Advance Planning for CMMS

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Once you've decided what you want out of your CMMS and who will do the work, you have to figure out how to achieve your goals. Some organizations may need a strictly formalized plan, while others may only require a general idea of where they're going. Nevertheless, every organization should consider the following:

Resources

• How much are you ready to spend on computer hardware and software?
• How much on-the-job time are you going to allow for the set-up process?
• Are the people in charge of set-up going to work on it full-time, or do you want them to squeeze it in between other duties?
• How much will you spend on training?

Schedules

• Do you intend to phase in a bit at a time, or all at once?
• When will you start the process?
• What milestones do you expect along the line?
• How often will you review the process, and how will you evaluate its progress?
• When do you expect data entry to be finished?

Training

• What types of training will you need?
  • Implementation training (for those who will work on set-up)?
  • Management training (for those who will use the CMMS to obtain information for making management decisions)
  • Worker training (for those will use the CMMS to record information on the job)

  (Depending on the CMMS, there may be no clear difference between some or all of these types of training.)

• When will you need training?
• What specific issues do you want training to address?
• Whose duties may change because of the CMMS's installation, and what type of re-training might be necessary?

Process

• What will be the actual process for starting to use the CMMS?
• How will you decide it's ready to go?
• How will you track use in the early days?
• Who will deal with problems encountered during the shakedown period?
• How will all these decisions be communicated to those affected?

Review

• How often will you review your plans as you proceed with implementation?
• Who will be involved in the review process?
• How will you decide if and when your plans need to change?
• What will you do if there's a major change that requires unexpected resources?

Next: Initial data and coding