We’ve become accustomed to quality, in everything we do, and particularly with all things internet. So if everything is a quality product, it makes sense that cost and what qualities you’re looking for become important in your selection process.
Cost is a no-brainer. If the options you are considering are identical, and then cost is the determining factor. Unfortunately, not all options are identical. Let’s take a look at the variety of CMMS systems available and their options.
They generally fall into three categories:
- A license required for every user, purchase the modules you need at a per module price
- Unlimited users, purchase the modules you need at a per module price
- Unlimited users, unlimited modules
TeamWORKS falls into the last category. We’ve never believed you can run a maintenance facility with one or two modules. Tracking work orders is great, but if you don’t know what inventory exists, then how will you know if you have the necessary materials to complete the work order? One of the biggest time wasters is making unnecessary trips or waiting for supply delivery. Why wait for materials if you can simply use an inventory system in conjunction with your work order system to make sure you have everything you need to complete the work order.
That leads us to the second consideration – what qualities you are looking for. TeamWORKS provides the big four, remote request and a variety of other modules our customers have asked us to develop through the years, like keys and event scheduler. Maintenance resource planning is synonymous with facility master planning and we believe that knowing the maintenance numbers (quantity) is how you get the quality out of your CMMS.
Once you’ve determined what qualities you need for your maintenance resource planning to inform your facility master plan, it’s time to go shopping. In many industries, the most common way to shop is via an RFP or with a national purchasing co-op. The common way to shop isn’t necessarily providing you with the best information, however.
An RFP depends on all your potential vendors finding it through an RFP service or signing up for direct alerts and receiving it directly from you. And then you’ll have to score the RFP results based on your facility master plan. A national co-op features vendors who have offered discounts for services or products, but they frequently eliminate vendors. A national co-op with only one vendor in a category, therefore, has eliminated the competition and is really only presenting one choice. Whether that’s the best choice for you is an entirely different matter.
When you are looking for a quality product how do you normally shop?
If you are buying a car, for instance, you go drive the cars you are interested in purchasing. You listen to the details about quality and extras you might be interested in, and then you make your purchase decision. Shouldn’t defining the quality you bring to your maintenance department be achieved by the same process? Finding a list of CMMS providers is relatively easy, and then it’s a matter of making some phone calls to find out what qualities they offer and where the value-add is.
