What is CMMS asset management? Key Functionalities & Software

If you're in an asset-intensive business, you're familiar with the tedium of asset maintenance. This is especially true when your operations are handicapped by outdated solutions that lack advanced features, provide poor data quality, and offer limited data analysis capabilities or effective reporting functionality. According to maintenance professionals, the leading causes of unscheduled asset downtime are aging equipment (34%), mechanical failure (20%), operator error (11%), lack of time for maintenance (9%), and poor equipment design (8%).  

You probably use CMMS software (computerized maintenance management systems) to centralize and facilitate maintenance operations and store information about all assets throughout their life cycles. Having maintenance and asset information in one place is an excellent starting point for optimizing preventive maintenance schedules.

However, preventive maintenance alone isn't sufficient to achieve ambitious goals like boosting maintenance reliability, improving asset life, and saving operational costs. This is especially true with traditional CMMS that were built primarily for record-keeping and not for driving operational excellence.

Related Read: CMMS Definition, Benefits, How It Works & More!

Why you need modern CMMS asset management software

Conventional CMMS asset management systems provide only digitized maintenance. Here’s why it doesn’t work:

Narrow focus, missed opportunities

Legacy CMMS asset management software prioritizes the “what”—assets, work orders, inventory, parts—while neglecting the critical “how” (the methodologies, procedures, and workflows involved in executing maintenance tasks and managing assets effectively) and “why” (lack of meaningful insights into reasons driving maintenance actions and asset management decisions).

Legacy CMMS doesn’t prioritize the customer

CMMS asset management software does a great job managing assets, resources, and work orders, but it isn't built with the customer experience in mind. As a result, property operators may often resort to patchwork solutions to fill the gaps.

For example, a tenant in your building could send in a complaint about a broken AC, triggering a complex process involving multiple stakeholders and tools. The helpdesk sends a request, waiting for O&M department approval, then it's off to deal with external vendors. Vendors ping-pong with the help desk for updates, leading to confusion and delays. All the different tools sit in silos, forcing a lot of manual interventions, exacerbating inefficiencies.

With an intelligent CMMS, automated alerts kick in, updates happen automatically, and work orders are generated smoothly. Plus, the platform approach acts as a command center, consolidating data from various sources, including IoT sensors, maintenance logs, and service requests. It also provides real-time actionable insights to enable agile, data-led operations.

Legacy vs modern CMMS asset management software

Key functionalities of CMMS in asset management

Asset inventory tracking

You can track asset inventory in real time, generate reports, and automate the procurement process.

Asset information management

Modern CMMS solutions offer a centralized platform to organize asset data, from serial numbers to operation manuals.

Work order generation and management for assets

Maintenance managers can automatically generate work orders for different maintenance jobs, whether regular checks, preventive, or reactive tasks. These work orders can be set on predefined triggers, such as asset performance thresholds or maintenance schedules and contain essential information, such as what needs to be done, by whom, and when, along with the priority levels.

Real-time analytics and reporting

• Portfolio-wide benchmarking: You can compare asset performance, maintenance practices for these assets, and key data against industry standards or internal benchmarks to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
• Compliance tracking: By monitoring key metrics and automating documentation processes, CMMS software ensures adherence to standards and mitigates compliance risks. For instance, you can flag assets overdue for inspection and avoid penalties.

Best CMMS asset management software

We're evaluating three leading CMMS software solutions, highlighting their key features and industry focus. Each product is briefly discussed, showcasing its strengths and limitations based on information from the product's website and reputable review platforms like G2, SoftwareAdvice, and Capterra.

Implementation and onboarding specifics are not covered as they vary depending on operational complexity and service needs.

1. Facilio Connected CMMS
2. eMaint CMMS
3. LimbleCMMS

Facilio Connected CMMS

Facilio encourages true interoperability in CMMS by seamlessly integrating systems and involving stakeholders in data access and process improvement through automation.

With its modern, cloud-based, IoT, and AI-powered platform, Facilio offers a revamped CMMS model that rethinks property operations and maintenance. It extends beyond basic asset maintenance and work orders to automate processes, engage stakeholders, and enhance efficiency—all in a unified platform.

It provides a 360-degree view of operations without leaving the system, enabling real-time data capture and asset status analysis for enhanced visibility.

Designed for O&M stakeholders (owners, operators, and occupants), the purpose-built software adopts a user-friendly, no-code SaaS platform. This allows your team to avoid steep technical workaround curves to address common challenges.

Moreover, Facilio streamlines operations by eliminating manual efforts, allowing teams to concentrate all facilities activities within one intuitive platform.

Key features of Facilio's connected CMMS

• Connects people:

Facilio's CMMS gathers all parties in one spot for smooth teamwork, enabling instant updates and information sharing at users' fingertips.

• Connects systems:

By integrating traditional asset databases and modern sensors for automation, the CMMS collects real-time data via its cloud-based system to provide comprehensive insights.

• Connects processes:

Facilio's CMMS enhances and automates OT/IT systems operations, guaranteeing swift, precise, and efficient workflows.

Advantages of Facilio's Connected CMMS in asset management

• Efficient asset tracking

You can achieve complete insight into asset performance history with ease. Utilize intuitive visualizations and benchmark comparisons to monitor critical assets' health and performance metrics, reducing downtime by detecting and rectifying deviations promptly.

• Asset depreciation analysis:

Facilio allows you to effortlessly access comprehensive asset insights from a single screen. Monitor asset movement and ongoing performance through user-friendly dashboards featuring both static and dynamic parameters.

• Fault reports & failure rates:

The software has alarm triggers that help you anticipate anomalies and create automatic work orders to repair asset damage.

You can also conduct root cause analyses for asset damage and review detailed reports on energy consumption.

You can access asset-specific energy usage information via sub-metering and project monthly resource consumption for enhanced operational efficiency and long-term asset well-being.

Case Study: PD7 connected buildings and eliminated 80% of asset breakdowns within 8 months of adopting Facilio CMMS

PD7 Technologies, a leading O&M services provider in South America, aimed to enhance service quality using technology-driven solutions.

Challenge:

Like many FM companies, PD7 faced three main challenges: managing multi-vendor systems, dealing with siloed operations, and lacking the ability to address issues remotely in real time, resulting in frictional and reactive experiences.

Solution:

Facilio centralized all automation data onto one platform, regardless of system make, communication protocols, or locations. This allowed PD7 to monitor operations, assets, and maintenance performance in real time across their entire portfolio, anticipate anomalies, and take immediate corrective action.

Impact:

Within eight months, PD7 reduced asset breakdowns by 80% and achieved a 40% decrease in asset downtime. They also experienced a threefold increase in portfolio growth and innovation at scale.

Here's a detailed overview of how Facilio assisted PD7 in overcoming its asset management challenges.

Best for

Caters to organizations in commercial real estate, universities, retail, healthcare, facilities management services, and offices

eMaint

eMaint is a cloud-based CMMS software by Fluke Reliability. It enables maintenance professionals to monitor and utilize historical asset performance data efficiently. It can be customized for various organizational sizes and multi-site maintenance setups.

Key features of eMaint CMMS

• Generate asset barcodes to access inspection details conveniently on mobile devices
• Sandbox environment for hands-on learning and system testing

eMaint CMMS limitations

• Lack of flexibility to schedule tasks not directly associated with an asset or work order

Best for

Industries like food and beverages, wastewater treatment plants, facilities management operations, healthcare, and universities.

Related Read: CMMS Pricing - Guide to Maintenance Management Cost

Limble CMMS

Limble CMMS offers standard CMMS features like work order management, preventive maintenance, asset and inventory management, KPI tracking, and report generation. Its asset management module provides detailed logs and maintenance histories, customizable fields, and hierarchical asset organization.

Key features of Limble CMMS

• Generate QR codes for asset lookup and work initiation
• Supports custom fields to track specific asset information as needed

Limble CMMS limitations

• Reporting functionality requires improvement, particularly in the formatting of printed information

Best for

Mid to large-sized companies in industries like manufacturing, food and beverage processing, oil and gas, and transportation.

How do you choose the right CMMS asset management software?

Legacy CMMS systems store historical data but provide no actionable insights. Therefore, it's advisable to opt for future-ready software to streamline operations and centralize data analysis.

Facilio's connected CMMS, for example, uses AI/ML to provide highly accurate real-time predictive insights to extend the life cycle of assets.

Here are some tips for evaluating a CMMS asset management software vendor:

Tips for assessing a CMMS asset management software vendor

• Designed with each stakeholder's needs in focus:

Your solution should enable shared data among end users such as tenants, technicians, operations teams, and business leaders.

• Flexible integrations and interoperability:

Choose a unified system that efficiently records service requests, maintenance, work orders, inventory, and asset lifecycle. It should support flexible integrations with IoT devices and accounting, compliance, and other tools while facilitating extensive third-party integrations for automation and external triggers through APIs.

• Customizable to fit the organization’s operations:

Your CMMS should offer easy-to-configure maintenance templates and tailored workflows to meet your specific business needs.

• Mobile accessibility:

Ensure that the software offers mobile compatibility, allowing users to access critical maintenance information, create work orders, and track asset performance remotely from any device, enhancing flexibility and productivity.

Get started with CMMS asset management with Facilio

Modern CMMS asset management software should be sleek, intuitive, and practical and with Facilio, you don’t have to sacrifice any feature for simplicity. Instead, you can:

• Have a centralized cloud command center for all your assets
• Automate compliance to avoid penalties and ensure timely replacements
• Track maintenance progress by category, priority, and downtime
• Interact with all facility stakeholders and end-to-end workplace management
• Analyze maintenance costs for improved efficiency and savings
• Gain actionable insights with enterprise reporting and BI Schedule a demo today to learn how our connected CMMS solution can improve your maintenance operations and help you manage your assets effectively.