Maintenance, Repair & Operations

Reducing Costs with your CMMS — Part 1

Feb. 2, 2021

Change your PM focus to one of intelligent risk reduction.

In many organizations, the cost reduction possible with a CMMS is barely realized. That’s typically because the CMMS is used almost entirely as a direct replacement for a paper work-order process. Instead, think of your CMMS as an asset management tool.

You can use it to understand and balance costs against risks. For example, a particular production line has 37 different PMs. All of these take time to perform, all of them can introduce human error, and many require downtime to be completed. Why not use your CMMS to change your PM locus from one of activity to one of intelligent risk reduction?

Start with risks that are acceptable because the consequences don’t affect safety, the environment, or operations. If you don’t perform PM X, what is the likelihood of Failure Y, and how much would that cost? Use the CMMS to determine the labor cost of PM X. If you deactivate that PM, use the CMMS to track failures that PM X would have prevented.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.