Western Michigan University: Modernizing Work Order Management Systems

About the client

Western Michigan University (WMU) is a public research institute that is divided into five campuses in and near Kalamazoo, Michigan. It has a total size of more than 6 million square feet, over 16,000 students, and more than 120 buildings. WMU also holds the prestigious Carnegie Classification as a higher research institute.

Challenges

The client was facing issues with its overall maintenance management strategy. It had a reactive approach rather than a proactive one. In fact, the number of reactive work orders was almost three times more than the scheduled preventive maintenance ones.

Addressing the maintenance requirements of such a vast educational facility required cutting-edge asset management software that could help the university to timely respond to requests.

Solution

Being a partner of TMA Systems for more than 25 years, the university was more than willing to adopt its latest solutions. While WebTMA had always helped the university achieve its targets, an update would take its operations to the next level. To this effect, the new WebTMA7 solution provided the university with a revolutionary work order management system. It allowed facility managers to easily create both reactive work orders and preventive maintenance work orders that could be seamlessly assigned to the appropriate personnel and teams.

WebTMA7 also provided real-time visibility and tracking of the status and progress of work orders. This gave facility managers more scope to make data-driven decisions. The simple and easy-to-use interface of the software minimized the learning curve for new users. They could use WebTMA7 on various devices (both desktop and mobile) as per their respective roles and requirements across the sprawling campus space.

Finally, the comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities helped track KPIs such as costs, work order histories, and completion times – all of which further optimized maintenance processes and ensured the move towards a more proactive facility management program.

When it comes to TMA Systems, you can talk to them about your particular needs and they’re always willing to listen to your suggestions, which oftentimes make it into the product.

- Erik Dantes, Senior IT Director of Facility Management, Western Michigan University

‍Benefits

The integration of WebTMA7 into WMU’s infrastructure had a marked benefit on the previously oversized number of reactive work orders. Following the software implementation, there was nearly a three-fold reduction in reactive work orders compared to the pre-WebTMA7 environment. Besides, WebTMA7 also provided several other marked benefits that were critical to establishing a truly proactive maintenance management program for the university:

Enhanced Asset Performance

Improved work order management maximized the life span and performance of the university’s assets while reducing unplanned downtime through timely maintenance.

Increased Efficiency

Task prioritization became more effective and work order creation, assignment, and tracking got more streamlined.

Ease of Access

Personnel were able to access data quickly and easily through a centralized server (from both mobile and desktop devices).

Seamless Scalability

WebTMA7’s adaptability in response to the university’s growth and evolving needs helped in handling additional assets, users, and work order complexity.

Superior Support Services

TMA Systems’s hands-on support and client management specialists were always available to help facility management teams in addressing issues and queries at the earliest, which further increased the understanding and trust between both groups.

"I have seen some other CMMS maintenance management software solutions, and it makes me thankful that we actually do have TMA and that it works so well for us."

- Erik Dantes, Senior IT Director of Facility Management, Western Michigan University

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The TMA Systems Distinction

For over three decades, TMA Systems has solidified its standing as a premier provider of cutting-edge Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solutions. Our advanced offerings not only meet but consistently surpass the diverse facility maintenance needs across sectors such as education, healthcare, corporate, government, life sciences, food and beverage, chemicals, energy, transportation, manufacturing, and retail. TMA Systems’ global footprint encompasses more than 1,650 clients, 100,000 facilities, and 430,000 users. With unparalleled services boasting a CSAT rating higher than 99%, WebTMA is unequivocally the preferred solution for facility professionals worldwide.

TMA Systems stands as an industry leader, providing indispensable solutions that redefine excellence in facility maintenance management across sectors.