What Is EAM, and Why Do Asset-Intensive Businesses Need It?

What Is EAM, and Why Do Asset-Intensive Businesses Need It?

Companies can achieve their core objectives by keeping essential assets in good working order. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) is a process that helps companies maximize the use of their assets and keep costs down. This will ensure your business can continue competitive while ensuring essential operational uptime. So let's take a deeper look at EAM and its importance for a business that depends heavily on assets.

What does EAM mean?

Enterprise asset management refers to enterprises' software and services to manage their equipment and assets. Optimizing asset use throughout the entire lifecycle can improve productivity and reduce operational costs.

EAM also covers:

• Asset Maintenance
• Work Management
• Planning and Scheduling
• EHS (Environmental, health, safety) Initiatives
• Management of Supply Chain

Complex industries that depend on equipment and physical assets need a comprehensive enterprise asset strategy. Let's look at two types of EAM systems and how they impact a company.

Manual EAM

Many organizations use paper records to keep track of the asset's status or spreadsheets to capture data. However, one drawback to using paper records is the cost of storing the information. In addition, Misfiling a crucial document can cause problems with maintaining company assets and location.

Spreadsheets can quickly become overwhelming, especially if multiple people have different copies. In addition, it can be frustrating and confusing to reconcile information when determining what equipment may need preventative maintenance. This can also put organizations at risk of not meeting industry standards.

Manual EAM also has its drawbacks:

• There is a greater risk that assets are incorrectly valued at depreciation.
• Lack of real-time visibility into the life cycles of different company assets
• Time lost on manual tasks such as repairs
• Inadvertently forgetting safety and health protocols
• Inadequate maintenance strategies are common

EAM software

EAM often requires the use of a computerized maintenance system (CMMS). EAM software, however, is focused on establishing a framework to manage asset life cycles, while CMMS focuses more on centralizing asset management data.

An EAM program gives enterprises the tools they need to automate asset management. Most companies use an EAM solution to improve their ability to track assets' lifecycles and optimize their performance. This is done by gathering data about the asset's use, malfunctions, costs, depreciation, and other related information.

Let's look at some of the most important functions offered by an EAM solution.

• Work order management - The best way to maximize asset performance is to ensure that the equipment is assigned to the correct technician. Asset managers can use your EAM as Work order management software to make it easier to track maintenance requests, order repairs, and ensure that work is completed.
• Maintenance planning - To reduce expenses, organizations need to plan and schedule the work required by maintenance teams. This visibility allows for data-driven decision-making, lowering your total cost of ownership. EAM software can also be used to manage asset maintenance projects.
• Inventory and supply chain management -- Assets can be tracked, and maintenance materials can be tracked using EAM software. Many companies use IoT technology to allow the EAM platform integration with other supply chain management software.
• Analytics - EAM software allows organizations to develop enhanced analytics that provides operational insights. These models are useful for automating workflows that allow companies to plan, schedule, and manage work-related asset tracking.

Why is EAM Important?

An EAM platform can be beneficial for organizations of any size. Understanding what EAM means and how it can benefit your company is easier. EAM solutions can be used to address:

• Tracking down equipment and assets within an enterprise
• How to simplify the management of company assets
• Controlling costs and increasing ROA for owned company assets
• Improved communication around asset tracking/management
• Improved security controls for who has access to the organizational assets
• To ensure consistency across the enterprise, a standard asset strategy should be developed
• Ensure that your company meets all regulatory reporting requirements.

Your company can achieve the following:

• Improve your safety and health practices EAM tools allow organizations to create a centralized database with all safety and health information.
• Use industry best practices - Use your EAM software for workflows and checklists to ensure workers follow proper asset management.
• Uncover potential problems -- EAM Systems contain preventative maintenance tools that allow workers to monitor and fix issues before they impact the organization.
• Create benchmarks - An EAM platform allows companies to set company-wide criteria for assets and management.
• Increase Asset Usage - EAM software helps companies get the best out of their assets before they are taken offline.
• Increase sustainability Using the right EAM software can help you create a more sustainable footprint, achieve higher performance levels, and be more cost-effective.

Why EAM Is Important for Facilities and Facilities Managers

Facilities managers can use an EAM system to keep track of assets within a facility. For example, they can see whether they have enough Windows workstations for new employees and the date they were last updated. Facilities managers can access this information to ensure they have sufficient assets, a regular maintenance schedule, and where and when they are used. This allows facilities managers to be proactive rather than reactive and improves productivity and performance.

Organizations should choose an EAM platform for asset management instead of a CMMS. For example, facilities managers can use EAM software to get a 360-degree view of assets to monitor the condition of these valuable business assets within a facility.

Maximizing Operations with EAM Software

Once you have figured out what EAM is, you can use the following tips to optimize enterprise operations with your EAM solution.

1. Identify all assets in your organization

Collect as much information about your company's assets as you can. Every manual log, spreadsheet, or other documentation record about assets should be reviewed. Your EAM software will be more efficient and effective if you do your research early on.

2. Access your existing enterprise application

Incorporate your existing solutions into the new EAM. This will ensure that your software has a continuous flow of information. You can also reduce information silos and increase data accuracy within your EAM platform.

3. Stay on top of warranty agreements

Make sure you keep warranty information in your EAM. This will ensure easy access to important information, such as when the policy expires. In addition, this ensures that you don't have to pay for items that aren't covered by the warranty or allow the policy to expire before you can take full advantage of the warranty's benefits.

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