CMMS: how to deploy on an industrial group?
Large industrial groups and SMEs are not subject to the same constraints regarding the deployment of industrial information systems. Multi-site groups have to deal with numerous steps, including defining needs, researching solutions, choosing the app, deploying on a pilot site, obtaining a return on investment, making a final definition and deploying on all sites. In some cases, additional steps and people are added, making the project execution even more complex.
The industrial sector is currently evolving and even the largest companies are beginning to follow the latest trends and to evolve quickly. For example, deploying a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) software has nothing to do with what it used to be, and the deployment processes are also undergoing numerous changes with positive repercussions for the teams and companies concerned.
All news related to ongoing interventions are available from Mobility Work’s newsfeed.
Nowadays, apps and social networks such as Craigslist, Facebook and LinkedIn are conquering thousands of users in a viral way; why shouldn’t it be the same for industrial applications? Let’s look at the levers that enable large industrial groups to quickly and efficiently deploy their industrial applications.
Traditional CMMS deployment methods
Before defining the needs, it is essential to build the right project team with the most relevant individuals. Unfortunately, field workers are often dismissed in favour of IT staff, whose concerns are far from the reality of maintenance jobs. Mixing people is often the key to success: small, agile and open-minded teams, representing all potential users but also the industrial impulse you want to transmit in the future through the new software. A team without motivation will only allow you to reach 10% of the real potential of your new maintenance management software. A team that is too specialized in IT may opt for software that is too complicated to use for end users. A team that is too focused on the field will not make the right technological choice. A team that is too financial will be more interested in costs than in features.
The ideal team should therefore include:
- 1 project manager;
- 1 IT engineer ;
- different field users (maintenance managers from the different plants when deploying a CMMS software);
- 1 finance department member.
After constituting the project team, it is time to define the needs and to prepare the first meetings. Each plant is different and has specific needs, so it is necessary to schedule physical and virtual meetings in order to bring the teams together and to be able to produce the specifications that will allow you to choose among the multitude of asset management software editors, and finally validate 4 months later a solution that may not comply with the specifications. Payment, receipt of the software, installation by the IT department, configuration and finally user training: this whole process must be multiplied by the number of industrial sites in which the solution is to be deployed.
This is what led some industrial groups to take 10 years to deploy their maintenance management software in their plants, knowing that between the first and the last plant deployed, the software will have evolved considerably. A waste of time, human and financial resources (knowing that beyond the exorbitant initial investment are additional costs) which can have serious consequences for the company.
An easy deployment thanks to 4.0
With the emergence of new maintenance management solutions closer to everyday life applications, old-fashioned maintenance management software and their time-consuming deployments are now obsolete with 4.0 and mobile solutions. New standards are now simplifying these deployments:
- A project team reduced to the essential
It is not necessary to use a project team: a single person at the level of the industrial group in charge of harmonizing best practices and deployment kits, and ensuring the involvement of all subsidiaries in the project promises a more consistent and reliable result. This is the method chosen by industrial groups Danone Waters and Saint Gobain Sekurit for the deployment of their new asset management software Mobility Work. This avoids communication gaps and inconsistencies by limiting the number of people involved.
- No more specifications
This also applies to specifications: they are no longer mandatory thanks to next-gen flexible asset management solutions available on the market. Hosted in the Cloud in SaaS mode, the next-gen maintenance management platform Mobility Work is easy to use thanks to its simplified interface, and includes all the maintenance features found in traditional CMMS. Mobility Work is the first collaborative, agile CMMS designed by and for maintenance professionals. Maintenance plans, data analysis tool, distribution and organization of maintenance work… all the essentials to manage and analyze your maintenance acts are included. Mobility Work stands out from its competitors by offering a platform, which makes it possible to connect industrial professionals. The application is constantly evolving, taking into account customer requests via online support and is committed to developing them free of charge if the improvement is relevant for the community. This agility allows everyone to participate in the development of the product. 7 days are enough to see how easy it is to handle.
- Carry out your POC in the best possible conditions
Once the solution has been chosen, the first step generally consists in carrying out a POC (proof of concept) on a pilot plant. To do this, it is necessary to choose a plant whose employees will be the driving force when deploying the project and awaiting a solution to improve their daily management and the company’s maintenance. Once the feasibility of the project has been proven, it can be presented to the rest of the group. Mobility Work offers to make a web presentation to all business users in order to integrate them into the project from the beginning and thus obtain a first feedback. Mobility Work’s high level of user-friendliness promises rapid product adoption by teams.
- Assisted import: save time on other tasks
Mobility Work’s team offers you the opportunity to import all your data free of charge, whether it comes from an Excel file or from an existing maintenance management software (machine histories, intervention reports, spare parts list, maintenance plans) thanks to the import frames available. Make your CMMS software the heart of your company’s maintenance information: cross your maintenance data with other systems’ (connectable ERP thanks to open APIs, etc.) and process only the most reliable information, which you can analyze to improve your decision-making. Mobility Work has been designed to help you save time: it is time to prove that maintenance is not just a cost center, but a profit center!
Large-scale implementation in record time
Mobility Work CMMS was designed based on the maintenance technicians’ actions. User-friendly and intuitive, it does not require any training. Any user is able to understand how it works in a few minutes, because it draws its inspiration from famous social networks and other applications we all use on a daily basis.
All news related to ongoing interventions are available from Mobility Work mobile application’s newsfeed, available on iOS and Android.
From the 7-day free trial period, teams are able to see the interest and benefits of the next-gen maintenance management platform. Between the first presentation and the validation of the POC on the first site, it generally takes between 3 to 4 weeks. The software is already configured, so once the POC has been validated, many companies deploy the application on several plants in parallel. In general, around 7 to 8 plants of the same group are deployed per month.
Mobility Work is paving the way for 4.0 to your multi-site group. This new kind of CMMS, that SMEs enjoy for its simplicity and affordable price, is your best ally in this transition: advantageous pricing, fast, simple, limited resources, involved field staff which improves software adoption… To learn more about the deployment of our solution, do not hesitate to look our UX series up for customer testimonies.
