Machinery and Maintenance Software: What to Ask Before You Choose

Timely servicing of a machine usually depends on one person's memory or a notebook: which machine was serviced when, when the next service is due and how many kilometers or hours it has run. As the number of machines grows, those details get lost. If you want machinery management software, ask every option these questions. The answers below are based on Afrandeh maintenance.

1. Is each machine's data recorded in full?

Code, type, model, capacity, year of manufacture, dimensions, purchase and commissioning dates, manufacturer, status, hourly cost, serial number or plate, warranty start and end and consumption data such as kilowatts, current and motor speed. Each machine also belongs to a machine group.

2. Can services be defined and versioned?

Each service has a description, an inspection period and, when needed, the kilometers or distance required for it. What matters is that changing a service does not erase earlier records: in Afrandeh a service has a revision number and a date, and a "new version" creates a fresh revision.

3. Are the maintenance plans for each group and each machine separate?

For each machine group you define which activities are performed in each inspection period, and for each machine the inspection period and services are set with date, time and duration. The "calculate service dates" button builds the dates from the start date and the calendar.

4. Is service completion recorded and reportable?

The start and end date and time of the service, the personnel who did it and a "this service is done" mark are recorded. A report of all services is available with filters for date range and personnel code.

5. Is kilometer usage recorded separately?

For each machine, the date, previous and current kilometers, distance covered and duration are recorded, along with the project and cost center and the option to transfer to a project.

6. Are faults classified?

Machine faults are defined in a tree of groups and subgroups with a code and description, so every fault is recorded in one consistent form.

Where this module sits in Afrandeh

Maintenance belongs to Afrandeh's "Production and operations" group, next to quality control, production and logistics, and works on the same unified database. If your goal is to understand the concept of machinery management, see the introduction to machinery management at Fekrgostar.

Ask before choosing

• Are machine data, warranty and consumption recorded in one record?
• Can a service be defined by both time period and kilometers?
• Does changing a service keep earlier records?
• Is each service recorded with personnel and time, and reportable?

To review your machinery and servicing routine in a short session, request a demo.