
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. In case you did not have the opportunity to see our blogs and voter links as they were published. Here are this
The most popular article this week was “Characteristics of an EAM/CMMS administrator”. The question we asked is what does it take to be an effective administrator? The findings resulted in a new question: “Which is more important process knowledge or product knowledge”?
1. It’s 9:00 Am – Do You Know Where Your Assets Are?
Author: Stuart Smith
A fairly lengthy article (by blog standards) designed for small and mid-size business owners that are finding themselves spending too much time handling asset/equipment issues and not enough time on their core business. Problem recognition is followed by an overview of how to get organized and why you may need an EAM/CMMS.
Key Point: For many business owners it is no longer a question of “Am I too small”, but rather “Which EAM/CMMS solution is best for me?”
2. Characteristics of an EAM/CMMS Administrator
Author: Stuart Smith
This article compared job descriptions for EAM administrators with the type of skills a vendor would like to see in a client administrator. Training skills, communication excellence, planning, and detail orientation were all highly sought after. The difference resulted in the question “Which is more important to you – product or process knowledge?”
Key point: Do industry strong people make better job candidates than specialist with a particular software?
3. Real Life CMMS/EAM Crisis Avoidance
Author: Stuart Smith
A quick example of how performing preventive maintenance uncovered a leak on a small part that ultimately shut down a nuclear power plant and potentially averted a major disaster.
Key Point: Costs of labor, parts and an EAM – a few thousand, cost of averting a nuclear disaster – Priceless

Read Relevant Articles That We Found Last Week
But wait there is more. In addition, we have found several more articles that you might find to be interesting. The 5 best this week are:
1. Why Enterprise Asset Management is Vital for Any Company
Author: Anders Eriksson
Eriksson achieves a nice breakdown of the similarities in many organizations and the need for EAM solutions. Some similarities include holding the line on operating costs, maximizing expectations on asset maintenance, and the effective management of capital.
Key Point: EAM is a must for operations in any industry.
2. Boiler inspection and Maintenance
Author: Stephen Kleva
Industrial boilers are used across many industries. Unfortunately, they are also the cause of numerous accidents each year. Many of these accidents may be prevented by doing regular preventive maintenance and inspections.
Key Point: There is no reason to wait until an accident occurs before you take action.
3. Healthcare Preventive Maintenance Software
Author: Jennifer Bailey
Hospitals use CMMS to track valuable drugs and other supplies. Healthcare preventive maintenance software programs can keep track of controlled substances, track quantities, who has access to them, and when they are administered.
Key Point: Author makes a keen point that CMMS is not just used to track large assets and equipment and can be used for smaller very valuable items.
4. Pressure Release Valve Maintenance
Author: Alton Cox
“The pressure relief valve (PRV) also is the one piece of equipment we hope never needs to operate.” – Alton Cox. While we are agree with this statement it is important not to forget that PRV’s need maintenance to stay functional.
Key Point: The PRV is the last line of defense in a pressurized system – failure is not an option.
5. Nations’s Oldest Buildings Ripe for “Green” Initiatives
Author: Heidi
With the average age of all our buildings in the USA increasing it is becoming more and more important to properly maintain them. This article if filled with research statistics by SRM Research Corp.
Key Point: It makes me wonder how they maintained all those castles and churches in Europe for all these centuries.