CMMS VS EAM:
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? PART 2 Dave Bertolini and Anders Lif*
Computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) and enterprise asset management (EAM) applications can both be used in the industrial maintenance space. In Part 1 of this article we discussed the similarities and differences between a CMMS and EAM. Now it is time to look at the more advanced features of EAM, including asset lifecycle management and project management.
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s mentioned in Part 1, EAM must deliver the core requirements not just of maintenance management, but asset management. Those requirements are spelled out in ISO 55000, ISO 55001 and ISO 55002. ISO 55000 includes an overview of asset management. ISO 55001 is a requirements specification for an integrated asset management system and ISO 5502 offers guidance for implementation. While ISO 55000 does not specifically address software, it does require that all asset data, across the lifecycle of the asset and across organisational boundaries, be contained in the same database and, therefore, the same system. What does that mean? It means EAM must support the planning and engineering stage of the asset, including plant design. It must encompass the construction of the asset - so powerful project, document and contract management functionality is required. And it must support operation of the asset and even eventual decommissioning and replacement.
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This is a demanding requirement that a CMMS alone cannot likely meet, and frankly, neither can most EAM applications that may not address the entire asset lifecycle. And whether or not a company considers adopting the ISO standard, if they are committed to complete visibility and control over their assets, they still need that full lifecycle support. Only a single system like EAM can deliver an accurate and consistent view of all asset information - one version of the truth - insuring policies, plans and actions are based on an accurate understanding of the history and current status of the asset infrastructure. In order to accomplish this, an EAM software product must actually address all phases of the asset lifecycle, and not many do. It must also provide portals or other methods for outside parties like engineering firms and maintenance contractors to use the system so that everyone touching that asset data is interacting with a single database in real time.
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