What to Look for When Choosing Maintenance Management Software

Choosing a maintenance management system (CMMS) is about more than picking “a screen that logs faults.” This article lists practical questions to ask when evaluating a CMMS.

1. Is there real-time stock/material integration?

Does material added to a work order get deducted from stock automatically, or is it handled manually in a separate system? If material cost isn’t reflected automatically in maintenance cost, you’ll never see the true maintenance cost. We detailed this relationship in how to calculate maintenance cost.

2. Is mobile access available from the shop floor?

Can a technician on the floor reach an equipment’s maintenance history or open work order? QR code or barcode-based equipment identification eliminates time spent searching for records.

3. Can preventive maintenance be triggered by counters?

Date-based reminders alone aren’t enough — for heavily used equipment, triggering should also be possible based on run-hour/output counters. We covered this in our preventive maintenance checklist article.

4. Is reporting deep enough to support decisions?

Does it answer which machine fails most often, which maintenance job cost the most, and how much time staff spend on maintenance work? Can it calculate reliability metrics like MTBF/MTTR? See how to calculate MTBF and MTTR.

5. Does it offer machine integration (PLC/Modbus, OEE)?

A system that can automatically detect when production stops and open a downtime record removes the need to enter counter data manually. This is a meaningful time saver, especially in multi-shift, high-intensity plants.

6. How long does rollout take, and how is your data migrated?

How will your existing stock cards, machines and maintenance definitions be brought into the system — manually, or via a bulk spreadsheet import? Ask how long rollout typically takes from kickoff to going live; it varies by plant size, but you should get a clear range.

7. Does pricing scale with the number of users/machines?

Some systems charge per user, which can make cost unpredictable as your team grows. Fixed plans with unlimited users/machines give growing teams a more predictable cost.

How does bakimo measure up against these criteria?

bakimo offers stock integration, mobile/QR access, counter-based preventive maintenance, MTBF/MTTR reporting, PLC/Modbus machine integration, and plans with unlimited users/machines. See all features on our Features page and plan details on our Pricing page.

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