The ROI of Facilities Management Software and CMMS

Introduction

Every time one of your facilities experiences a maintenance failure or equipment breakdown, money slips through your fingers.

Delayed repairs, deferred preventive maintenance, and inefficient vendor management don’t just impact your bottom line—they can devastate it. Even so, too many organizations are stuck with outdated systems, manual processes, and ineffective software solutions. The end result is that the problem of facilities management just gets worse and worse, never better.

The solution can be found in modern, flexible Facilities Management Software (FMS) and Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS). When you invest in these advanced platforms, you are doing much more than digitizing work orders. You are creating an intelligent maintenance
ecosystem, one that anticipates your needs, automates responses, and provides you with actionable, data-driven insights for the best possible decision-making.

What drives these returns? How, exactly, does a FMS and CMMS platform like Fexa ensure that your organization’s ROIs make the investment worth it?

Your CMMS and FMS should draw out the lifecycle of your assets, reduce your operational downtime, automate time-consuming processes, and ensure full compliance with state and federal regulations.

Understanding these returns will help you maximize them. If you want to stay competitive in today’s market, choosing the best FMS/CMMS is not optional!

What is Facility Management Software and CMMS? When and why do you need one?

Today, Facilities Management Software (FMS) and Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) overlap significantly. In fact, many providers offer integrated software platforms that combine both FMS and CMMS capabilities into one interface. However, there are technically some differences
between these two systems.

Facilities Maintenance Software is a digital platform that maintains, tracks, and optimizes your organization’s maintenance infrastructure.

FMS platforms:

• Are broader in scope, covering overall facility operations
• Include features for space management and occupancy planning
• Handle energy and utilities monitoring
• Manage broader aspects of building operations
• Often include lease management and real estate data
• Focus on overall facility infrastructure and operations

While FMS tends to cover a broad spectrum of facilities operations, CMMS platforms focus on maintenance.

Specifically, your company’s CMMS:

• Is more specifically focused on maintenance operations
• Centralizes and automates maintenance activities
• Focuses primarily on equipment and asset management
• Specializes in work order management and tracking
• Concentrates on maintenance scheduling and history
• Is designed to maintenance team productivity and efficiency

Most organizations benefit from working with a provider who combines all of these capabilities into a single platform.

Who needs FMS and CMMS? The short answer is that you need one when your manual processes have become overwhelming, and you can’t keep up with maintenance demands.

What are some signs you need FMS or CMMS?

We know that investing in a new FMS or CMMS platform is a big commitment. There are a lot of reasons why you may have been putting it off, including costs, logistics, and questions about which provider is best.

However, if you’re experiencing any of these issues, it’s time to think about taking the leap:

• Increasing maintenance inefficiencies and costs
• Reactive rather than preventive maintenance approach
• Overwhelming workload requiring you to onboard new hires
• Difficulty managing multiple vendors
• Poor communication and workflow management
• Lack of asset performance tracking
• Compliance risks and documentation challenges
• Manual processes consuming excessive time

What are the hidden costs of not using a solid facility management software?

There are real costs associated with investing in a new FMS/CMMS, but it is essential to compare those to the equally real–and often hidden–costs of using an outdated approach to facilities maintenance management.

For example, failing equipment often requires emergency repairs, which are costly. A strong FMS could have effectively scheduled maintenance on the failing asset, helping you avoid those emergency repair costs. But don’t forget that while the asset is down, you are losing revenue.

Here’s just one example: Imagine that a company has put off servicing their refrigerator unit in a convenience store location because other costs have felt more important. Or perhaps they just didn’t realize how long it had been since their last routine service call, as they didn’t have any automated reminders.

What happens when you put off routine maintenance? You fail to notice major problems on the horizon. Then, when the refrigeration unit fails, the company finds itself hiring an emergency technician to come in and get things up and running as fast as possible. Everyone knows that time-sensitive repairs end up
costing more than repairs that are non-emergent.

Not only does the company have to spend more money on emergency repairs, but they also lose revenue because no one can shop from the refrigerated food section until the problem is fixed. Discarding spoiled food is yet another preventable expense, if only they had known about the issue in advance.

This example plays out in America’s storefronts every day.

The hidden costs of not using FMS include:

• Increased equipment downtime and emergency repairs
• Higher labor costs due to inefficient resource allocation
• Shortened asset lifecycles from poor maintenance
• Compliance violations and potential fines
• Lost productivity from manual processes
• Unnecessary service calls and duplicate work orders
• Higher energy costs from inefficient equipment
• Vendor overcharging due to poor tracking

When you compare these losses against the cost of investing in a new FMS, you realize how much you could be saving.

What is the ROI of Facilities Management Software and CMMS?

Because FMS and CMMS platforms cost money, some facilities managers are hesitant to take on the extra expenses. Getting your CFO on board is another challenge! However, it’s important to think of these systems as an investment. The returns on this investment are significant.

There are three main areas of operations where your FMS and CMMS should reduce costs and increase revenue:

• Overall cost savings
• Improves operational efficiency
• Reduction of equipment downtime

There are many paths to improved ROI, and a strong, modern CMMS will be customizable to your specific needs. These are different for every organization: Some companies need to focus on drastically improving their approach to routine maintenance, whereas others need a more cost-effective way to find, hire, and work with contractors–especially skilled tradespeople. Still other companies may need to
recover from past compliance failures.

However, the most likely scenario is that your company needs to work on a combination of all of these things.

Here are the essential things you need to know about FMS, CMMS, and ROI:

• Implementation of a new FMS and CMMS is usually achievable within one year
• Most companies see a 15-20% reduction in maintenance costs with implementation
• You can save about 10-15 hours per week, per team, of paid work time
• Your CMMS will reduce the high costs of emergency repair
• Your administrative overhead decreases when you work with smart automation
• Improved asset longevity means longer lifespans for your equipment
• You can look forward to better vendor pricing through improved relationship management
• Better compliance reduces the risks of fines and penalties

How does CMMS improve asset longevity and resource allocation?

A key aspect to keeping costs under control is to make sure that your assets have the longest lifespan possible. This is not just about forcing an asset to keep operating long after it is good at its job, but rather, it’s about prolonging the lifespan of each asset through intentional, preventive maintenance.

A modern CMMS plays a vital role in extending the longevity of your assets by optimizing resource allocation across all facilities. Comprehensive data tracking, smart automation, and responsive maintenance processes help facilities managers make informed decisions about their assets.

What is at the heart of effective asset management? It’s preventive maintenance.

A strong, flexible CMMS enables you to “set and forget” maintenance programs for every single asset in your company. You can set different maintenance plans for different types of assets, based on how much routine maintenance they need.

Your CMMS needs to support various maintenance activities, from routine cleaning services to critical safety inspects. Because each one has its own unique workflow, approvals process, and communication protocols, the ideal CMMS will be completely flexible and adaptable.

The system’s data-driven approach provides unprecedented access to the inner workings of the performance of your assets. Specifically, you can immediately access, review, and respond to:

• Equipment documentation and manuals
• Warranty information
• Complete maintenance history
• Repair costs over time
• Photos and visual documentation
• Performance metrics and trends

This is a wealth of information that can renew your approach to asset maintenance. Let’s look at some specifics to see just how helpful this can be.

Automated Scheduling

Automated scheduling is one of the most powerful ways a CMMS reduces operational costs, thanks to the ways that it improves your maintenance outcomes. Your FMS platform will transform traditionally manual scheduling processes into smart, automated workflows that consider multiple factors for optimal timing and resource utilization.

The system’s automated scheduling capabilities help eliminate common inefficiencies through process like these:

• Automated triage processes that eliminate unnecessary service visits
• Intelligent dispatch systems that match qualified vendors to specific maintenance needs
• Automated status alerts for the lifecycle of the work order
• Geo-fencing and IVR check-in/check-out options
• Automated compliance checks for vendors
• Real-time status updates for all scheduled maintenance activities
• Integration of preventive maintenance schedules with reactive maintenance needs–it’s all about balance!

Smart Resource Allocation

With FMS and CMMS, resource allocation becomes more efficient through automated scheduling and smart workflow management. The system helps eliminate common inefficiencies by:

• Coordinating maintenance activities to minimize operational disruption
• Reducing duplicate or unnecessary service visits
• Automating vendor selection based on qualifications and location
• Implementing geo-fencing and check-in/check-out systems for accurate time reporting

Real-Time Analytics

When you have real-time analytics, you can make the most data-informed decisions possible. This includes:

• Prioritizing urgent maintenance needs
• Identifying process improvement opportunities
• Mitigating outlier issues before they become costly problems
• Making data-informed budgeting decisions

Here’s the key takeaway: When you combine preventive maintenance processes with sophisticated data analysis and automated workflows, you get to extend the useful life of your assets. This approach not only reduces costs, but it also sets the groundwork for your facilities to operate at peak efficiency.

What role does data play in maximizing ROI with CMMS?

If your FMS/CMMS provider isn’t obsessed with data, then you need to find a new provider!

Data is what enables real-time decision making. It doesn’t matter the industry or the task, the simple truth is that delays cost money. Your CMMS has many jobs, but at its core, it is about improving your ROI. Data is at the core of this essential work.

These are just a few of the things data can do, when it is accessible and accurate:

• Enable real-time decision making
• Provide actionable insights for cost reduction
• Identify patterns and trends in maintenance needs
• Support predictive maintenance planning
• Track vendor performance and costs
• Measure KPIs and performance metrics
• Enable benchmarking and continuous improvement
• Support strategic planning and budgeting

How can businesses measure and demonstrate ROI from CMMS investments?

This is another great question! After all, you’re going to want to know how you evaluate your CMMS for effectiveness, savings, and ROI.

According to industry research, implementing a new CMMS can lead to an impressive 250% ROI, typically achievable within the first year of implementation. However, demonstrating this return requires careful tracking across multiple areas of operations.

Direct Cost Savings
The most immediate and measurable returns come from direct cost reduction. For example, if you can quickly reduce your overall maintenance costs, you can see savings of up to 15-20%.

Additional costs savings come from:

• Decreased emergency repair premiums through preventive maintenance
• Lower administrative overhead from automated processes
• Reduced vendor costs through better management and negotiation
• Energy savings from properly maintained equipment
• Time savings of 10-15 hours per week per team member

These savings are usually easy to calculate, because you can evaluate budgets between fiscal years or even from quarter to quarter. CMMS reporting will provide you with detailed data about how much you have saved so far.

Operational Efficiency Metrics

Beyond direct cost savings, businesses can measure ROI through improved operational efficiency. These may not have a budget line, but you can still measure operational improvements through the following methods.

First-time Completion Rates & Repeat Service Calls

• Compare the number of follow-up visits before and after CMMS implementation
• Calculate costs of additional truck rolls for repeat visits
• Track time between initial service and callback requests
• Monitor percentage reduction in duplicate work orders for the same issue

Travel Time and Dispatch Efficiency

• Calculate mileage costs for service visits
• Track time between dispatch and arrival on site
• Monitor vendor travel charges
• Compare geographical coverage efficiency through vendor scorecards

SLA Compliance and Response Times:

• Track percentage of work orders completed within SLA timeframes
• Calculate penalties avoided through improved compliance
• Monitor average response times for different priority levels
• Compare emergency vs. standard service call ratios

Work Order Management Metrics:

• Measure average time from work order creation to completion
• Track labor hours per work order type
• Monitor workflow bottlenecks and approval delays
• Calculate reduction in administrative processing time

Asset Performance Indicators

Long-term ROI can be demonstrated through improved asset management. You should see extended lifecycles and longer operational times for your assets, from refrigeration and light to building systems and HVAC.

Measure the following to understand the impact on your ROI:

• Extended equipment life cycle durations
• Reduction in unexpected equipment failures
• Decreased downtime incidents
• Better spare parts inventory management
• Improved asset utilization rates
• More accurate repair vs. replace decisions

Compliance and Risk Reduction

Financial benefits also come from better risk management!

• Reduced compliance violations and associated fines
• Improved documentation for regulatory requirements
• Better tracking of refrigerant management (which can represent 90% of regulatory risk)
• Decreased safety incidents
• More accurate vendor insurance compliance

By tracking these metrics consistently and comparing them to preimplementation baselines, organizations can clearly demonstrate the value of their CMMS investment. Regular reporting on these KPIs helps justify the initial investment and supports ongoing investment in system improvements and
expansions.

How can Fexa help you maximize your ROI with the top facility management software and CMMS Software on the market?

Are you ready to maximize your ROI on a new CMMS provider?

When selecting a CMMS to maximize your ROI, flexibility and configurability, paramount! That’s why Fexa is the top choice of today’s industry leaders. Fexa delivers advanced facility management software specifically designed for multisite businesses, trusted by leading brands like Dollar General, Five Guys, and Crate & Barrel to manage nearly 2 million locations daily.

Fexa stands out through our:

• Highly configurable platform that adapts to your unique workflows
• Smart project management capabilities for complex, multi-trade projects
• Comprehensive asset management tools with unlimited custom fields
• No-charge vendor access policy, saving thousands in hidden fees
• Modern, cloud-based infrastructure built on AWS for maximum reliability
• Robust integration capabilities with existing business systems

For organizations managing facilities with refrigeration systems, Fexa’s integration with Trakref provides a comprehensive solution for refrigerant management compliance. Even though refrigeration may only account for 10% of work orders, it represents 90% of financial and regulatory risk!

The Trakref integration, launching in Q1 2025, helps ensure compliance with all applicable industry regulations, preventing costly citations and fines.