CMMS vs EAM: Which One is Right for Your Business?

Which One is Right for Your Business?

By Dario SorićPublished 3 years ago • 8 min read

The market today is flooded with hundreds of asset maintenance software such as CMMS and EAM trying to position themselves as the perfect and authoritative management solution for enterprise asset maintenance. For this reason, it is necessary to clarify once and for all the difference between EAM (Enterprise Asset Management Software) plant management software and CMMS (Computerized Asset Management System) plant management software, try and continue to do so in addition to their respective marketing campaigns, to discover clear differences between the two maintenance systems. The two management systems of asset maintenance are really nothing more than two sides of the same coin, serving the same purpose: to better manage our company’s assets and increase their efficiency, productivity, and life cycle through optimized management of maintenance.

What Is A CMMS?

The acronym CMMS stands for Computerized Maintenance Management System. This software package was designed to manage maintenance globally, on a strategic, financial, and operational level. It is today the essential software of the industrial sector. Much more than simple computer programming, it is an assistant for maintenance teams, the cornerstone of industrial efficiency.

Because you can use it to achieve different goals, there are different ways to describe computerized maintenance management software. On the one hand, it is sophisticated software that captures and uses thousands of data points to provide an overview of how a facility is operating or detailed information about individual pieces of equipment. In terms of functionality, CMMS software offers businesses the ability to monitor inventory levels, manage work orders, set up and schedule preventive maintenance programs, and quickly generate accurate reports. But on another level, it’s just the solution maintenance managers need. Automating processes and streamlining workflows makes your life less stressful by making your workday more predictable.

How Does A CMMS Work?

The easiest way to understand how it works is to first look at two old ways of managing maintenance, paper, and spreadsheets.

With paper, you always run the risk of losing or corrupting data. Every time you doodle a new work order, chances are you’ll include mistakes. And even if you copy everything perfectly, chances are someone will lose that piece of paper, your only copy of that essential data. With spreadsheets, it’s the opposite problem. The risks of copying and pasting bad data are still there, but now you often have too many copies of the same data. Why is this a problem? Because as soon as someone updates one copy’s information, all other disconnected copies are out of sync. In the end, each member of the team works from their own version of the truth. Everyone is out of it, but no one realizes it.

What Is EAM?

EAM: definition

The term EAM stands for Enterprise Asset Management. It is the management, over their entire life cycle, of all the material assets of a company (or any organization), which can be installations, buildings, infrastructures, or any other type of equipment.

The EAM covers all stages of the life cycle of these assets, it encompasses their design and construction as well as their commissioning, operation, maintenance or replacement, and their destruction or demolition.

What Are The Objectives Of Enterprise Asset Management?

Broadly speaking, EAM aims to track the life cycle of a company’s physical assets to optimize their use. This optimization aims to:

improve asset-related processes,

facilitate more flexible and efficient use of assets,

reduce operating and maintenance costs,

improve the safety and reliability of assets,

ensure their regulatory compliance,

promote the preservation of the environment,

replace underperforming assets.

EAM concerns all the material assets of a company, in particular the buildings and the infrastructures linked to them: workstations, meeting rooms, facilities dedicated to employees, fleets, vending machines, etc. Regarding the EAM of buildings, we often speak of property management. To implement EAM effectively, it is necessary to use EAM software.

Who Needs EAM?

Regardless of the type of equipment or assets, maintenance should be part of your daily routine. Monitoring and managing an asset is important for any business regardless of its size, sector, or industry in which it operates. While some companies already use EAM as part of their enterprise resource planning (ERP), others require an independent version of the software. Indeed, companies heavily dependent on complex and expensive physical assets must benefit from a detailed and optimal overview of their assets. With an autonomous EAM system, these companies see a drastic increase in their power of control over their assets and associated maintenance activities.

In Practice, How Does EAM Work?

The EAM system is based on a complete and proactive analysis of the life cycle of assets allowing the implementation of predictive maintenance.

The data recorded by the sensors of the connected machines is directly collected and analyzed. Using machine learning and advanced analysis, it is possible to automatically predict when the condition of an asset will become critical suggesting a potential failure. Work orders are then sent, and a preventive maintenance intervention on the asset concerned can be scheduled before it fails completely. The EAM software can also provide information on required replacement tools or parts.

Are EAM And CMMS Asset Maintenance Software The Same?

When it comes to asset and enterprise asset maintenance software, the market is primarily dominated by two types of programs: CMMS asset management and EAM asset management.

However, the difference between these two types of asset maintenance software is not always clear, especially when you need to decide which maintenance information system is best for managing the maintenance of our company’s assets.

The main reason is that these products are very similar and both end up being suggested as the perfect solution for the same task.

Comparison of CMMS and EAM Asset Management

Some companies use hardware maintenance software called CMMS, short for “computerized maintenance management system” but also called “computer-assisted maintenance management software”.

CMMS and EAM systems have similar goals and some of the same functionality, although EAM systems offer a wider range of functionality. What really sets them apart is philosophy and scope.

A CMMS system focuses on support, while an EAM system takes a holistic approach, integrating multiple business functions. The CMMS begins to provide follow-up after the purchase and installation of an asset. On the other hand, the EAM system can follow the entire life cycle of an asset, starting with design and installation. A CMMS system is designed to handle a single site or offer limited multisite support. The EAM system is equipped with extensive functions to manage multiple sites and companies.

An EAM system is a comprehensive tool for managing physical assets and optimizing their performance across the enterprise. EAM is a CMMS combined with an inventory management system, a purchasing management system, a document management system, an accounting system, a project management system, multi-site management tools, and performance management, all in one integrated software.

Asset Maintenance Management With Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Software

EAM is an acronym for Enterprise Asset Management. The term assets refers to all tangible and intangible property, such as movable and immovable property, equipment, plant and machinery, and their component parts. Therefore, we can say that EAM systems are proposed as asset maintenance management systems, which are intended as physical assets of a company.

EAM software can handle all aspects of asset maintenance, including functions such as asset lifecycle management, preventive maintenance planning, asset warranty, and contract management.

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CMMS vs EAM: Which One is Right for Your Business?

Which One is Right for Your Business?

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Dario Sorić

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