Manufacturing organizations that depend upon high levels of sophisticated equipment can benefit dramatically from a fully integrated value-based equipment management system. By understanding and capitalizing on several significant trends in equipment management, organizations can reduce overhead costs, reduce maintenance costs, and optimize equipment use.

Recent trends in equipment management include:

• Broadening of business processes and related software tools to encompass the entire equipment life cycle

• Enterprisewide deployment of integrated application solutions, as opposed to the “stovepipe” departmental systems typical of the past

• A dramatic shift towards commercial off-the-shelf products vs. in-house custom software

Many leading organizations are aggressively addressing these three trends and implementing what is becoming known as a value-based equipment management system because the bottom-line financial benefits are sizable, return on investment is rapid, and numerous “soft” benefits also result.

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