Does your maintenance tend to be very reactive? Do you know what you would like to do but unexpected breakdowns and problems get in the way?

Faced with this situation many people reach for a computer maintenance management system (CMMS) in the hope that this will bring some structure to each week The result is often that a CMMS is like a monster sat in the corner of the room which has to be fed constantly with data. A valuable technician may have to be taken out of what is probably a very small group to help administer the day-to-day activities, input data and provide some planning capability. It is such a relief to get to the end of each day and each week, that no one has the energy left to look back at history and analyze patterns and trends to ensure that resources are being put into the most needy areas. This is a real headache which many have to endue stoically!

What if there was another way? What if someone implemented the CMMS for you and managed all of the administration on your behalf? Not only that but they also provided planning support and monthly reports highlighting problem areas and improvement opportunities. The monster would not only be fed but you would also achieve lasting improvements in operational performance. Sounds too good to be true? Well ESS Ltd. has been providing such an award-wining service for several years now across a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, food & drink, pharmaceuticals, timber processing and facilities. The service is called Continuous Maintenance Improvement, CMI. CMI allowed one of our clients, a timber processor, to resolve reliability issues and increase throughput by 46% over a 12 month period and improve annual profits by more than ?200,000. All of this was achieved with no capital investment or change in the maintenance budget.

With our CMI service, the CMMS software works for you in the background and you are able to concentrate on what you do best – the maintenance activities on your plant and equipment. You always have access to your data but we also provide regular reports, analysis and advice - all tailored to your individual requirements. Job input can be directly to the computer system, but we find that many of our clients prefer to work with job cards and a planning board because this provides a visual stimulus to action and a focal point for discussions that is absent when just using a computer screen.

The goal of CMI is to drive your maintenance department to World Class levels by delivering an efficient and effective maintenance service to the plant. The return on investment is provided by the capture of a good data set, maximization of your CMMS software tool and superior maintenance management expertise. The CMI service turns information into knowledge which in turn allows you to turn that knowledge into value. You not only save time, money and worry but also improve your competitive position, regulatory compliance and peace of mind.


Our CMI service engineers and administration staff will capture all relevant asset performance information regarding your manufacturing process, including:

•    Plant Performance
•    Maintenance Management
•    Materials Management
•    Asset Condition Assessment
•    Condition Monitoring

The required overall plant performance and maintenance key performance indicators of your manufacturing process will be made available to your on-site team. Plant specific asset performance data and information can be access on-line and displayed on-site, including pre-configured reports and trends. Manufacturing teams will also have access to various industry specific benchmarks, maintenance best practices, and asset type performance comparisons.

The ESS CMI model typically goes through five steps:

•    Foundation - putting the basic work procedures in place
•    Stabilization – increasing the planned work and stabilizing costs and downtime
•    Transition – moving towards a world class position
•    Optimisation – closing the loop to achieve on-going continuous improvement
•    Integration – allowing the maintenance department to make its full contribution to lean and other company-wide initiatives

Each of these steps is value adding and builds on the previous one. The CMI system is flexible so that you buy just as much support as you need.

 Key benefits to your company of CMI are:

•    A focus on best practices and continuous improvement which is not diverted by daily issues
•    No additional infrastructure is required, therefore there is no additional capital investment
•    Your people are still doing all of the maintenance so there are no industrial relations problems
•    Improved asset performance from access to industry benchmarks and best practices – thereby improving competitive position
•    Internal benchmarking is facilitated by the routine reports and KPI dashboard
•    Compliance is assured (ISO, QS, VDA6, HACCP, etc)

For more information please contact Paul Wheelhouse on 07789 207799 or  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.