CMMS (GMAO): how to choose maintenance software for your plant or sites

A stopped production line costs more than any software. Yet in many Algerian plants and sites, maintenance is still tracked on paper, in a notebook or in Excel: things are fixed when they break, the history lives in the team leader's head, and spare parts run out at the worst moment. That is exactly what a CMMS solves.

Disclosure: INVENTCORP builds custom maintenance, asset tracking and spare parts systems, especially for industry and energy.

What a CMMS does

Function	What it changes
Asset register	Every machine, vehicle or tool has a record, a location and a history
Preventive maintenance	Work is scheduled by calendar, running hours or meter, instead of waiting for failure
Work orders	Each job is requested, assigned, done and closed with time spent and parts used
Spare parts	Parts stock is linked to work orders, with alerts before stockouts
Indicators	Availability, mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), cost per asset

Signs you need a CMMS

• The same failures come back and nobody can find what was done last time.
• Preventive maintenance is planned on paper but rarely done.
• A repair waits for a part everyone thought was in stock.
• You do not know which assets cost the most in repairs.
• A quality, HSE or customer audit asks for a history you cannot provide.

Market options

Option	Who it suits	Watch out for
ERP maintenance module (SAP PM, IBM Maximo)	Large groups, heavy industry, energy	Powerful but heavy to deploy; often weak for offline field work
Dedicated CMMS (specialised software, Odoo Maintenance)	Mid-sized plants and sites	Check the mobile app, languages and link to your stock
Excel	Very small asset base	No reliable scheduling or usable history
Custom system	Remote sites, specific processes, existing ERP to feed	Needs a partner able to deliver and maintain

When a custom system fits better

• Technicians work on remote sites (oilfields, quarries, stations) with weak or no connectivity, and must open and close jobs offline.
• Tools and equipment move between sites. Asset tracking, by barcode or RFID, must link to maintenance so you know where each tool is and when it is due.
• You already have an ERP but its maintenance module is not used in the field. A simple technician app feeds the ERP instead of replacing it.
• HSE or customer requirements are specific: certificates, regulatory inspections, job reports for contractors' clients.

How to make a CMMS project work

1. List your critical assets first, not the whole fleet.
2. Define three or four preventive plans on those assets.
3. Give technicians a mobile tool simpler than paper, or they will go back to the notebook.
4. Link spare parts from the start.
5. Track availability and MTBF monthly to prove the gain.

What we do at INVENTCORP

We build custom maintenance and asset tracking systems: offline mobile apps for technicians, tracking of tools and equipment between sites (including RFID), spare parts stock linked to work orders, and connection to your ERP, with reports ready for HSE and customer audits.