Technical asset management and CMMS for local authorities and administrations
Cities, urban & metropolitan areas, regions, départements
Technical asset management (or CMMS), a strategic challenge for local authorities
“A city, conurbation or metropolis means roads and buildings, green spaces and signage, clean water and sewage, heating and vehicles. There may be a port or an airfield, and there are often hundreds of schools. It’s an incredible challenge,” enthuses Frédéric Boutier, Sales Manager at CARL Berger-Levrault.
TAM/CMMS for local authorities involves a profusion of public and private players, specialized technical departments and specialized external service providers. Its smooth operation concerns thousands – at least! – of users, including elected representatives, who need indicators of user satisfaction and value for money.
Everything starts with the territory, and you need to know it inside out.
The first step: knowing your assets with CMMS/ATM
GIS – as in Geographic Information System – offers a visual representation of all geo-referenced information relating to a building or an area. Mapping comprises several “layers” of information, depending on what you want to do with it.
In the eye of the ATM/CMMS, this means, for example, the dimensions of a room (from the metre of carpet to the glass surface), the passage of water pipes under the roadway, readings from sensors of all kinds, the fire hydrants of a town or the location, to the nearest metre, of each of the 70,000 trees, in order to plan their pruning…
…as a tool for comprehensive asset maintenance management
It is on this cartography that the ATM/CMMS tree structures are generated.
Each piece of equipment can be fitted with a label and a QR code, giving access to a complete description of everything an agent, technician or subcontractor may need to know during a visit or intervention. The mobility of the solution, accessible on tablet or smartphone, is a real plus for highly mobile technical departments.
In addition to providing enlightened guidance for operators, monitoring and intervention, and work planning, ATM/CMMS is a tool for managing a sprawling real estate portfolio, with all that this entails in terms of inventories, logistics and traceability. From space utilization to equipment loans, from day-to-day maintenance to major works, it’s a maintenance solution that can do so much more.
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With ATM/CMMS, the local authority brings all its businesses together
The maintenance of a local authority covers all technical professions, to which must be added planning. Connected to the HR tool, CARL Source provides a platform for managing the availability of each technician, as well as their authorizations, permits and skills. The CMMS solution establishes processes that act as safeguards for the local authority, which can be called to account.
In technical departments, it sometimes happens that each trade has its own organizational tool, a notebook or spreadsheet, sometimes even a simple oral ritual! But for the ATM/CMMS tool to reach its full potential, it needs to be adopted by all. That‘s why CARL Source, sophisticated as it is, is so easy to use.
Co-construction, the key to a successful CMMS project:
Since masons don’t care much about green spaces – and vice versa – the tool is able to offer both a common base of information essential to all, and a service-by-service approach. CARL Berger-Levrault‘s consultants focus on this dual objective right from the start of the project, from the call for tenders to the implementation phase. They proceed by successive deployments, taking the time to understand and integrate the particularities and expectations of each business and structure.
Getting everyone on board and motivating them, over and above their work habits and reluctance to change, is the key to a successful CMMS project. To achieve this, nothing beats patience, listening and co-construction.
What’s more, a local authority is home to a number of different decision-making circuits, with numerous validation points specific to each type of structure, department or service. Here again, a good ATM/CMMS approach ensures that everyone has been able to add their own personal spice. In this way, a TPM/CMMS portal can be entrusted with a non-maintenance mission such as fleet management, because this request has been expressed during the collective construction phases..
Replay of the BL.Day workshop “Towards an ecological and digital transition for your public buildings”
Replay of the BL.Day workshop “Towards an ecological and digital transition for your public buildings”
Orchestrating work and its impact
Corrective and preventive maintenance must also help local authorities to manage new works. In this case, CMMS is the tool for anticipation. It makes it possible to program the use of numerous trades and the consequences of their interventions on the life of the community (closures, detour).
By facilitating analysis of the budgetary implications of different options, it helps to prioritize between two urgent projects.
One of the specific features of the heritage that a local authority has to preserve is that it can be old, i.e. obsolete, valuable and listed. Consultation with the Architectes des Bâtiments de France, major works programs, reconciling modern standards with preservation of the old… for GTP/GMAO, these complex particularities are just additional parameters.
Using CMMS to ensure the satisfaction of citizens and elected representatives
For a local authority, TPM/CMMS serves to ensure that its assets are maintained in operational condition, and to optimize the satisfaction of its users – including agents and staff – as well as customers, constituents and elected representatives.
Elected representatives are particular users who expect reporting and results that go beyond purely economic criteria: in their eyes, good management of the property portfolio, optimum occupancy and user satisfaction often take precedence over productivity considerations. The primary benefit of ATM/CMMS is the sharing of knowledge and experience, a factor in the quality of the technical act, and therefore in end-user satisfaction.
The TPM/CMMS portal offers a wide range of tools and indicators, as well as dashboards for factual monitoring of maintenance work and subcontracting contracts. With the GTP/GMAO solution, elected officials have the means to manage contractual relations and renegotiate them when they expire.
Maintenance plays a central role in ensuring the long-term viability of investments, and in keeping them in operational condition for the benefit of the local authority.
Finally, CMMS integrates the specific requirements of safety commissions. It provides the personnel concerned with everything they need to satisfy requests for certificates of conformity, and keeps a record of all inspections.
The key points of Technical Asset Management for local authorities:
- Integration of the GIS tool, a veritable management matrix for the community.
- A single CMMS for all local authority technical services and assets.
- Ensuring that a local authority’s equipment, buildings, infrastructure, etc. remain in operational condition.
- Optimizing relations with elected representatives and user satisfaction.
Our TPM/CMMS solution for local authorities: CARL Source City
