Why Change is Crucial?

Government agencies need to consistently keep up with regulatory requirements without exceeding their budget. When new service demands crop up and facility managers are forced to expand their services, the infrastructure does not seem to support this change. In this situation, trying to make the most of inadequate infrastructure and outdated technology helps little in the way of achieving optimum operational efficiency. To manage services and infrastructure assets effectively and on time, municipal agencies need to deploy a feature-rich computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) that saves time, streamlines workflow and improves productivity.

CMMS is designed to manage municipal assets as well as service providers using key systems like enterprise resource planning software and geographic information systems while ensuring compliance with critical requirements governing assets and accounts. Municipal operations can no longer achieve the maximum possible efficiency with a legacy approach.

What Challenges Do Municipalities Face While Operations?

The increasing pressure to revamp municipality operations is exerted due to the following factors:

  • Municipality assets are widely dispersed so the processes and procedures governing them cannot function in isolation.
  • Municipal maintenance is not a small task and so having proper routines scheduled for all street segments, sewers, pipes, drains, and equipment becomes difficult in the absence of technology.
  • Because municipalities are accountable to the public at large, catering to increasing demands with shrinking budgets poses an ongoing challenge.
  • To bring down the total cost of ownership for systems, fleet and vital equipment, it is important to accurately track budget needs based on asset maintenance records. This helps in making improvements and scheduling PM tasks to extend equipment service life and reduce overtime spending. But when municipalities lack visibility into enterprise-wide assets and their related services, productivity declines and costs increase.
  • Since public utility projects are fragmented, implementing large-scale upgrades and enforcing regulations can get exceedingly challenging.
  • Generating detailed and accurate reports for specific projects manually delays important decisions concerning costs and resources.

Legacy asset management approaches are limited in terms of capabilities that pose barriers to budget planning, preventive maintenance, work order processing, ensuring compliance and managing contracts. While it does facilitate the management of individual assets and services, it falls short in providing a centralized view of all essential assets and lacks the agility needed to proactively manage a broad spectrum of services and assets.

Why Municipalities Are Shifting From Spreadsheets to CMMS?

With spreadsheets becoming inefficient and obsolete, municipalities are now leveraging technology to bridge the gap between operations and cost containment. To save substantial dollars they are automating manual processes using asset management software. When properly implemented it:

  1. Streamlines maintenance workflow by auto-scheduling work order processes
  2. Keeps facility managers updated at every step right from the allocation of resources to the completion of work orders with instant notifications
  3. Facilitates optimum utilization of resources by eliminating unnecessary paperwork and keeping technicians productive
  4. Allows easy integration with EAM systems using which, maintenance technicians can perform inspections and address issues much faster
  5. Enables easy implementation of SOPs throughout facilities and departments with end-to-end visibility
  6. Generates accurate records that can be used for accurate capital planning and precise allocation of work orders
  7. Keeps a constant track of vendor performance to check if they are completing  the expected services in a timely and efficient manner
  8. Makes for an easy-to-access data repository that offers a centralized view of assessments, audits, inspections, repairs and replacements supports the authorities in managing risks, monitoring efforts and ensuring compliance consistently
  9. Helps in achieving operational excellence by implementing best industry practices across sites and departments
  10. Allows municipalities to make the most of the robust capabilities of EAM and GIS systems while avoiding the hassles that crop up with using standalone systems.

Preventive maintenance software is a comprehensive asset and service management solution that empowers municipalities to monitor and manage their day-to-day operations while ensuring safety and compliance. It reduces operational costs, maximizes asset performance, enhances decision-making ability, and improves interdepartmental coordination – thereby reducing emergency repairs and unexpected system failures.

Check out NEXGEN’s advanced asset management functionalities like funding forecast, condition assessment, lifecycle planning and project prioritization to understand how we make complicated and time-consuming tasks fast, efficient and easy.