How to Use ServiceNow to Maintain and Manage Aging Facilities Management Equipment

Sep 11, 2022

How to Use ServiceNow to Maintain and Manage Aging Facilities Management Equipment

Aging facilities management equipment can cause more headaches than its worth, but managing this equipment doesn't have to be difficult. When you manage your facilities management equipment with ServiceNow, you can eliminate unnecessary maintenance and ensure your team stays on top of regular maintenance and recurring preventive maintenance so that you don't experience downtime because of faulty equipment or systems. Here are some tips on how to use ServiceNow to maintain and manage aging facilities management equipment.

  • Automate Part of the Process

Once the facility management equipment's maintenance schedule is set up, the account administrator can automate that schedule. This is a great way to save time when you have 50 or more pieces of equipment. So how does this work? There are two ways. For recurring tasks that need to be done every three months, such as checking filters, an account administrator can set up recurring tasks in a single action - like ticking a box next to Check Filters. For other tasks that happen less often, like a monthly inspection by a third-party contractor, ServiceNow will prompt an email (or send an SMS text) with reminders just before the date of task execution. This will remind users of their scheduled tasks.

  • Centralize Documents

Maintaining maintenance records can be time-consuming, but it's vital to keeping your facility in good shape. Save time by consolidating your maintenance needs into one service management software. Even if you don't use a cloud-based system, creating a folder on your computer or building in-house procedures that remind staff members to document the date, summary of work done, hours worked on the task, and any associated costs should help keep everything organized. It may seem overkill when you've already got enough on your plate, but taking these steps will protect the longevity of your aging facilities management equipment—and potentially save you money.

  • Improve Communication

Maintaining your facilities' equipment is about fixing things when they break. Equipment that does not get regular maintenance can fail more often, which results in costlier repairs, loss of productivity and lost revenue when you integrate a robust communication system into your facilities management equipment - like one that offers email alerts, real-time data sharing, user-specific notification settings, etc. You significantly reduce the time spent analyzing data and manually responding to problems by providing better visibility into what's happening at any given moment. This increased efficiency means troubleshooting problems before they happen and executing them more precisely when they are greatly improved. It also makes responding to these issues quicker since the right person is always just a click away.

  • Evaluate Preventative Maintenance Operations

When looking for facilities management equipment service providers, we recommend you learn about their asset management background, their policies on restoring a facility's HVAC to proper working order after an outage, and how they work with building automation systems.

Maintaining records of daily tasks is an important part of maintaining any aging facility management equipment. ServiceNow can help manage this information online, on mobile devices, and on tablets. When deciding which software package to use when it comes time for upgrades, we recommend choosing one that is open and modular so the organization can add functionality when needed without having major upgrades costing extra money each time.

Create a Roadmap for Upgrades

First, you'll need to figure out what's wrong with the equipment. Go through each item on the roadmap for upgrades carefully, noting anything currently giving you trouble and anything that will give you trouble in the future. Once you've diagnosed all your faulty or soon-to-be equipment, make a spreadsheet of everything in order of importance. On this spreadsheet, include a column for the needed time between upgrades (how many years?), cost of the upgrade, estimated return on investment over a year (percent), and expected increase in efficiency post-upgrade (compare before/after). When sorting by importance, fill in your spreadsheet to reflect what is at the top of your list.

 

Do you want to see how ServiceNow can help with your facilities management company? Contact us today! 

 

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Topics: ServiceNow, Service Strategy, ServiceNow CSM, why buy servicenow, facilities management software, best facilities management software, servicenow facilities management, facilities management