AFE May/June 2012 : Page 31

IndustryNews Technology for Managing Your Facility BY PAUL LACHANCE acility maintenance teams responsible for grounds and structures, including boilers, chill-ers, HVACs, lighting equipment, data centers, generators and fi xtures have historically functioned in reactive mode. From frustrated managers calling in about overheated conference rooms to soaking-wet employees raging about broken sprinklers, maintenance managers can be easily inundated with over 50 daily requests for repairs. Many maintenance managers have reported that constantly ringing cell phones and smartphone texts of complaints are de rigueur on the job. Equipment problems get jotted down on scraps of paper, and mainte-nance technicians run ragged trying to keep up with the demand while repairs slip through the cracks. Picture this: overstuff ed paper binders hold repair history, replacement parts are missing, and no amount of paper or staff meetings overcome the chaos. Sound familiar? Th ere is an easy way to stop the disorder and save wasted time and funds. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is vital to maintenance operations because equipment data captured through work orders allows facility managers to set up preventive maintenance schedules, rather than respond-ing when equipment malfunctions. Th e data captured from CMMS work orders serves as intelligence in report form to educate, update, and replace vs. repair. Th e system also assists in negotiating with repair vendors, justifying capital expendi-tures and new hires. Bigfoot CMMS, a web-based solution used by more than 1,500 companies in two dozen industries around the world, helps facilities managers take control of equipment maintenance and repairs before failures occur. Bigfoot manages, analyzes and reports on system maintenance, ensuring that all monitored as-sets achieve maximum effi ciency, safety and longevity. F Bigfoot’s award-winning technology is built on the philoso-phy that “real-world users know best” and has gained a reputa-tion for issuing frequent updates that incorporate custom-ers’ wish lists, as well as running a top-notch customer help desk. Bigfoot automates routine functions and ad hoc repairs. It captures all maintenance information for tracking, analyz-ing and reporting on specifi c assets. Bigfoot also recognizes that facilities engineer-ing is a global profession and recently added additional languages, including English, Span-ish, French, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese to its portfolio of programs. In addition to maintenance requests, work-order processing, and preventive maintenance scheduling, Bigfoot’s capabilities include predictive maintenance, asset life-cycle analysis, parts-replacement inventory, and history tracking with built-in reporting. Bigfoot tracks equipment mainte-nance costs over time, so facility managers can fi gure out whether to repair or replace assets and if necessary, their suppliers. Bigfoot also reports on repair frequency and cost of work completed by outside vendors to help managers decide whether to renew and/or renegotiate contracts. In addition, the system shows repair-cost comparisons of similar equipment in diff erent locations, allowing companies to negotiate with higher-priced contractors. Best of all, Bigfoot’s customers have reported reducing their maintenance costs by hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars due to improved asset mainte-nance and repair. Using CMMS is one of the best ways to save time, money and productivity on the job. FEJ Paul Lachance is president and chief tech-nology ofﬁ cer for Smartware Group, which produces Bigfoot CMMS. Lachance has been developing and perfecting the company’s CMMS solution for the maintenance professional for over 17 years. He can be reached via email at paul.lachance@bigfootcmms.com. May | June 2012 ■ Facilities Engineering Journal ■ www.AFE.org 31

Industry News

Paul Lachance

Technology for Managing Your Facility Facility maintenance teams responsible for grounds and structures, including boilers, chillers, HVACs, lighting equipment, data centers, generators and fixtures have historically functioned in reactive mode. From frustrated managers calling in about overheated conference rooms to soaking-wet employees raging about broken sprinklers, maintenance managers can be easily inundated with over 50 daily requests for repairs. Many maintenance managers have reported that constantly ringing cell phones and smartphone texts of complaints are de rigueur on the job. Equipment problems get jotted down on scraps of paper, and maintenance technicians run ragged trying to keep up with the demand while repairs slip through the cracks. Picture this: overstuffed paper binders hold repair history, replacement parts are missing, and no amount of paper or staff meetings overcome the chaos. Sound familiar? There is an easy way to stop the disorder and save wasted time and funds. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is vital to maintenance operations because equipment data captured through work orders allows facility managers to set up preventive maintenance schedules, rather than responding when equipment malfunctions. The data captured from CMMS work orders serves as intelligence in report form to educate, update, and replace vs. repair. The system also assists in negotiating with repair vendors, justifying capital expenditures and new hires. Bigfoot CMMS, a web-based solution used by more than 1,500 companies in two dozen industries around the world, helps facilities managers take control of equipment maintenance and repairs before failures occur. Bigfoot manages, analyzes and reports on system maintenance, ensuring that all monitored assets achieve maximum efficiency, safety and longevity. Bigfoot’s award-winning technology is built on the philosophy that “real-world users know best” and has gained a reputation for issuing frequent updates that incorporate customers’ wish lists, as well as running a top-notch customer help desk. Bigfoot automates routine functions and ad hoc repairs. It captures all maintenance information for tracking, analyzing and reporting on specific assets. Bigfoot also recognizes that facilities engineering is a global profession and recently added additional languages, including English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese to its portfolio of programs. In addition to maintenance requests, work-order processing, and preventive maintenance scheduling, Bigfoot’s capabilities include predictive maintenance, asset life-cycle analysis, parts-replacement inventory, and history tracking with built-in reporting. Bigfoot tracks equipment maintenance costs over time, so facility managers can figure out whether to repair or replace assets and if necessary, their suppliers. Bigfoot also reports on repair frequency and cost of work completed by outside vendors to help managers decide whether to renew and/or renegotiate contracts. In addition, the system shows repair-cost comparisons of similar equipment in different locations, allowing companies to negotiate with higher-priced contractors. Best of all, Bigfoot’s customers have reported reducing their maintenance costs by hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars due to improved asset maintenance and repair. Using CMMS is one of the best ways to save time, money and productivity on the job. Paul Lachance is president and chief technology officer for Smartware Group, which produces Bigfoot CMMS. Lachance has been developing and perfecting the company’s CMMS solution for the maintenance professional for over 17 years. He can be reached via email at paul.lachance@bigfootcmms.com.

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