Why It Is Important to Manage Facility Contractors in Your CMMS and Not in a Silo System
Effective facility management is crucial for maintaining an organisation's safe, efficient, and operational spaces. This includes managing contractors vital in routine maintenance, repairs, and specialised services. Proper contractor management helps ensure facilities run smoothly, comply with regulations, and meet operational requirements. To achieve these goals, managing contractors within a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS)—especially one with functionality to manage contractor compliance, inductions, and onsite check-ins—offers significant advantages in efficiency, communication, and cost control compared to siloed systems. Pinnacle Asset Easy eAM provides full CMMS functionality and comprehensive contractor management features, helping organisations move away from siloed contractor management systems and adopt a more holistic, integrated approach to facility management.
Traditionally, many organisations have used siloed systems to manage contractors, often relying on disparate tools like spreadsheets, paper documents, or separate software applications. However, a more effective and efficient approach is managing facility contractors directly within a Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS). This article outlines the reasons why it is crucial to manage contractors in your CMMS rather than in a silo system.
- Centralised Information Access
The most significant advantage of managing facility contractors in a CMMS is the ability to centralise all related information in one platform. A CMMS is a centralised database where all contractor-related details, including contracts, service history, contact information, performance reviews, and invoices, are stored. By consolidating this information into a single system, facility managers and other relevant stakeholders can access real-time data at any time, from anywhere. This centralisation reduces the risk of fragmented or missing information, which is common when using siloed systems.
- Enhanced Collaboration and Communication
Managing contractors through a CMMS improves communication across departments. In a siloed system, information about contractors is often limited to one department or team, which can lead to delays, misunderstandings, and missed opportunities for collaboration. For example, the maintenance team may not have visibility into the procurement department's contractor selection process. In contrast, procurement may not have insight into the maintenance team's satisfaction with a contractor's performance.
However, a CMMS provides a single point of contact for all teams involved, ensuring everyone is on the same page. When everyone has access to the same data, cross-departmental communication is improved, and miscommunication is reduced.
- Improved Efficiency and Streamlined Processes
A CMMS automates and streamlines many manual processes that are typically time-consuming in siloed systems. Tasks like creating work orders, scheduling contractor visits, tracking job completion, and managing invoices can all be done within the CMMS. This automation reduces the administrative burden on staff and ensures that tasks are completed on time.
For instance, a facility manager can schedule a contractor to perform maintenance work on an asset and automatically assign them a work order, ensuring no skipped steps. In siloed systems, these processes would often need to be handled manually, leading to inefficiencies and possible errors.
- Better Contractor Performance Monitoring
Managing contractors through a CMMS enables facility managers to track contractor performance over time. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as job completion rates, work quality, response times, and contract compliance can be monitored and analyzed. Managers can assess which contractors provide the best value and service by having this data in one system.
In contrast, a siloed system makes it more challenging to analyse contractor performance. Evaluating trends or identifying improvement areas may be difficult without a centralised view. CMMS platforms typically include reporting and analytics features that allow managers to generate reports on contractor performance, helping them make informed decisions when renewing or terminating contracts.
- Cost Control and Budget Management
Managing contractors in a CMMS also provides better control over costs. Many CMMS platforms allow for real-time tracking of contractor expenses, enabling facility managers to maintain better control over the facility's budget. By keeping contractor invoices, job costs, and payment schedules in the CMMS, managers can ensure they stay within budget while identifying cost-saving opportunities.
In siloed systems, tracking contractor-related expenses can be cumbersome and prone to errors, leading to financial discrepancies. Integrating contractor management into a CMMS helps eliminate these risks and ensures that economic data is accurate and accessible.
- Compliance and Regulatory Assurance
Facility managers must often ensure contractors comply with various regulations, such as safety standards, environmental requirements, and industry certifications. A CMMS allows you to store and track contractor compliance documentation, including insurance certificates, safety training records, and licenses. This makes it easier to ensure contractors are qualified to work on your premises.
This compliance information might be scattered across different departments or files in a siloed system, making it challenging to track contractor credentials. A CMMS provides a streamlined process for maintaining and verifying compliance records, helping you avoid penalties or legal issues.
- Risk Mitigation
Managing contractors within a CMMS helps mitigate the risk of poor contractor performance or missed deadlines. Facility managers can proactively address potential issues before they escalate by tracking contractor contracts, due dates, and performance metrics. Moreover, a CMMS provides visibility into contractor qualifications, ensuring that only reputable contractors are hired.
In contrast, siloed systems make it harder to identify and address risks promptly. Without proper visibility and tracking, issues such as missed maintenance appointments, unqualified contractors, or safety violations could go unnoticed until it's too late.
- Scalability and Flexibility
As your business grows, so does the need for contractor management. A CMMS provides scalability, allowing you to add new contractors, work orders, and locations as necessary. Whether expanding your facilities, adding new assets, or hiring more contractors, a CMMS can easily accommodate these changes.
Siloed systems, on the other hand, may require manual adjustments or additional software to scale, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. A CMMS is designed to grow your business, ensuring that contractor management is always efficient and organised.
- Maintenance Plan
A comprehensive maintenance plan is the backbone of effective facility management. In a CMMS, contractors can seamlessly integrate into the organisation's preventative maintenance strategy. When contractors are managed within the CMMS, scheduling and assigning maintenance tasks per the facility's needs is more effortless. This includes setting up recurring tasks and aligning contractor availability with the planned maintenance schedule. By avoiding the siloed approach, where maintenance and contractor management may operate in separate systems, facility managers can ensure a more coordinated and timely approach to preventative maintenance, reducing downtime and improving asset lifespan.
- Work Order Management
Managing work orders is essential to ensuring that maintenance tasks are completed on time and to a high standard. Managing work orders across different platforms or manually tracking contractor assignments can lead to inefficiencies and delays in a siloed system. A CMMS streamlines this process by allowing work orders to be created, assigned, and tracked within the same system where contractor information is stored. Facility managers can assign work directly to contractors, monitor the progress of each job, and ensure that contractors have access to all the necessary information to complete tasks efficiently. Additionally, tracking job completion and performance in real-time helps identify areas for improvement and ensures accountability.
- Contractor Induction Management
Safety and compliance are paramount when managing contractors in a facility. Before contractors can begin work, they must undergo an induction process to ensure they are familiar with the organisation's safety protocols and policies. A CMMS provides a centralised platform to manage contractor induction records, ensuring that only qualified and compliant contractors can perform work. This includes tracking certifications, insurance, safety training, and other required documentation. In a siloed system, tracking this information across different platforms can be cumbersome and prone to errors. With a CMMS, induction management is streamlined, reducing the risk of hiring unqualified contractors and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.
- Request for Quotes (RFQ)
Obtaining accurate and competitive pricing is crucial when hiring contractors for specific tasks. The Request for Quotes (RFQ) process can be easily managed within a CMMS, allowing facility managers to send out RFQs, receive quotes, and track the decision-making process all in one platform. Using a CMMS, managers can store RFQs from multiple contractors, compare their pricing, and ensure they make cost-effective choices. This centralisation of RFQ management ensures that no quotes are missed and all proposals are evaluated based on the same criteria. In contrast, siloed systems or manual processes can make it challenging to track RFQs, leading to missed opportunities for better pricing or more qualified contractors.
- Invoice Management
Managing contractor invoices is critical to keeping a facility's finances in order. A CMMS allows facility managers to track, approve, and process contractor invoices with completed work. With a CMMS, invoices can be directly linked to specific work orders, making it easier to validate that work has been completed according to the agreed-upon terms before payment is processed. This system also allows for automated reminders and alerts regarding pending invoices, reducing delays and discrepancies in payment. In siloed systems, managing contractor invoices is often fragmented and prone to human error, leading to delayed payments or overpayments. By centralising invoice management in a CMMS, facility managers can maintain more accurate financial records and streamline the billing process.
Conclusion
Managing facility contractors in a CMMS rather than a silo system offers significant advantages in terms of efficiency, communication, cost control, compliance, and risk mitigation. A CMMS ensures facility management runs smoothly and effectively by centralising contractor data, improving cross-departmental collaboration, and streamlining processes. It provides the tools necessary to monitor contractor performance, control costs, and maintain compliance—all in one system. With these benefits in mind, it's clear that adopting a CMMS for contractor management is a strategic decision that can drive long-term success for your facility operations.
Pinnacle Asset Easy eAM offers advanced capabilities that seamlessly empower facilities to manage contractors within a comprehensive CMMS platform. With features like contractor compliance tracking, induction management, and onsite check-ins, Pinnacle software ensures that contractors are qualified, safe, and aligned with your facility's requirements. By integrating contractor management into a centralised system, Pinnacle helps streamline work order assignments, track performance, and maintain complete visibility over contractor-related tasks. This holistic approach enhances operational efficiency and ensures better communication and compliance across departments. To learn more about how Pinnacle can transform your contractor management process, contact us today to explore how our solutions can help you optimise your facility operations.