CMMS vs spreadsheets and WhatsApp: what changes

Point by point

	Group chat + spreadsheet	onCMMS
Reporting a problem	A message to the group, lost among forty others	A request with a photo, a status and an owner; also by QR code, no account needed
Knowing what is pending	You have to ask	A dashboard with pending and overdue work
Assigning work	A name in the chat, hopefully seen	A work order assigned to a technician, who is notified by email
History of an asset	Search the chat, or someone's memory	The asset sheet, with every intervention
Preventive maintenance	A calendar reminder, postponed	A work order generated on the day it is due
Time and cost	Nobody writes it down	Time entries on the work order, immutable, with labor cost
Evidence	Loose photos on somebody's phone	A PDF report with checklist, photos and signatures
Working from the floor	The spreadsheet is in the office	Everything on the technician's phone
When someone leaves	The knowledge leaves with them	Everything stays written down
Cost	Apparently zero	From $0; $49 a month for a whole small company
Time to set up	Immediate	An afternoon: import assets, print QR labels

What spreadsheets do well

Let us be fair: a spreadsheet is unbeatable for a list that only one person touches and for odd calculations. If you have twenty assets, one technician and no documentation obligations, you probably do not need anything else. The problem is not the spreadsheet. It is the spreadsheet shared between several people, with a phone in between.

Where the usual system breaks

When the problem is spotted by someone who is not on the maintenance team.
When you have to prove that an inspection was done, and when.
When the same machine has had three breakdowns and nobody noticed.
When there are two sites and each keeps its own sheet.
When the technician is at the machine and the spreadsheet is in the office.
When the person who kept the sheet goes on leave.

Moving over: what you bring with you

The spreadsheet is not wasted work. It is your import file.

Export your asset list to CSV and import it from Settings. The import creates the missing sites, locations and categories and gives you a row-by-row report.
If you kept a log of past repairs, import it as work order history, also from CSV, so each asset starts with its past.
Print the QR labels and stick them on the equipment. From that moment anyone can report a problem by scanning.
Set up the preventive maintenance plans you used to keep as calendar reminders. They generate work orders on their own from now on.

The CSV import and export screen in onCMMS settings — Import and export live in the same place: assets and work order history come in, and everything goes out, as CSV.

Compared with other CMMS tools

There are very powerful and very complete CMMS platforms, with valued stock, purchasing, ERP integration and predictive maintenance. They are better than this one if you have someone to implement them and someone to maintain them. onCMMS is at the other end: it covers the complete loop of corrective and preventive maintenance, it is up and running in an afternoon, and it is designed to be used from a technician's phone. That is the whole difference, and it is deliberate.

Can we start with requests only and leave preventive maintenance for later?

Yes, and it is the most common path. With the assets loaded and the QR labels on the equipment you have already won half the battle. Preventive maintenance is set up once the team is used to the tool.

Can we go back to a spreadsheet if it does not work out?

Yes. Everything exports to CSV from inside the application, and on request we hand you a complete export with all tables and files, photos and signatures included. Your data is yours.

Do we lose our history when we switch?

No. Assets and past work orders are imported from CSV, so the asset history starts with what you already had.

What does it cost compared with the spreadsheet?

The Free plan costs nothing and covers 2 users and 25 assets. The Workshop plan is $49 a month for the whole company, with 5 users and 250 assets. The spreadsheet is free to buy and expensive to run: the cost is the inspection nobody can prove and the breakdown nobody saw coming.

Screenshots show the current interface, which is in Spanish. An English interface is on the roadmap; read where it stands.

Keep reading

What is a CMMS, and when does a small business need one? A CMMS is software that tracks assets, maintenance requests, work orders and preventive maintenance. What it solves, what it does not, and when a small business needs one. Free CMMS software, no catch: what is included and who it is for The onCMMS Free plan: 2 users, 25 assets and the complete maintenance loop, with no card and no expiry date. And what happens the day it gets too small. From sign-up to your first closed work order, in one afternoon Step by step: create the account, set up sites and users, import assets from CSV, print QR labels, close the first work order on the phone and schedule preventive tasks.

Try it with your own assets

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