Severe storms and relentless heat can easily stress property management assets beyond the breaking point. The key to minimizing damage estimates as well unplanned repair costs is to identify potential problems before they become major repairs and fix them. The tool of choice for property management is an EAM/CMMS. An EAM/CMMS is a software tool that can help maintenance crews quickly determine the damage that is occurring as well as identify potential issues. This is done by inspecting all property assets and scheduling preventive maintenance and repairs on any item likely to feel the impact of the summer season.
Why Use an EAM/CMMS to Schedule Inspections
One of the biggest challenges property managers have is the organization of facility maintenance tasks into manageable events in order to maximize the availability of resources at the least amount of labor expense. An EAM/CMMS accomplishes this by automating the work order process thus increasing the flexibility of management to accommodate special projects without incurring overtime. For example, roofs can be inspected to make sure there is no debris, leaks or other damage. This is as easy as preloading inspection questions onto a mobile handheld device allowing the maintenance staff to answer and then transmit back the results to property management to determine the best maintenance approach. Common sense dictates that is is more cost efficient to fix a small leak than wait for interior water damage to occur.
The early identification of problems is not the only way an EAM/CMMS solution will benefit property management. Other advantages include:
- Labor costs reductions as proactive management replaces problem firefighting. Unplanned maintenance activity begins to shrink greatly reducing overtime expenses.
- Anytime and anywhere access to data from any computer or location with Internet access using a web-based CMMS solution.
- Elimination of paper based work order system and replacement by web-based CMMS software allowing for access from any computer or location.
- Lower maintenance repair costs as the number of major repairs is decreased and replaced with minor repairs.
- lower energy costs using an EAM/CMMS as a result of better energy efficiency from from HVAC, chillers and other high energy consumption equipment.
- An accurate historical database of maintenance activity that can reduce potential liability from negligence.
Clearly, maintenance management with a web-based EAM/CMMS solution will significantly alter the way property management is performed.