In business as in life, using anything other than complete, accurate data to make decisions can be both dangerous and costly. For many, decision-making relies on instinct instead of data. In reality, it often means working with no data.

This kind of decision-making is less than optimal. Sometimes it gets you the results you’re looking for. However, without consistently good data, a business can’t make consistently good decisions. And without the ability to make sound decisions, a business can’t produce consistently good results.

Ultimately, only data-driven decisions can drive the results necessary for your business to thrive and grow. Consider the following example.

A Man Walks into a Bar…

…or rather, an employee, Dave, walks into the cold storage area of Sam’s Saloon, and he thinks, “I can save the bar some money by upgrading the old store room refrigeration condenser.”

Based on the energy rating of the system’s compressor, it’s supposed to keep the storage area cooled for about $400 per month. Dave knows the condenser is getting old, though, very likely leaking, and probably not living up to its original performance potential.

How can he make the case to Sam that the bar’s wasting money unnecessarily, so he can buy a new condenser? If the purchase is approved, how will he prove to Sam that the investment’s paying off?

Dave could take two routes to prove his point:

The assumption route: Dave tells Sam, “I can save you lots of money,” but doesn’t say exactly how much. The new condenser (hopefully) gets approved and purchased, and through observation, Dave proclaims, “Seems better to me!”

Might sound crazy, but this is often how maintenance decisions are made—usually because people don’t think they can measure results, or don’t understand how.

The data-driven route: Dave installs a meter to monitor and measure energy consumption by the system. He discovers it’s actually costing $600 a month—$200 more than it should. He can now clearly back up his claim with numbers and get his purchase request approved.

With a new condenser installed and energy usage back to what it should be, Dave is generating $200 per month in savings. That’ll pay for the new $1,000 condenser in five months, and add $200 to Sam’s bottom line every month thereafter.

But the benefits don’t end there. Dave can continue to monitor usage from now on. If it climbs back above $400, he can quickly fix the problem and avoid future waste.

Having hard numbers not only helps you run your business, it allows you to measure (and use) a whole host of key performance indicators. It provides you the ability to say, for example, “We were 12,000 kilowatthours over our mean monthly energy consumption” instead of “Boy, looks like we used lots of energy this month.”

With solid metrics, you can accurately assess the cost-effectiveness of any new equipment installations or facilities improvements.

Easy (and Accurate) as One, Two, Three

Sam’s Saloon provides a simplified example, but the power of good data increases exponentially if you’re using a CMMS.

A modern CMMS solution will allow you to collect and report on data across your entire asset inventory, providing numerous measures to help you make better decisions and answer business-critical questions. And many contemporary CMMS solutions allow you to connect to meters and gauges directly, eliminating the need for meter readings and manual data entry.

Even simple measures from work order records can provide powerful data. Consider another example. You might wonder, “How much am I spending on maintenance for each of my work order types?”

This type of report can be easily generated from a CMMS. At a glance, you’ll know exactly how much money each work order type is costing your business in maintenance for a specified timeframe (in the example provided, a year), and certain questions can be quickly answered…

• What type of maintenance do I spend the most on?
• How does the cost of preventive maintenance compare to repair costs?
• If I run this report for a different time period, like last year, are there significant changes by category?

Beyond general questions, you can formulate precise questions that’ll lead to a more informed decision-making process…

• Why are my machining maintenance costs so high?
• What new equipment needs to be purchased, if any?
• How much will the new equipment cost compared to the current maintenance expense?
• Will I save money over time by purchasing new equipment? How much?

A CMMS gives you accurate, complete data, and this data can be applied directly to purchasing or other important organizational decisions.

Moving Beyond Assumptions

Decisions based on assumptions can work, but they aren’t the best route to take for certain improvement. Don’t rely on intuiting the right answers for your critical business decisions. Begin to ask yourself whether it’s possible to support your decisions with numbers. Then identify opportunities where these numbers can inform your decision-making process.

Finally, consider implementing a modern CMMS to help you gather complete and accurate data. You’ll quickly see the results in the most important place of all—your bottom line.

To learn more about data-driven maintenance and some of the powerful, affordable tools that make it easy, contact MPulse Software today for a free demo.

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Do you know what to look for, though? What features should a CMMS have? With many capable software vendors in the CMMS market, finding the right solution can seem overwhelming. Your search doesn’t have to be complicated, though. Focus first on finding software that covers the essentials, then dig a little deeper to find one that has “feature extensions” (aka “addons,” “options,” or “upgrade modules”) to meet your unique needs. Here’s what to look for.

Start with the Basics: These Features are “Must-Haves” in Maintenance Management Software

There’s a short list of features no CMMS should be without. It’s likely any competitive solution you’re considering will have these features. It’s not uncommon, though, to find non-CMMS vendors trying to compete in the space. They don’t always have all the features you’ll need for successful maintenance management, so be sure the solution you’re considering has these basics:

• Asset Records are the heart of any maintenance or asset management solution. This is where you’ll store the details about the equipment, buildings, vehicles, or other assets you’ll be maintaining. Typically, these include asset name, purchase date, purchase price, serial number, location, and other important descriptive details.
• Employee Records store information about your employees who will do the work: names, contact information, certifications, and anything else you want to track about your organization’s people.
• Inventory Records hold the details about spare parts and consumables you have on hand: type, model, serial number, manufacturer, supplier name, location name, item number, item state, unit of measure, and other critical information your department needs to have about its parts and consumables.
• Work Orders are the “digital documents” that track management of repairs and PMs. They are the forms inside the software that link all the elements of repair and maintenance work in one place. They answer these questions:
  • What was repaired?
  • Who did the work?
  • What parts were used?
  • When was the work assigned, initiated, and completed?
  • What was the outcome?
  • Where was the work done?
  • What was the problem or preventive activity?
• Inventory Management helps you keep up with spares and consumables you have on hand. It provides you immediate visibility into item quantities to help you prevent outages of critical parts and materials.
• Reporting tools help you create meaningful information from the data recorded for assets, employees, inventory, schedules, and work orders. Most vendors’ basic editions provide list-view reports, but not all basic packages include charts or graphical reporting. Be sure to ask.
• Preventive Maintenance Scheduling enables you to establish, monitor, and execute preventive maintenance schedules. Be sure to ask vendors if they include both time- and meter-based scheduling.

Next Level Up: Service Requests

If you have “customers” that submit repair requests, make sure the CMMS product you’re evaluating supports service requests. This feature allows users to enter and initiate service requests, and also lets them monitor the progress of the requests as your team completes repairs.

Service requesting is often the first function beyond the basics that maintenance organizations need. This is especially true for maintenance teams who have internal “customers.” Many times, teams in factory settings can get by without service requesting. Facility managers almost never can, however.

What Else Do You Need? Advanced Features for Maintenance Management Software

Software that only provides the basics won’t be enough for many maintenance organizations. A comprehensive CMMS solution will offer advanced features to meet your organization’s unique requirements. From a budgeting perspective, it’s a good idea to prioritize what advanced features you need. Cover your “essentials” first, and if you’ve got budget left over, you can consider some of the “nice-to-haves.”

Many vendors offer “editions” or bundles that include advanced features. You’ll often save money by purchasing a premium edition that includes many advanced features instead of adding them to your software one at a time.

• Advanced Reporting supports customizable list view and graphical reporting. Many basic CMMS packages only offer “canned” reports in tabular format. If you need to customize your reports or prefer graphical views, be sure the solutions you’re considering offer them.
• Cost Center Tracking allows you to group assets and their associated maintenance costs into the cost center groupings you define. You can then create budgets for those cost centers to know how you’re performing against them for specific business or operational units.
• Lifecycle Cost Tracking captures acquisition costs, as well as maintenance and repair costs over the life of an asset. Over time, this reflects the true cost of owning and operating an asset.
• Application Interface Customization allows you to tailor the navigation or layout of the software to meet your special needs. One of the most effective means of implementing this is through the ability to add custom tabs and fields to capture data that’s unique to your operation.
• Data Integration Tools make it possible for a CMMS to share and receive data with other applications. Leading software vendors will offer a data integration toolkit that allows you to map and schedule data transfers and from numerous data sources outside the application. Typically, these include spreadsheets, other databases, ERP systems, accounting systems, PLCs, electronic meters, and more.
• Purchasing monitors work orders, reorder lists, and requisition records to automatically create new requisitions as needed. It also allows you to easily track orders and requisitions all the way through receiving and restocking.
• Key and Lock Management tracks when someone has accessed an asset or location. Use it to manage who is in possession of keys, smartcards, and electronic access badges.
• Mobile Applications use wireless technology, smartphones, tablets, and/or laptops to help you and your technicians manage, initiate, and complete work orders while you’re away from your desks or in the field.
• Labor Resource Management can track all facets of your employee records: status, skill level, billing rate, contact information, and more. You can easily match employees or vendors to the assets they maintain, and assign tasks accordingly. In addition to basic information, you can track employee attendance, illness records, work productivity, and overtime hours.
• Vendor Management provides one place to manage all your vendors and track their important information. It should provide a direct link between vendors and work orders.
• Advanced Inventory provides inventory management features beyond just tracking stocking levels. Typical features include min/max monitoring, reorder points, and advanced inventory reporting.
• Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) keeps tabs on the actual state of your critical assets by recording the output of any meters and gauges on that asset. When an asset’s condition changes outside of specified ranges, your software lets you know immediately, so you can react to prevent breakdowns before they happen.
• Media Integration allows you to link from your CMMS to documents, videos, photos, supplier websites, intranets, and more. In many advanced applications, media integration can work with a dashboard to provide rich media as part of each user’s main “console.”
• Sophisticated Dashboards are “command center consoles.” They provide a view that you configure to put your most important CMMS data front and center, where you don’t have to dig for it. Often this includes key reports and metrics.

Adding Users and Features Will Impact Price

CMMS vendors commonly package their software into “tiers” or “editions” to fit different needs and budgets. The price for each edition includes a select combination of features and a set number of user licenses. However, adding additional users, locations, or features will impact the price you pay for your CMMS software.

Focus on What’s Right for You

Most competitive CMMS solutions offer most of the features needed for basic maintenance management. Begin your search by looking for the essentials. Make sure any software you consider provides these “must-have” features.

Be sure you understand your key requirements, and then cover those first when evaluating features. Secondly, if you need service requesting or more advanced features, prioritize these and align them with your pocketbook. Lastly, always keep in mind that the number of features, locations, and user licenses you need will impact what you pay.

Now you’re ready to make the leap to CMMS. Know what to look for, and then you will land on the product that’s right for you.

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Parts & Supplies Inventory Management

MPulse Parts & Supplies Inventory Management provides records of inventory items and enables you to track and report on consumption of those items. Your team can quickly link inventory items and their unit costs to work orders and assets. You can add stocking levels, reorder points, storage locations, and supplier information. Parts & Supplies Inventory Management also allows you to track various units of measure for a single inventory item. For example, you might purchase oil by the barrel, but use it by the quart.

Standard for all editions

Inventory Shopping Cart

Your virtual stockroom manager, Inventory Shopping Cart allows you to easily scan parts in and out of stock rooms with your mobile device or barcode scanner. You’ll always have an accurate count of all the parts coming and going, and you can easily link them to the associated work orders and assets.

Standard for MPulse Advanced or Enterprise editions

Purchase Requisitions

A comprehensive tool for managing parts and services requisitioning and ordering. Monitor work orders, reorder lists, and requisition records, then produce requisitions or POs as needed. Also allows you to easily track orders and requisitions all the way through receiving and restocking.

Standard for MPulse Advanced or Enterprise editions

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MPulse Maintenance Software is a true “n-tier” application, built on Microsoft’s market-leading .NET Framework. As a Microsoft Silver ISV Partner, we work closely with Microsoft to bring you reliable, scalable applications that meet the needs of even the most demanding users.

Hosted or Locally Installed?

Customers who choose MPulse’s Application Hosting Service (AHS) can be sure all their back-end system requirements are met. AHS, managed by Rackspace, is free to MPulse Maintenance and Support Program (MSP) subscribers. For a local install, you’ll need to meet the minimum business tier and data tier requirements in addition to those for the client tier.

Database Options

MPulse uses Microsoft SQL Server as its underlying database. If you don’t have Microsoft SQL Server licenses, don’t worry. Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition with Advanced Services is included with every edition of MPulse Software. MPulse is upward compatible with all versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2014 or higher.

MPulse System Architecture

The client, business, and data tiers of MPulse communicate with each other using standard Internet protocols, HTTP and XML. This architecture gives you the flexibility to implement either a distributed or centralized installation based on your business needs—not on physical location. Your users can be anywhere in the world, and you can closely control access, security, and system integrity.

MPulse Software Tiers and System Requirements

Client Tier Desktop and Laptop Computers Requirements

• Current version of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Microsoft Edge

Client Tier Desktop and Laptop Computers Recommendations

• Microsoft Windows device running Windows 10 or newer
• Monitor with 1024 x 768 or higher resolution
• A minimum of 8 GB of RAM (more recommended)
• Internet connection of at least 1 Mbps

Mobile Devices

• All current Apple devices
• All current Android devices

Business Tier

The business tier includes the application. It also contains advanced customization and security tools to facilitate communication and data flow through the system. We highly recommend the use of a dedicated application server for optimal performance.

• Internet connection of at least 1 Mbps
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016 or higher
• Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 10.0 or higher
• Hardware per Microsoft standards for Windows Server 2016
• A minimum of 8 GB of RAM (more recommended)

Data Tier

The data tier collects and manages all application data. Your data remains accessible and secure. Since MPulse is browser based and web native, users can easily access data over a LAN, an intranet, or the Internet. A locally hosted data tier needs

• Microsoft SQL Server 2014 or higher
• Hardware per Microsoft standards for SQL Server

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Access your MPulse CMMS anywhere — online or offline!

MPulse Mobile gives your team everything they need to get the job done in the field or on the plant floor, even if they can’t connect to the Internet.

No need to rush back to the office. Everything they need is right on the screen. Updates are automatically synched with your MPulse CMMS once they’re back online.

What Can I Do with MPulse Mobile?

MPulse Mobile is an add-on feature available for any MPulse edition. Technicians simply enter their usual account information to log in and…

• Report problems in the field
• Capture data when and where it happens
• Document work with pictures and videos
• Receive and update work assigned to you
• Complete work orders with all required data
• Track hours worked with activity timer
• Find and link inventory using barcodes
• Work offline with seamless background synchronization

Security

Lose a device? No problem. MPulse Mobile has many of the same security features as our full desktop version, so you can confidently control access even when you can’t physically control the location of your devices.

MPulse supports three types of user security: Active Directory integration, SAML SSO or MPulse-based authentication.

MPulse Mobile System Requirements

MPulse Mobile is available on Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

• Apple iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad requires iOS 12 or later
• Android OS tablets or smartphones using version 10 or later

Stop wasting time. MPulse Mobile makes every minute count. Contact us to get started.

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How will outdated software affect your organization? What if there’s a glitch and you don’t have access to technical and usability support? You’ll end up paying for updates and services as you go. It’s inefficient—and expensive. There’s a better way.

A subscription to the MPulse Maintenance and Support Program (MSP) partners you with a professional support team. Plus, it gives you the latest tools, free training, and software updates to keep your MPulse Software optimized, and your organization on track to reach its CMMS goals.

Our Commitment to Your Success

The MPulse MSP is an annual subscription service that provides continued support, training, and updates. As a program subscriber, you’ll have access to a host of important features…

• In-house MPulse employees provide technical and training support via toll free phone number and email
• Exclusive access to new software versions as they’re released
• Hosting provided via our Application Hosting Service
• Online training through the MPulse Support Portal, including educational videos and informative articles
• One seat per year to the MPulse Fundamentals training course for live, interactive online sessions designed to help users get quickly up to speed
• Better pricing on major software upgrades and modification options
• Exclusive invitations to monthly webinars on MPulse usage and maintenance best practices
• Special sale offers for MPulse products and services
• Advance email notification of new product introductions
• Timely, automated software updates
• Free assistance with software installation

Superior Support = Preventive Maintenance

The MPulse MSP offers extensive advantages over a fee-per-service model…

• Peace of mind—our goal is your success with our product
• Considerable cost savings
• Instant access to industry expertise
• Knowledge of current maintenance software developments
• Trained and prepared users
• Product flexibility

Take advantage of our expertise. We provide reliable, first-class support for your MPulse implementation, and the updates to keep it running at peak performance. With the MPulse MSP, you’re not just a customer—you’re our partner in CMMS success.

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The MPulse Implementation Success Guarantee is available to new customers who purchase our Assured Implementation Program (AIP) or current customers who sign up for our Assess, Adjust, and Implement (AAI) services.

We back up our promises to customers who purchase our implementation services by developing…

• Three mutually agreed upon goals
• An action plan to meet those goals
• A schedule with targeted completion dates

A Goal-Oriented Approach

We’ll help you create measurable results by working through the following “SMART” goal-defining process.

Specific

• What needs to be done?
• Who owns the goal?
• Who supports the goal?

Measurable

• When is it complete?
• What is the starting point?
• How many, how often, how much?

Achievable

• Is target date realistic?
• Is support available?
• Are resources available?

Relevant

• Is goal important?
• Will it create benefit?
• Does it drive other initiatives?

Time-Bound

• Does your goal include dates?

Action Plan and Schedule

After defining these mutually agreed upon goals, MPulse helps you outline the key actions required to complete the goal, including who needs to take the action and the targeted completion dates.

Measurable Results

We offer the MPulse Implementation Success Guarantee because we’re sure you’ll see results with our implementation services. Contact us to learn how MPulse can help your organization achieve maintenance success.

*Terms and conditions apply

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MPulse Means Industrial Grade

MPulse Software doesn’t sell “basic” maintenance management software, because we know that even smaller organizations need robust software to manage the increasingly complex demands of modern maintenance management. Whether you choose Professional Edition, Advanced Edition, or Enterprise Edition, you’ll get a fast, full-featured CMMS solution at highly competitive pricing.

MPulse Professional

Powerful work order management, preventive maintenance, and service requesting features make up the core toolkit for professional maintenance managers and technicians to get stuff done. MPulse Professional edition provides all these tools combined with powerful inventory tracking, calendar and labor management, vendor management, reporting, and dashboards. Like all MPulse editions, it works on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Global search navigation provides easy access to any record.

MPulse Advanced

MPulse Advanced Edition takes the capabilities of MPulse Professional to the next level. Advanced Customization features give you maximum flexibility to customize MPulse to your organization’s needs, with custom fields and forms, and much more. Asset Lifecycle Tracking helps you keep tabs on all your assets’ important financial metrics, warranties, and dates. Inventory Shopping Cart and Purchase Requisitions make MPulse’s inventory features even more powerful and easy to use.

MPulse Enterprise

MPulse Enterprise Edition builds on the extensive capabilities of MPulse Advanced, providing all the features necessary to run large maintenance teams at even the most complex, geographically dispersed operations. Numerous Fortune 500 companies depend on MPulse Enterprise to get real-time visibility of their critical equipment and facilities, and to keep important assets running and available. Enterprise adds DataLink Integration Adapter to make integration with assets, databases, and ERP systems fast, reliable and easy. This edition also includes Single Sign-On to make identity management and system access a snap. And our latest innovation in personnel scheduling and job assignment, MPulse Resource Leveling, provides an intuitive, calendar-based scheduling interface that matches open work orders with the right available employees with the right skills to get the job done. Great for even the largest maintenance teams of dozens or even hundreds of employees.

For over two decades, MPulse has provided maintenance tracking, scheduling, and reporting software to companies large and small, in virtually every industry. We know the challenges you face, and we provide the tools to help you face them.

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