Dive Brief:
- The quality of maintenance data makes all the difference when it comes to driving confidence in an organization’s assets, according to Limble, a firm providing maintenance management software. Poor data damages credibility of the maintenance operation and causes leaders to question the data instead of using it, the company says.
- Teams with strong maintenance data report 33% higher confidence in the key performance indicators they use to track asset and maintenance performance, according to Limble, which surveyed over 200 manufacturing, facilities and asset-intensive organizations. Just over half, or 51%, report high trust across maintenance, operations and finance when they have strong maintenance data.
- “High-quality data in your CMMS isn’t just an operational nice-to-have — it’s the foundation of cross-functional trust that turns maintenance from a reactive function into a strategic asset partner,” Amanda Myers, head of product marketing at Limble, said in a statement. “If organizations neglect data quality, they’re not eliminating the problem — they’re simply escalating it to the executive level. That message came through far more clearly than we expected.”
Dive Insight:
Reactive organizations scored lower on data quality and faced more disruptions than preventive and predictive teams, according to the report. Data quality for computerized maintenance management systems, or CMMS, sets the pace for maintenance maturity, cost control and equipment longevity, Limble says.
That high quality data comes down to discipline in capturing and managing it, according to the report. Organizations reporting high discipline have 82% of their technicians working in their CMMS, while the comparative figure is 45% for low-discipline teams — a gap that creates incomplete asset histories, repeated failures and a shorter equipment life, Limble says. Organizations with strong data discipline also have less unplanned maintenance, with only 36% compared to 56% for those with weak data teams, the report says.
When nearly half of maintenance activities never enter the system, records drift from reality, causing equipment failures and an unexpected rise in costs, the company says. The survey shows that in only 12% of operations is 90% or more of the work consistently logged.
The impact of incomplete data becomes more pronounced as companies scale in size, according to the report. As organizations grow, add new systems and deal with tighter budgets and staffing, the problem of poor data grows, risking decisions made on the basis of untrustworthy data, reducing confidence in an organization’s asset management, Limble says.
“The business risk grows with size,” Limble says. “As more assets, sites, and stakeholders rely on the same data, weak standards erode confidence faster. Scale does not forgive inconsistency. It exposes it.”
Organizations that work to ensure reliable CMMS data can help to build trust across their organization, even as new technicians come on board, the company says.
“High data integrity helps create a structured environment and clarity for new employees and cross-functional teams, so people can step into their roles or projects with context and confidence instead of learning everything through trial and error,” Myers said.
Even for organizations using an enterprise asset management, or EAM, system, using CMMS as a primary data source can be key, Limble says. “EAM does not replace CMMS execution. It scales it,” the company says. “When CMMS data is complete and consistent, EAM reporting becomes credible and valuable. When CMMS data is weak, EAM visibility amplifies uncertainty rather than resolving it.”
Leaders with less than one year in their role report 36% lower confidence in asset KPIs, despite higher EAM adoption, reinforcing the role of quality, stabilized CMMS data in an enterprise system, the company says.
“Disciplined CMMS data builds credibility for maintenance teams, reduces disruption for operations and strengthens capital decisions for finance,” Myers said. “Which is why modern asset management and maintenance systems should be viewed as more than maintenance tools — they are a framework for cross-functional communication, alignment and long-term operational continuity.”
