GIS or Geographic Information Systems professionals oftentimes find it difficult to work in tandem with Asset Management Systems. For such individuals, this piece of write-up might be of some help.
Few aspects have been dealt with and these include, namely, essential aspects of decision making. How will Asset Management Systems benefit GIS and is it a good option to make use of asset management software or make use of customized database.
What are the solutions?
Basically, there are two solutions that you can opt for. These are CMMS or Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS software) and Database oriented level system that exists in your organization already (in majority of the cases).
The solution that you will like to implement for your business will essentially depend on how complex the situation is in your organization and the issues that have to be addressed. In this write-up, CMMS has been discussed.
Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)
You can regard this as a software package that is usually installed at the server level. It has the ability to track assets, their condition, functionalities, and classes of assets, depending on what your requirements for the business. For instance, the asset classes may be segregated into modules and sub modules.
Interestingly, these very modules will again have important attributes that include physical details and specifications of assets like length, type of material, diameter, date of purchase, date of last maintenance, prevailing condition, and so on.
There are many businesses that prefer to opt for preventive maintenance plan that prevents machinery from breaking down completely.
As opposed to the conventional maintenance schedules, when the maintenance of assets, equipments, and machinery are carried out only when equipments suffer a breakdown, preventive maintenance plan will prevent your machinery from breaking down fully, instead they are not allowed to reach a point when there is complete wear and tear. And this maintenance schedule is synchronized with CMMS software for optimum results.
While many businesses do not want to opt for this maintenance schedule since it is expensive, the ones that opt for this maintenance schedule are able to save a lot in maintenance costs in the long run.
Integrating CMMS with GIS systems
When planning to integrate this solution with GIS system, there are few essential aspects that you must keep in mind. These include the following-
- It is important that integrating the above systems will not impact file transfers. It also includes ETL transfer
- The number of levels to which the assets can be decomposed. In other words, the number of sub-sets that the assets can be categorized into. You might come across few old systems that can be decomposed into 4 levels only.
It is quite likely that for better analysis and scheduling, you might have to decompose the assets into more levels.
- After completion of maintenance schedule, you must also see whether or not the aggregation of the different class of assets is being carried out in a hassle free manner. This is important especially when capital improvement planning is to be carried out.
CMMS and cost
Undoubtedly, cost is a major aspect that you must take into account while planning to integrate CMMS and GIS systems. The various costs that you might have to incur will usually include the following-
- Cost of implementation
If you have to migrate from the current system to the new one, how many Benjamins do you have to shell out?
- Cost of software
This cost is relative and will entirely depend on the system that you are planning to implement. The cost will also depend on the number of assets you have how many of them you want for maintenance and require to be fixed.
Alternatively, the cost might also depend on the size of the organization. The cost may not be the same for all business types.
- Cost of maintenance
This is the recurring cost for maintenance and support. Few tasks that attract expense include cost of software upgrades, and customization to name few.
- Cost of hardware
Depending on the type of server you require, you will have to shell out money whether it is a dedicated server or any other type.
- Record upkeep and compatibility
It goes without saying that when you integrate both the systems, you will have to edit, delete, add, update, read, create, decompose, merge or combine, and split records and operations. How compatible are both the systems will also determine the overall cost.
Regardless of the type of solution you are opting for, remember, even if you have to shell out few extra dollars, it is worth the expense you incur keeping in mind your long term benefits and objectives. You need to look at the larger picture that will perhaps yield better results for you and your business.