How to Successfully Prepare for CMMS Implementation

At its core, computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software centralizes maintenance information for a company’s most prized assets. Today’s CMMS is typically cloud-based and highly mobile, which means maintenance teams can track an asset and its maintenance history from a mobile app on their phone. But a quality CMMS software goes beyond enhancing maintenance processes in that it can shift company culture from a previously reactive maintenance approach to a more proactive one, which can boost cost savings and asset longevity as well as overall employee and customer satisfaction.

Currently valued at $982.2 million in 2023, the CMMS software market is projected to grow to $1.9 billion by 2030 as more companies adopt the software at a rapid rate. If you haven’t made the switch to a CMMS yet, now’s the time. But the question remains: What’s the best way to go about implementing a digitized system into an analog workflow?

Read on to learn more about CMMS implementation — why to make the switch now and what factors to consider before choosing a CMMS software and getting it set up.

Why Implement a CMMS?

Implementing a CMMS software is a game-changer for organizations looking to streamline their maintenance processes. By centralizing maintenance work orders and asset inventories, a CMMS enhances efficiency and streamlines operations. Key benefits include:  

• Centralized asset management: A CMMS consolidates assets and parts inventories in one place, ensuring that documents, service histories and other information relevant to your assets are easily accessible.
• Mobile work order tracking: A CMMS with mobile capabilities allows field technicians to easily access, update and track work orders in real time, enhancing work order completion and boosting productivity.
• Preventive maintenance scheduling: A CMMS helps shift businesses from a reactive to a proactive maintenance strategy. By scheduling preventive maintenance tasks, teams can catch potential issues before they escalate, reducing equipment downtime.
• Maintenance cost savings: Fewer breakdowns mean fewer repairs, which translates to cost savings on labor and replacement parts. A CMMS reduces the overall costs associated with reactive repairs and emergency maintenance.
• Improved team performance and accountability: Built-in messaging capabilities foster real-time collaboration among technicians, while work order tracking and repair time monitoring provide insight into technician efficiency. 
• Increased asset lifecycle: Proactive maintenance maximizes asset lifespan and keeps equipment in optimal condition by preventing larger, more damaging breakdowns from occurring. 
• Streamlined maintenance reporting: CMMS tracking and reporting features allow businesses to analyze asset performance and repair costs, enabling better decision-making and optimized maintenance strategies.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a CMMS Software

Of course, choosing the right CMMS software is key to having a successful implementation. It’s a big decision that can significantly impact the efficiency and productivity of your maintenance operations. To ensure you get the most out of your investment, select a system that meets your current needs and can grow with your organization. Here are key factors to consider when evaluating CMMS solutions to implement:

• Customization: A CMMS should allow you to tailor work orders and workflows to match your team’s internal language and processes. This customization helps with user adoption and makes the transition smoother. Speaking on Coast’s customization, Lisa Bosworth from Solmet Group shares, “When we requested a specific functionality, Coast was able to create fields or search options, continuously developing its software to meet our needs.”
• Ease of use: Even the most robust CMMS is only effective if it’s easy to use. An intuitive system minimizes the learning curve and boosts user confidence.  
• Preventive maintenance: For those looking to avoid equipment breakdowns, it’s essential to have a system that supports the ability to schedule recurring maintenance tasks. Coast, for instance, allows users to schedule preventive maintenance tasks on flexible schedules — days, weeks, months or even several months in advance.
• Asset inventory: A robust CMMS should provide easy access to assets and parts inventories. Your system should be able to store relevant asset information, such as procedural checklists, service contracts, warranties and maintenance history, for each piece of equipment as well as store this information within work orders. For instance, Coast offers QR codes and barcoding to put on your equipment, so users can easily access asset information or submit work requests via mobile devices.
• Communication: Real-time communication is key for field technicians. In addition to its team group chats, Coast integrates messaging features into various workflow channels (including within the work orders, themselves) to streamline communication across teams.
• Tracking and reporting tools: Robust tracking and reporting features help improve decision-making and optimize your maintenance strategy.

What Makes a Successful CMMS Implementation?

Adopting a CMMS can transform your maintenance operations, but its success is only as good as how well it’s implemented. Here are some key strategies to ensure a smooth implementation that will set your organization up for long-term success. 

Define Goals, Needs & KPIs

Before selecting a CMMS, outline your organization’s goals, maintenance needs and pain points. Steve Grace of Redeemer’s Fellowship advises determining what needs you want to address with a CMMS and which KPIs you want to see improvement in. Questions like “What are our biggest operational hurdles?” and “Which KPIs need attention?” will help guide the implementation and operation strategy of your CMMS. “You really need to understand your maintenance needs before you engage the software, and don’t expect the software to solve your problems. It’s a great tool; it helps us, but it’s a tool to support your process,” Grace adds. 

Ensure All Stakeholders Are Aligned

Successful implementation requires buy-in from the rest of your company. Ensuring that everyone is aligned on your CMMS goals will help motivate your organization toward a shared vision. 

Encourage User Adoption

A CMMS is a powerful tool but only if all users are actively using it. With this in mind, it’s important to involve your team in the selection process. Then, once you’ve chosen a software, provide hands-on training, step-by-step instructions and ongoing support to ensure smooth onboarding. 

Plan for Future Scalability

Choose a CMMS that can grow with your organization. As your operations expand, ensure the system can support more users, assets and advanced features to meet future needs.

Top Reasons CMMS Implementations Fail

Even the best CMMS can fall flat without a solid implementation plan. In fact, a survey conducted by Kris Bagadia for Reliable Plant found that nearly 80 percent of CMMS installations don’t succeed. So, what’s causing these failures? Let’s discuss the most common pitfalls that derail implementations and how to avoid them: 

• Insufficient managerial support: Without strong leadership backing, a CMMS rollout is bound to struggle. Managers are critical in setting priorities and maintaining team morale during implementation. When management doesn’t fully commit—whether through lack of patience, funding or time — progress stalls, and the CMMS quickly becomes underutilized or abandoned. Continuous support from leadership is vital.
• Poorly defined goals, roles and responsibilities: A CMMS won’t magically solve your organization’s issues. As Grace notes, it’s “a tool” to support your process. That means it’s vital to have a clear understanding of your operations and goals first. Without this clarity, the software can become dead weight. 
• Lack of employee training: A CMMS’s potential is only realized if your team is equipped with the necessary training. Respondents in Bagadia’s survey corroborate this point, citing a lack of training and technological literacy amongst employees as a major challenge. Choose a CMMS with robust customer support to guide adoption and offer ongoing training. 
• Data entry and management challenges: Migrating asset data, maintenance schedules and historical records into new software can be daunting, but hands-on support can ease the process. Partnering with a CMMS provider that offers a solid customer success team can make this critical step much smoother. Solmet Groups Bosworth explains, “We already had our assets with serial numbers and a basic preventive maintenance schedule in an Excel spreadsheet, so we gave it to Coast, and they just set it up for us. They did it all.” 

Steps for a Successful CMMS Implementation

So, how should you effectively roll out your CMMS? Here’s a step-by-step guide to seamlessly integrate the system into your organization. 

1. Get approval from management: Before diving into implementation, ensure leadership understands the return on investment of a CMMS and how it fits into the company’s budget. Collaborate with them to define your goals and identify the specific maintenance KPIs that will be tracked to measure success.
2. Define clear goals and objectives: Outline your operational and productivity objectives. What specific problems are you trying to solve? Which KPIs will you measure to ensure your goals are being met? This will guide the entire implementation process.
3. Outline the project scope: Plan the project’s scope by determining who will be involved, defining roles and responsibilities, and clarifying which assets and locations will be tracked by the CMMS. 
4. Choose the right CMMS solution: Evaluate key factors like ease of use, customization, preventive maintenance, asset inventory management, communication features and reporting tools to ensure the software fits your operational needs and long-term goals.
5. Create a project timeline: Set a clear timeline for the rollout, training and final launch while accounting for potential roadblocks. Be sure to allow enough time for your team to adapt to the new software.
6. Organize an implementation team: Form a team of internal staff and CMMS provider support to oversee training and onboarding.
7. Gather data and configure your system: Gather your existing data and organize it into your CMMS software. Customize the system to fit your organization’s workflows, ensuring everything aligns with your operational needs.
8. Train your team: Provide comprehensive training to ensure employees fully understand how to use the CMMS and what their specific responsibilities are within it.
9. Test the software: Before full rollout, trial the CMMS with a small group to ensure it enhances operations. Gather feedback to identify issues and adjust workflows as needed to optimize performance.
10. Launch the CMMS: Hooray! Once everything is in place and your team is trained, you can officially launch the CMMS and start streamlining your workflows.
11. Monitor the system and gather feedback: After launching, monitor the system for issues or inefficiencies, listen to technician feedback, and work with your CMMS provider to resolve any software problems.

Following these steps will set the foundation for a smooth CMMS implementation that drives results and enhances workflows.

CMMS Implementation Timeline

The timeline for implementing a CMMS can vary significantly based on several key factors, including the size of your maintenance team, the number of integrated features and the level of staff training required as well as the quality of support from your software provider. Let’s look at Coast’s average implementation timeline as an example and walk through the steps you can expect during the process.

Week 1

• Kickoff call: During the kickoff call, a Coast account executive will present an account walkthrough tailored to your organization’s needs and goals. You will define objectives, requirements for effective workflows and responsibilities for your staff.
• Data collection and setup: Coast will assist you in integrating your existing data into your CMMS account. You will be asked to share data relevant to users, locations, assets, parts and preventive maintenance schedules.

Week 2

• Implementation: You will work closely with your account executive and Coast’s customer success team to tailor your system to your needs. This includes customizing fields, setting up QR codes for assets and adjusting the work request portal. 
• Training: Coast provides training sessions for your facility and maintenance manager and technicians. It also equips new users with relevant training resources and step-by-step instructions to support the transition to the new software.   

Week 3 

• CMMS launch and ongoing check-ins: Once your account is operational, you can assess if your team needs additional support, whether it’s further training or new workflows added to your system. Bosworth notes Coast’s customer success team is available for check-ins, providing “very efficient and timely” support. 

Common Maintenance KPIs to Track to Determine CMMS Implementation’s Success 

Making the leap to a CMMS is a big investment, so how do you know it’s paying off? Tracking the right maintenance KPIs will give you a clear understanding of whether your CMMS is delivering results and meeting your operational goals. Here are a few to consider:

• Mean Time Between Failure: MTBF measures the average time between equipment breakdowns, offering insight into asset reliability. The longer the time between failures, the more dependable your equipment is. 
• Mean Time to Repair: MTTR tracks the average time taken to repair an asset after it fails. It’s a useful metric to gauge equipment downtime and assess the efficiency of your maintenance team’s response.  
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness: OEE serves as a valuable indicator of asset efficiency. This metric considers a given piece of equipment’s availability, performance and output quality to determine whether assets are reaching your manufacturing productivity potential.
• Work order completion rate: In addition to tracking your maintenance team’s productivity, recording completion rates can also highlight the efficiency of your facilities and asset. Higher work order completion rates could indicate more serious operational inefficiencies and poor asset health. Additionally, focusing on the completion of backlogged work orders can provide insight into how your team is managing its workload. A high backlog and a low completion rate often point to inefficiencies such as understaffing, poor scheduling or system bottlenecks.
• Maintenance costs: A good CMMS should help reduce overall maintenance costs by minimizing breakdowns and downtime. Tracking expenses such as repair costs, parts and labor will show how cost-effectively your CMMS helps your team manage equipment health.

Are you still unsure if your organization is ready for CMMS implementation? Sign up for a free trial with Coast today, and explore if it’s the right solution for you.