Shortlist UK’s Best CMMS For Manufacturing

What Is CMMS For Manufacturing?

A CMMS for manufacturing is an industry-specific computerised maintenance management system that focuses on the maintenance activities within manufacturing plants. It delivers the features necessary to centralise data on manufacturing assets, facilities, and activities in one system.

Manufacturing Maintenance Software enables manufacturers to shift from more reactive to preventive maintenance strategies, which aims to eliminate unplanned downtime and reduce costly breakdowns. This is possible with product capabilities such as:

• Preventive maintenance planning and scheduling
• MRO and spare parts inventory management
• Work order management for technicians, engineers, jobs, and more
• Condition-based maintenance techniques through condition-monitoring sensors and trackers
• Physical asset management and tracking from purchase to disposal
• In-depth data analytics for tracking Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Best CMMS for Manufacturing Software Solutions In the UK

Why Manufacturers Choose to Implement a CMMS

Between 2015 and 2018, 82% of manufacturing companies experienced at least one case of unplanned downtime. Costly downtime of manufacturing equipment, slow production processes, and a lack of asset data are some of the most common challenges manufacturing teams face. This harms operations in four distinct ways:

1. Disruption to the production line and supply chain processes
2. Excessive emergency repair costs following unplanned breakdowns
3. Reduction in employee productivity
4. Damaged business reputation and loyalty among workers and customers

Because of this, manufacturers are pointed in the direction of specifically targeted maintenance software for their maintenance needs.

Whether managing an entire manufacturing plant or leading a production line, carrying out responsibilities for the production of tangible goods can be overwhelming. Especially when using paper-based methods or spreadsheets to track and manage maintenance processes.

Without the use of a digital maintenance solution, manufacturers face several challenges. One common issue is experiencing unplanned downtime of assets. Manufacturers face an unprecedented loss of up to $260,000 per hour through unplanned downtime alone.

Other challenges that manufacturing companies face include:

• Overstocked/understocked inventory of spare parts
• Lack of performance data
• Delayed or missed work orders
• Expensive asset and machinery replacements

With a CMMS for manufacturing solution, these issues are quickly and efficiently addressed.

Operating from a centralised database, managers and workers can utilise maintenance tools. For example, by supporting a preventive maintenance strategy, a manufacturing maintenance system will increase the uptime and optimal lifespan of machinery through planned maintenance and preventative checklists.

Key Features of CMMS Software for Manufacturers

The CMMS features that matter most to manufacturers are the ones that keep production lines running and equipment performing. Prioritise preventive and predictive maintenance scheduling, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) tracking, condition monitoring, Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) inventory control, and integration with your production systems.

Some of these are standard in almost every CMMS. Others, particularly OEE tracking, predictive maintenance, and production-system integration, are often higher-tier or add-on features that affect your total cost of ownership.

Stand-out Benefits of Implementing a CMMS For Manufacturing

A CMMS for manufacturing pays back by cutting unplanned downtime, lowering maintenance costs, and lifting equipment output. These are the benefits that matter most on a production line.

Cut Unplanned Downtime on Your Production Line

Unplanned downtime is the single most expensive problem a CMMS solves for manufacturers. The largest global manufacturers now lose a combined $1.4 trillion a year to unplanned downtime, equivalent to 11% of revenues, and a stalled production line can cost a large operation around $260,000 for every hour it sits idle.

A CMMS attacks this by shifting tasks from reactive to preventive maintenance. It schedules work by run-time, usage, and condition, so faults are caught while equipment is still running rather than after it has failed and you are waiting on a part.

Simmons Feed Ingredients, an animal nutrition manufacturer, made exactly this shift. After moving its maintenance programme from reactive to preventive, it eliminated the unscheduled downtime that had previously forced it to sell perishable stock at a discount, and it now buys discounted perishable goods from competitors instead.

Lower Maintenance and Repair Costs

A CMMS lowers maintenance costs by replacing expensive emergency repairs with planned work. The U.S. Department of Energy puts the savings from a preventive maintenance programme at 12% to 18% over a reactive approach, because planned repairs use standard labour rates, pre-ordered parts, and avoid the secondary damage that one failure causes another.

Spare parts control adds to the savings. With live MRO inventory, you stop tying up cash in overstock and stop paying premium prices to expedite parts you should already have on the shelf.

Improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

A CMMS improves OEE by raising the availability of your equipment, the factor that most plants lose the most output to. Because OEE multiplies availability, performance, and quality, cutting unplanned stops lifts the whole score, moving you closer to the 85% world-class benchmark from the 60% to 75% where most manufacturers sit.

The reporting matters as much as the maintenance. A CMMS shows you which assets fail most often and which losses are dragging your score down, so you can target the few machines that cause most of the disruption.

Extend the Working Life of Manufacturing Assets

Consistent, scheduled maintenance extends the usable life of your production assets and delays costly capital replacement. Servicing equipment on a planned cycle, rather than running it to failure, keeps machines in better condition for longer and protects the investment you have already made in them.

A full maintenance history per asset also sharpens your replacement decisions. When you can see the true cost of keeping an ageing machine running, you can time its replacement on evidence rather than guesswork.

Meet Compliance and Safety Obligations With Less Effort

A CMMS makes compliance and safety easier by building record-keeping into the maintenance work itself. Equipment calibration, inspection checklists, and audit trails are logged automatically as jobs are completed, so you can evidence compliance without assembling paperwork after the fact.

This matters most in regulated manufacturing, where calibration and HS&E records are not optional. A system that captures them as you work reduces both the administrative burden and the risk of a failed audit.

Is CMMS or EAM Best for Manufacturing Maintenance?

For most manufacturing maintenance teams, a CMMS is the better fit, because it is built to run the day-to-day maintenance that keeps production lines moving. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) earns its place when you need to manage the full asset lifecycle, asset financials, and capital planning across multiple plants.

The core difference is scope. A CMMS centralises maintenance work: preventive maintenance scheduling, work orders, spare parts, and asset history. An EAM does all of that, then extends into procurement, asset depreciation, compliance, and lifecycle planning from acquisition through to disposal.

If you run one site or a handful of plants and your priority is uptime, a CMMS gives you what you need without the cost and complexity of enterprise software. It is faster to deploy and easier for technicians and operators to adopt on the shop floor.

An EAM makes sense for large, asset-intensive manufacturers managing capital equipment across many sites, where maintenance has to connect to finance, procurement, and long-term investment decisions.

Cost is the practical tie-breaker. An EAM is a larger investment and a longer implementation, so for small and mid-sized manufacturers that spend rarely pays back against a focused CMMS that already covers the maintenance work, driving uptime.

3 Ways Manufacturers Can Reduce Unplanned Downtime

Manufacturers tend to rely heavily on a production line of automated machinery to produce finished goods. The mass production of discounted raw materials keeps labour costs to a minimum while gaining higher profit margins. But, with a reliance on equipment and machinery, the risk of falling foul to unplanned downtime can be devastating.

A company that experienced this first-hand was Simmons Feed Ingredients (SFI), a manufacturer of animal nutrition. During a period of unscheduled downtime, due to a change of machinery lubrication oils, they were forced to sell their perishable ingredients to customers at a reduced cost to avoid expiration.

However, there are three opportunities available to manufacturers to help limit the possibility of unplanned downtime and keep unexpected costs low.

1. Upgrade Assets and Machinery

Outdated and old equipment can prove troublesome for operators. It results in delays to jobs and can slow down the manufacturing process as a whole. To combat this, ensure that all obsolete assets are replaced. Although this can depend on revenue restraints, the improvement in machine performance and job completion times can outweigh the costs.

2. Increase Employee Training

70% of manufacturing downtime and equipment loss can be traced back to human error. Without proper training, your employees could be accountable for a loss in production. Simply because they haven’t been trained correctly. By sending staff on training courses and providing the right resources, human error is reduced. Employees can understand how to correctly operate machinery, how to use tools effectively, and even how to fix a broken machine. Ultimately reducing delays and downtime.

3. Invest In a CMMS For Manufacturing Maintenance

Purchasing automated tools such as CMMS for Manufacturing and digitising your manufacturing data might sound expensive, but it’s an investment that will pay off in the long term. Manufacturing Maintenance Software will provide you with the knowledge to help reduce your manufacturing downtime. Digitised maintenance tools are designed to centralise all maintenance data, allowing operators and maintenance teams to maximise the usability of assets. There are several benefits of using maintenance software tools, such as:

• Providing asset and work order visibility
• Increasing operational efficiency
• Controlling inventory, waste, and running costs
• Ensuring compliance management
• Improving workplace health and safety

The True Cost of Downtime In Manufacturing Plants Without a CMMS

Manufacturing downtime occurs when a piece of equipment or machinery is not in operation. For instance, a manufacturer may stop production to carry out maintenance and repairs on a machine to help improve performance. This type of downtime is harmless, and can even be necessary. But, there are other types of downtime that have a less desired impact.

Instead of upgrades and scheduled maintenance, downtime in manufacturing plants can be caused by a number of unexpected errors. This is when a system fails to provide or perform its primary function, known as unplanned downtime.

Unplanned downtime can be the result of multiple factors. It could be caused by an operating error, poor maintenance, or even a software bug.

In 2016, offshore oil and gas organisations highlighted an average annual loss of $38 million due to unplanned downtime. With the worst impact costing upwards of $88 million.

Ultimately, 46% of companies couldn’t deliver the services they promised to customers.

CMMS For Manufacturing Implementation Tips

Once you’ve chosen a suitable Manufacturing Maintenance Software vendor and product that matches your needs, there are three final steps to take before getting buy-in:

1. Have a calculated ROI
2. Assemble an evaluation team to test the program (if you’re a smaller company, the evaluation team may only consist of yourself)
3. Ensure that everyone is happy with your choice (the tool will be used by most employees including technicians and the financial department)

Once your manufacturing CMMS is up and running, you’ll be on your way to figuring out the optimal running times for your equipment and building preventive maintenance schedules.

You can begin to monitor the true cost of your maintenance and get detailed insights into your manufacturing operations. Eventually saving you thousands of pounds.