6 Ways CMMS/ Maintenance Software Can Improve Vendor Management

Replacing equipment that fails unexpectedly can be very expensive not only in terms of costs incurred but also in lost revenue and opportunity cost. This makes it crucial that maintenance is properly done so as to extend the equipment’s operational life as much as possible. Effectively managing maintenance spare parts and supplies is one of the ways to ensure this.

The lowest cost supplier may not be the best and the supplier of the highest quality parts may not be the best because of high costs or their ability to deliver when you need the parts and supplies. You need to have some way of keeping vendor information and tracking what you buy from them. Most CMMS/ maintenance management software also help you manage vendor information for equipment spares and other maintenance supplies.

Six Ways CMMS/ Maintenance Software Can Make Vendor Management Easier

1. They can store information on the vendor such as whom to order parts from, who provides maintenance on equipment you purchased, whom to contact if you have problems with the vendor and so on.
2. They can allow you to rate the vendor so that you can select the best vendor when you need to order parts or supplies.
3. They have reports where you can calculate how much you spent on different vendors over the year. Sometimes consolidating purchases with particular vendors can get you better prices and service.
4. If they have a purchase order module in the software you should be able to link vendor information with purchases and see how they are doing in terms of costs, quality and delivery on time.
5. They can help you identify two or three vendors for particular parts and supplies. This may not always be possible especially for specialized parts for special equipment. Having alterative vendors for different parts makes you less dependent on a particular vendor – this can become important if vendors decide to raise prices, part quality drops or deliveries keep getting delayed.
6. If you decide to drop a vendor you can check what equipment they supplied, parts & spares they supply as well as any outstanding purchase orders. This will make it easier to identify a substitute vendor without creating operational problems when transitioning to a new vendor.

CMMS/ Maintenance Software Selection Guide

If you currently do not have a suitable CMMS/ maintenance software package, you may be find our maintenance management software selection guide helpful. It gives you a checklist of different selection criteria that you can use to identify the right CMMS/ maintenance software for your needs. There are hundreds of packages available suitable for different requirements – using the guide can help you narrow the field and select the right one for your organization.