Pickens Technical College Facilities Maintenance Technician Pathway: Computerized Maintenance Management Systems

You’re learning everything you need to know at Pickens’ Facilities Maintenance Technician program to be successful in an entry-level position. From there, the implication is, you can use your skills and the lessons you learned at Pickens to advance your career and learn new skills that can help you after graduation. As the industry shifts to more technology-based programs and high-tech tools, you have the flexibility to move with it if you start to invest in learning how those technologies will affect your industry now.

You’re already familiar with several new innovations in the Facilities Maintenance Technician field, and you’ve likely heard of computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and how they are already changing the world of facilities maintenance.

While these devices make it easier for property managers to request repairs and track progress, they could also make your life easier as a facilities maintenance tech.

Executing Maintenance Work and Managing Asset History

CMMS devices put work orders, work history, real-time messaging, and more into one easy-to-use program. Building managers and owners (could be you someday) love CMMSs because they put all the information needed in one place. CMMS is also improving by integrating analytics software to provide CMMS users with real-time operations data.

What this means for new facilities maintenance technicians is that they too will be plugged into this software in many work environments. You’ll have to learn how to use your employer’s system and eventually how to improve operations using CMMS. That’s how you get promoted.

CMMS is used primarily for commercial properties. Stakeholders want to know their factory is running smoothly without any inefficiencies or unsafe conditions. When a problem shows itself, they need their maintenance teams to respond quickly, without much prompting from the managers or owners. In order for manufacturing facilities, for example, to run smoothly, maintenance technicians need to respond to issues in real-time. CMMS helps them do that.

Preventative Maintenance

In addition to the ability to consolidate repair issues into one device, CMMS, using analytics that analyze real-time data on machine activity, can be used to schedule and execute preventative maintenance, which property and business owners love because their equipment runs better for longer and they save a ton of money by paying you to maintain their equipment rather than fix it when it breaks.

For manufacturing plants and distribution centers, preventative maintenance based on real-time data is crucial. They can’t afford to shut down production or shipping because they can’t get a part in until next week. Using CMMS technology, building owners can commission maintenance techs like you to perform regular tasks that keep their machinery and facilities up and running the way they’re supposed to.

Is Industry Changing?

I’d say that yes, the world of professional facilities maintenance technicians is changing, but not more so than many other industries that are being disrupted by new technology. If anything, CMMS is changing the industry for the better by making your new career easier.