Manage Labor Transitions and Retain Professional Knowledge with a CMMS

GOLDSBORO, N.C. - Feb. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- The average age of maintenance employees is at an all-time high in the United States, and when key maintenance employees retire, they take years of critical maintenance information with them.

Baby Boomers have been retiring in large numbers in recent years, and there are not enough highly skilled workers to replace them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a shortage of 21 million skilled workers in the nation by 2020. Companies that ignore these sobering statistics may be putting their future at risk.

Build a Knowledgebase to Retain Maintenance Information

Rather than just focusing on employee retention, companies can make an effort to retain professional skills and knowledge with the help of maintenance control software. A CMMS manages labor transitions by storing important technical knowledge in a repository and making it available to the incoming labor force.

Any good CMMS system will help you build a knowledgebase by documenting the step-by-step procedures technicians must follow to perform a maintenance task safely and efficiently. A CMMS can also document the estimated time it takes to perform a maintenance task, the specific tools and spare parts needed, and the required skill set. Proper maintenance documentation can be time-consuming, but it’s worthwhile because it brings new employees up to speed quickly.

Provide On-the-Job Training

When you hire young, less-skilled employees, allow them to gain practical experience alongside senior employees, especially when equipment breaks down and affects production. Once the repair is completed and the crisis is averted, take the opportunity to discuss the task with the new employee. Evaluate factors such as the following:

•Were the tools and spare parts needed to complete the job available?

•Was the task entered into the maintenance control software properly?

•Were the procedures you followed to carry out the task appropriate or should they be changed?

CMMS software enables maintenance departments to collect and record maintenance processes and gives maintenance technicians quick and easy access to data in a centralized location. Maintenance teams often have to care for assets that are many years old and have a long history of repairs. When a problem arises, it’s helpful to be able to go into a CMMS and see how the problem was resolved in the past. Maintenance control software records repairs so that maintenance workers can view historical records and rely on the experience of others to resolve issues.

A CMMS isn’t merely “nice to have” – in today’s knowledge-based economy, maintenance control software is a necessity. Whether your organization is large or small, maintenance software can keep records of all your assets, schedule and track maintenance tasks, and maintain a historical record of all maintenance work performed so new employees can pick up where key maintenance employees left off.

If you’d like to discover for yourself how a modern CMMS can help your organization retain professional knowledge and manage labor transitions, we invite you to sign up for a free trial ( http://www.dpsi.com/free-trial/ ) of DPSI’s maintenance control software.