Transforming Maintenance Management with Mobile Technology

The rapid revolution of mobile technology has played a dramatic role in the way we operate on a daily basis; both at work and in our personal lives.  

Smart devices, such as Tablets, Smartphones or PDAs, offer numerous practical benefits, whether it’s monitoring daily budgets, staying connected (Read More) 

via social networks or being able to access and complete work whilst on the move.

According to a recent YouGov survey, employees are recognising the benefits of mobile working, with 47% of employees reporting that they currently use their personal devices for work and 55% of senior directors now relying on Smartphones to manage their work on a day-to-day basis.

Although the maintenance management sector has been relatively slow to adapt to the changing technological trend, organisations are now starting to recognise the opportunity that mobile technology can deliver.  For maintenance engineers and managers, there is a great deal of functionality that can significantly improve work productivity and time management; from logging and closing down jobs, through to the ability to scan and read QR codes to track and manage asset data for greater insight into an asset’s performance.

Many organisations are opting to integrate their mobile device with CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management Software) to generate further operational gains.  Integrating with a CMMS solution offers rapid rollout as well as cost effective implementation, shorter training times, and greater resilience and flexibility. It also delivers greater productivity in the workplace and significant operational cost reductions.

A move to a truly mobile solution for a maintenance management professional means much more than efficient work scheduling or streamlined task logging.  The introduction of mobile devices ensures that maintenance professionals can work more cost effectively and efficiently.

The benefits are significant, including:

• Logging, receiving and closing jobs in real-time
• Taking photos of asset condition and instantaneously uploading to an CMMS database in real-time
• Capturing signatures to confirm job sign-off
• Providing notification to the help desk for replacement parts
• Effectively managing workforce allocation, tracking and accountability using GPS
• Using QR codes to scan and manage asset data, its service and performance history
• Up-skilling staff through online collaboration, giving operatives the ability to confer live, onsite with industry experts via video calling facilities such as Skype, thereby increasing the opportunity to secure a first-time fix
• Viewing online reports on the move for improved decision making and performance management

Aligning a mobile CMMS solution with ‘the cloud’ also offers maintenance managers with a far greater level of flexibility in the way they interact with the software, further enhancing efficacy.  The Cloud is agile and works remotely as well as on premises, it speeds up application deployment and enables the CMMS providers to fine tune, maintain and upgrade the software centrally, meaning all adjustments and improvements are felt immediately, improving the end-user experience.

All in all, the maintenance management sector can reap considerable rewards from the use of mobile technology; enabling a more effective and efficient way of managing work on the move, delivering far-reaching operational improvements, as well as supporting strategic decision making both departmentally and business wide.

This article is based on a new Guide from Service Works Group, ‘Mobile Technology: A Global Maintenance Management Trend’.  To receive your complimentary copy, or for further information on how a mobile CMMS software solution can benefit your business, please email:
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or call +44 (0)20 8877 4080.