A CMMS, or Computerised Maintenance Management System, is the software a maintenance team uses to keep track of equipment, plan the work it needs, and record the history of everything done to it.
What it holds
- An asset register — every machine, its location and its identity.
- Work orders — the unit of work, from raising to completion.
- Preventive schedules — recurring jobs by date or by meter.
- Spares — what was consumed, and what remains.
- History — the record that explains why a machine behaves as it does.
Why history is the real asset
The value of a CMMS accumulates. A single work order is administration; three years of work orders tell you which machines fail, how often, at what cost, and whether the maintenance you are doing is working. That is not recoverable retrospectively, which is why teams are advised to start recording before they start optimising.
CMMS and EAM
An EAM covers the whole life of an asset, including acquisition, depreciation and disposal. A CMMS concentrates on the maintenance phase. Many products span both, so compare capabilities rather than categories.
