So you're skeptical and you think things are just fine the way they are. You might be thinking the cost of facility management software doesn't outweigh the benefits and that it would take just too much time and effort to start using a new system and in the end, you believe it's just not worth it. So, we asked around and came up with a list of top 5 reasons our naysayers have come up with to not use facility management software. We wanted to see if we had good answers for those reasons.
Top 5 Reasons to Not Use Facility Management Software
#5: Our paperwork is secure. It is stored in a file cabinet and never leaves the building.
Has it occurred to you that maybe good ol' reliable paper isn't so reliable? Writing fades, papers get lost or mis-filed, water damages or even fires could occur and you could lose it all. Plus, that's not accounting for the fact that you can't even sort or run historical reporting data on paper trails. What good is the information if you can't use it?
Wouldn't it make sense to have your work requests, scheduling, and data stored electronically on a system that does periodic back ups? One that provides analytics so that you can learn from the past and help you make more informed decisions?
#4: As long as the urgent matters are handled, the maintenance will run smoothly.
I have two responses for this one, First; How do you know that urgent matters are handled in a timely fashion? and Second; What if you could plan matters so fewer were urgent?
Without a 'time-stamped' work order system, you can't ever really know how quickly your team has responded to a situation. Maybe you could have saved some money in repair costs had it been dealt with faster. To the second point, using preventive scheduling would create work plans to take care of those matters before they were urgent. This might also save you money since urgent matters tend to cost more to address.
#3: When someone needs a job done, they just call us.
Again, this falls under the "there is no data to analyze" category. How can you expect your team to remember every phone call that comes in (provided they are not being interrupted every minute while working on other things) without a proper tracking system.
What if you could have a record of work requests and prioritize them? You could then assign lists of jobs to your team instead of having people working without a plan. Might increase your ROI.
#2: We don't have time to use the computers.
We agree, not all maintenance individuals have time to return to a desk and look up a work request on the computer all day long. Their focus should be on making the facility safer and as a result, 'computer time' is often deemed unproductive.
The value of capturing and managing data has already be established, it's the reason that we all use computers today. Valuable information can be gained from tracking your results and that is no less true than for the maintenance department. Look for software solutions that boast ease-of-use and promote a mobile app solution that syncs automatically. Allowing your team to manage tasks 'On-The-Fly' would improve communication and productivity, all the while capturing the relevant information needed.
#1: Bob knows when something will need replacement, plus he doesn't like the idea.
Are you sure you want to rely on Bob? We've often seen organizations neglect this very necessary part of their operations because Bob isn't reacting well to the idea of change. Why rock the boat, he's doing his job and things are fine (insert previous 4 excuses above).
Your business; your staff; your residents; and your visitors; can't afford to rely solely on one person for their safety and concerns. When a problem occurs, procedures need to be in place to deal with those problems, and those procedures need to be supported by a sound, reliable maintenance management system.
At the end of the day, whatever reason or excuse one might tell themselves not to use facility management software, one thing becomes very clear... those reasons are not good enough. Having a software in place that helps your maintenance team manage your physical environment has become the baseline standard for compliance to safety regulations and will not go away. What other reasons is better than safety?
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