Overview of Custodian™ CMMS for New Users

Q: “What does Custodian™ CMMS do?”

A: Essentially, Custodian™ CMMS does three things:

  1. Custodian™ CMMS allows you to build a database of your company’s assets; like equipment and machinery, computers and other devices, even licenses and certifications, Everything your company relies on to do business can be cataloged in your Custodian™ CMMS database.
  2. Custodian™ CMMS makes it easy to schedule regular PM (preventive maintenance), inspections, license or certification renewals, and other recurring tasks. The PM schedule sends out reminders by email or SMS-text.
  3. Custodian™ CMMS provides a fast and efficient way for people in your company to report issues – and for supervisors to deploy reactive maintenance – using their computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

Custodian™ CMMS was created with the following maintenance management goals in mind:

  • Improve operational efficiency
  • Reduce repair costs
  • Increase up-time and productivity
  • Extend the service-life of essential equipment
  • Simplify communications between end-users, supervisors, and repair technicians
  • Provide reporting and business intelligence
custodian CMMS app mock-up for desktop and mobile

Q: “I use Outlook and Excel for maintenance and reminders. Why would I switch to Custodian™?”

A: Using Custodian™ CMMS, instead of spreadsheets and calendars, ensures maintenance processes stay in place and details remain accessible – even when staff changes.

No doubt – there are some exceptional maintenance and facilities managers who have their own systems of spreadsheets and calendars. But what happens when those managers go on vacation, fall ill, or find new employment? All their knowledge leaves with them – the procedures, the schedules, the contacts, the repair history – all the company’s maintenance details are at risk.

And even if they manage to train somebody new and pass on their knowledge – what happens when the replacement leaves?

image representing staff turnover.

Custodian™ CMMS keeps a complete log of maintenance details – service history, contacts, documents, completed work orders, and future scheduled tasks – all in one place, on-line, 24/7.

Using Custodian™ CMMS, instead of spreadsheets and calendars, will ensure your company’s maintenance details remain accessible – especially during the transition between outgoing and new staff.

  1. Low cost. We designed Custodian™ CMMS to be the most affordable turnkey CMMS software on the market.
  2. Easy to use. The Custodian™ CMMS workflow and user interface are intuitive, so you can get up-and-running quickly.
  3. Mobile friendly. Custodian™ is a fully responsive web-based application; so technicians and end-users can access everything on the go.

Before we get into the process of setting up Custodian™ for your company, we’ve answered a few common questions about our CMMS:

What details does Custodian™ CMMS keep track of?

Asset details could include things like manufacturer, model, and serial numbers, descriptions, purchase date and cost. Custodian™ also tracks the status of each asset. Where is it located? Is it in use? Is it broken, old, obsolete? As part of the setup process, you will customize Custodian™ by entering the details that are important to you.

Does Custodian™ CMMS automatically track the location of a assets?

No. Custodian is not a real-time locator system (RTLS) and is not intended for tracking mobile assets. Custodian™ keeps track of fixed, stationary assets. When an asset is put into service – “deployed” – you define the location. You can always re-locate an asset to a new location.

What if I have more than one location?

Your company can have many Locations in Custodian™ CMMS – and each location is divided into Sites. Sites can be further broken down into Areas. How you define these Locations, Sites, and Areas is up to you.

Locations

A Location can be as large as an entire city, state, or region – or as small as a single building. Larger companies will probably segment their operations across several Locations, while smaller businesses might only utilize one Location. Setup as few or as many Locations as you need for your organization.

Sites

There can be many Sites with a Location. You might think of a Site as sub-location. If you have chosen to designate your city as a Location, then a Site would be a facility within that city. For example, your company has operations in both Toronto and Winnipeg. You would setup Custodian™ CMMS like this:

  • Location 1: Toronto
    • Site A: Factory
    • Site B: Warehouse
    • Site C: Showroom
  • Location 2: Winnipeg
    • Site A: Head Office
    • Site B: Showroom

Areas

Sites are often large, like a building or cluster of buildings.Using Areas allows you to narrow down places within a Site. Areas can be specific, like “Room 810”, or descriptive, like “Main Entrance”.

This hierarchy of Locations>Sites>Areas is essential to all functions of Custodian™ CMMS.

Overview of Locations, Sites, Areas, and Assets in Custodian CMMS
A company can have many locations. Each location can be broken down into multiple sites; and each site into multiple areas.

What is Issue Reporting?

The Custodian™ process includes a simple and fast way for end-users to notify management of an asset that requires attention. From their mobile phone, any user can click “Submit Issue” to report a problem with an asset at their precise location. They can include text/photo details, and assign a severity level to the issue. Submitting an issue triggers a notification for supervisors – who can then dispatch a repair technician accordingly. This reactive maintenance process greatly improves overall mean-time to repair (MTTR) and is key to reducing repair costs.

What about Preventative Maintenance?

Regular, recurring maintenance can be scheduled for any asset with flexible frequencies; days, weeks, months, years, or any multiple thereof.

Who uses Custodian™ CMMS?

There are three levels of Custodian™ CMMS user, each with different roles.

  • Admin: Can access/edit any system information, such as creating or relocating assets, setting up preventative maintenance schedules, etc. Admins assign Techs to perform maintenance.
  • User: Can submit issues and can view asset details.
  • Tech: Can view/update asset and issue details that are assigned to them. Updates must be acknowledged (approved) by an Admin.

Where do I start?

registering for your free custodian™ CMMS-LITE account.