INTRODUCTION

For companies involved in the utilities, transportation, oil & gas, life sciences, or
the logistics industry, repairing and maintaining physical assets is as important as
building them.

Companies with dependable asset management solutions and a durable
maintenance management system that focuses on asset maintenance
throughout the asset’s life cycle will have their assets operate at peak
performance for longer. Additionally, there will be fewer machine and equipment
breakdowns, increased equipment uptime and operational efficiency, as well as
an overall cost reduction.

In contrast, companies with poor asset management that ignore asset lifecycle
management will experience more equipment breakdowns,
equipment/machinery downtime, equipment inefficiency, and higher costs of
maintenance.

In contemporary times, enterprise asset management software and
computerized maintenance management systems form the backbone of
maintenance efforts. An example of an enterprise asset management software
solution is IBM Maximo Asset Management.
Before discussing why IBM Maximo is a must-have for users, let’s first broadly
discuss what an enterprise asset management software solution is.

WHAT IS AN ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE?

An enterprise asset management software solution consists of a single platform
whereby a company can control, view, and manage its physical, enterprise assets,
and critical assets in real-time. By using maintenance software, businesses can
increase their assets’ lifespan by monitoring their performance. Furthermore,
managing maintenance operations is more accessible with the assistance of a
maintenance management software.

Thus, enterprise asset management software is very essential for companies to
plan and implement maintenance schedules and preventive maintenance. With
it, Companies can easily create preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance,
predictive maintenance, and emergency maintenance tasks.

Maintenance management software enables the centralization of asset data
(including providing an asset’s location, serial number, previous work orders, and
future maintenance operations), therefore, it is essential for asset maintenance in
remote locations or multiple sites.

Also, a good EAM software promises ease of use, with mobile devices and tablets,
technicians will be able to access this data while in the field. In addition, field
technicians will also be able to upload new data for asset services they are
currently performing.

Maintenance management software is also needed to manage work orders
effectively. Work order management features are among the most important
reasons companies require an enterprise asset management solution. Typically,
work orders are tasks that indicate that maintenance work can begin. However,
work orders also contain information about particular maintenance operations.

Thus, a work order will include job plans, the tools needed for maintenance, asset
location, the type of labor required, as well as overall asset performance.
Now that we have outlined the importance of a software solution in a
maintenance management system, we can now discuss the factors that
determine the success of enterprise asset management software.

WHAT DETERMINES THE SUCCESS OF ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT
SOFTWARE?

Whether your company is using IBM Maximo or any other software solution,
certain factors will always determine the success of the solution being used.

SEAMLESS INTEGRATION

The first of these factors is integration with a business’s Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems and other systems.

Integration with ERP systems is required to gain a complete view of your most
critical assets. While enterprise software is necessary for comprehensive asset
lifecycle management, using this alone provides an incomplete perspective.

Integration with ERP systems completes this picture by combining asset
maintenance with asset procurement planning, asset disposal, and production
process dashboards. With the two systems integrated, it is possible to automate
asset maintenance planning and increase asset optimization. Some of these
systems include accounting software, environmental health and safety software,
and Geographic Information Systems.

EFFICIENT ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES

Your enterprise software solution must have advanced analytical and reporting
capabilities. This will provide your business with actionable insights regarding
asset performance.

With these insights, your business can save costs by implementing predictive
maintenance and preventive maintenance while tracking your asset’s
performance consistently. This will reduce costs in the long term, decrease
equipment downtime, and increase the asset’s lifespan.

SECURE DATA STORAGE

The leakage of essential data can have serious legal and financial consequences.
As such, when a business selects an enterprise software package, it must ensure
that the centralized data is secure.

To guarantee that your data is secure, regular tests and vulnerability assessments
can be conducted. Organizations can also limit the number of users that have
access to the data as an added security measure.

MOBILE-FRIENDLINESS

Field managers and technicians need to access equipment recording details and
asset data whether they are in remote locations or the office. If your enterprise
software package is not mobile-friendly, executing reliability-centered
maintenance will be cumbersome.

HOW MAXIMO ASSET MANAGEMENT WORKS?

We can now discuss how IBM Maximo asset management works!

To start with, IBM Maximo is a sophisticated web-based computerized
maintenance management system (CMMS). The first commercial version was
released in 1985, before being purchased by IBM in 2005.

IBM Maximo asset management assists companies with managing their assets
throughout their entire lifespan. However, IBM Maximo also helps manage work
orders and is fully compatible with mobile devices.

IBM Maximo is primarily an enterprise asset management package that assists
with asset lifecycle management. Maximo EAM has nine modules, which include:
asset management, work management, contract management, financial
management, product technology and inventory management.

Additionally, IBM Maximo also has its ‘Maximo Application Suite’. The Maximo
Application Suite is valid for various industries with physical assets – such as oil &
gas, utilities, life sciences, and transportation.

The primary capabilities of the IBM Maximo Suite include Maximo Manage,
Maximo Health, Maximo Mobile, and Maximo Predict. The Suite options can be
used by a diverse array of industries, making IBM Maximo an attractive
computerized maintenance management system for many users.

WHY IS MAXIMO THE BEST ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE?

There are several reasons why IBM Maximo remains the best enterprise asset
management software for users.

Firstly, IBM Maximo remains the best software solution because it can support
diverse users who need to maintain assets. It supports custom integration with
different ERP and accounting systems which helps reduce integration costs and
assists with maintenance management giving companies real-time visibility of
their assets.

IBM Maximo users also have access to an array of additional features via the IBM
Maximo Suite. Essentially, these features help businesses gain real-time visibility
of their assets and assist them in planning preventive maintenance.

Furthermore, planning and implementing predictive schedules is possible due to
the advanced analytic tools part of IBM’s Application Suite. With these advanced
analytical tools, users receive asset data in real-time and can therefore be aware of
when maintenance must be completed.

Related to preventive maintenance is the ability of field technicians to service
assets even if they are in remote locations. Technicians can also access an asset’s
service history and set future service dates. Managers will also be automatically
notified of any upcoming asset services.

With IBM Maximo, asset lifecycle management is prioritized and is a major reason
users continue to use it. Besides facilitating the implementation of preventive
maintenance to reduce costs throughout the asset life cycle, IBM Maximo can be
used for work order management, contract management, checking service level
agreements, and assisting with purchasing/procuring materials.

Additional key features such as being able to create pricing arrangements and
purchasing assistance also contribute to making IBM Maximo the best enterprise
asset management solution.