--- title: CMMS Meaning and Role in Improving Your Business description: CMMS helps you stay on top of maintenance. Don’t know what it is? Read on to find out about CMMS meaning and role in your business. image: https://www.cmmsinsight.com/hubfs/cmms%20meaning.png --- [![CMMS Insight](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/hubfs/CMMS%20Insight%20Logo.svg "CMMS Insight")](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/) # CMMS Insight Blog ## [CMMS Meaning and Role in Improving Your Business](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/cmms-meaning-and-role-in-improving-your-business) ** Jun 19, 2019 2:10:31 PM / by [CMMS Insight Staff](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/author/cmms-insight-staff) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) The work of your maintenance team is never done. From routine maintenance checkups to unplanned downtime to outside work orders, they have a lot on their plate. So they need a system that works just as hard as they do. For that, you need CMMS. If you don’t know about CMMS meaning and the role it plays in your business, you’re putting your team at a disadvantage. Here’s what it is and what it does to strengthen your team, one order at a time. # CMMS Meaning: What Is It? [Computerized maintenance management software (CMMS)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/) is a software designed to simplify maintenance management. It was originally made as a punch-card system in the 1960s and exclusively managed work orders. Technically, it still manages work orders, but it’s gotten more sophisticated since the 60s. Rather than simply tracking work orders, CMMS helps you [streamline the management](https://selecthub.com/cmms/what-is-cmms/) of your inventory and maintenance team, all in one handy tool. It’s a combination of inventory management, scheduling, and tracking work orders, gathered in one place to make it easier for managers. ## What Is It Used For? So, [what is CMMS](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/what-is-a-computerized-maintenance-management-system-cmms) used for? Quite a lot, actually. Let’s say, for example, that your maintenance team needs to schedule routine downtime. CMMS can help them do that. On a broader level, it allows managers to take a bird’s-eye view of the whole fleet to see what machines are scheduled for downtime, who’s scheduled to handle it, and when it will occur. This also makes CMMS a great tool to track work orders, since managers and maintenance teams alike can see work orders for the whole fleet. They can also see a record of each individual machine’s previous work orders. This way, they can spot any recurring problems with a machine. A CMMS also allows your maintenance team to see machines and resources that aren’t in use. Let’s say, for example, that they wanted to see how many items are in storage. CMMS lets them do that. If they wanted to see what needed to be ordered, they could do that too. Most CMMS programs also maintain an unchangeable record of a machine’s prior maintenance. That way, if a manager needed to run an audit on a machine, or if there was an accident and subsequent insurance claim, they could easily reference old information with the assurance that it wasn’t changed later. ## Features and Specialized Types CMMS has evolved to meet the needs of the modern workforce. As such, there are [three main types](https://selecthub.com/cmms/what-is-cmms/) of CMMS specialized to serve different markets: 1. Enterprise asset management 2. Computer-aided facilities management 3. Asset performance management [Enterprise asset management software](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-enterprise-asset-management-software), or EAM software, is meant to extend the life of your equipment through a variety of advanced analytics. Computer-aided facilities management software, or CAFM software, helps you plan and manage every aspect of your facility. Some CAFM systems, for example, allow you to remotely control the thermostat and lights in your building. Asset performance management software is the next stage of EAM software. The idea is to improve the availability and reliability of assets while mitigating costs and risks associated with those assets. Once you know CMMS meaning and purpose, the real question is why your team isn’t using it yet. Topics: [CMMS](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/topic/cmms), [Computerized Maintenance Management System](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/topic/computerized-maintenance-management-system), [CMMS Software](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/topic/cmms-software), [Facility Management](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/topic/facility-management), [Asset Management](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/topic/asset-management) #### Written by [CMMS Insight Staff](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/author/cmms-insight-staff) ### Subscribe to Email Updates - Recent - Popular - Categories ### Lists by Topic - [Facility Management (43)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/facility-management) - [CMMS (37)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/cmms) - [Asset Management (25)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/asset-management) - [CMMS Software (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/cmms-software) - [Computerized Maintenance Management System (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/computerized-maintenance-management-system) - [Preventative Maintenance (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/preventative-maintenance) - [Safety Management (14)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/safety-management) - [Corrective Maintenance (8)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/corrective-maintenance) - [Metrics (3)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/metrics) - [Preventative Maintenance Software (3)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/preventative-maintenance-software) - [Oil & Gas (1)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/oil-gas) [see all](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/cmms-meaning-and-role-in-improving-your-business#) ### Posts by Topic - [Facility Management (43)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/facility-management) - [CMMS (37)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/cmms) - [Asset Management (25)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/asset-management) - [CMMS Software (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/cmms-software) - [Computerized Maintenance Management System (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/computerized-maintenance-management-system) - [Preventative Maintenance (24)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/preventative-maintenance) - [Safety Management (14)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/safety-management) - [Corrective Maintenance (8)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/corrective-maintenance) - [Metrics (3)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/metrics) - [Preventative Maintenance Software (3)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/preventative-maintenance-software) - [Oil & Gas (1)](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/tag/oil-gas) [See all](https://www.cmmsinsight.com/blog/cmms-meaning-and-role-in-improving-your-business#) ### Recent Posts # About Us The CMMS Insight team are hard at work looking for ways to help you improve the technologies and processes related to Maintenance Management. 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