Facilities management
• Furniture and fittings
• Cash registers
• Computer systems

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. Asset maintenance of a hotel is a combination of facilities management and retail management.
   
2. As mentioned earlier, asset management software simplified facilities management by eliminating the need for multiple spreadsheets to keep tabs on each hotel branch location.
   
3. Managers can streamline how they organise inspection and routine maintenance records without laborious physical paper and filing systems for each location using labels, filters, and location tags.

4. Asset maintenance software can also be used to keep track of daily cleaning duties. Through their mobile phones, maids can complete inspection reports with just a few taps whenever they complete the tasks of cleaning a room.
   
5. With real-time data submitted on the rooms that are ready, the checking-in and checking-out process can be streamlined to maximise hotel stay while enhancing customer experience and satisfaction.

6. Managers can assign scheduled maintenance and corrective tasks to ensure facilities meet safety compliance and smooth operations.

#6 Construction

Popular types of asset maintenance required:

• Heavy vehicles
• Heavy machinery 
• Safety equipment
• Structural inspections
• Material inspections

How asset maintenance software can help:

1. Construction is an industry with one of the highest rates of incidents. At the same time, employees are often under time pressure to complete their jobs and may take shortcuts that compromise personal safety or product quality.
   
2. Asset maintenance software can be precious in construction because it simplifies conducting safety inspections. Without needing to handle pen-and-paper reporting, construction workers can submit inspection reports without impacting their workflow or slowing them down.
   
3. The construction industry also involves managing fleets, as in the transport and logistics industry, and maintaining equipment, like in the manufacturing industry.
   
4. As mentioned in the earlier sections, asset maintenance systems simplify and streamlines the upkeep and maintenance of vehicles and machinery. On top of this, it can be used to keep track of structural and material inspections to ensure the quality and integrity of their construction.
   
5. Without paperwork and multiple excel sheets, managers save a lot of time by being able to see and quickly resolve all outstanding issues, from vehicle to machinery, safety, and structural and material quality.

Applying asset maintenance software to your industry

Overall, mobile asset maintenance software such as Workflows can be applied to suit the needs of many different types of industries. 

Whichever industry you’re in, asset maintenance software helps you:

• Eliminate paperwork
• Facilitate smoother daily operations
• Streamline reporting issues and resolve corrective actions
• Increase asset performance and asset life cycle
• Minimise downtime costs and stress
• Optimise inventory control
• Inform future maintenance and budgeting decisions. 

For customised advice on how your organisation can smoothly transition to asset maintenance software to boost productivity and profitability, reach out to us.