Most lab managers know the pattern. An instrument goes down at the wrong moment, a calibration date slips past unnoticed, and an auditor asks for a record that lives in someone's spreadsheet or a binder on a shelf. Many labs still run laboratory equipment maintenance on manual logs and periodic checks, and that approach struggles once you are juggling dozens of instruments, more complex testing requirements and changing regulation. If you are weighing CMMS software for laboratories, this whitepaper from Pemac, the CMMS product from Eleco, sets out what digitalising maintenance actually changes and where the value comes from.
Why manual lab asset maintenance management breaks down
The paper starts with the problems lab managers report. Instrument downtime is a recurring theme, often linked to maintenance schedules that are hard to keep on paper. Compliance data piles up faster than anyone can organise it, and the penalties for non-compliance are severe. Time and people get spread thin because no one has a clear view of what is due, who is doing it and which parts are on hand.
You'll see survey data on how lab managers rank these challenges. That is useful if you need to show colleagues that your frustrations are shared across the industry rather than a local quirk.
What CMMS software for laboratories handles day to day
From there, the whitepaper explains the core capabilities of a laboratory CMMS in plain terms, with each one tied back to lab work. The areas covered include:
- Centralised asset records, with manuals and documentation in one place
- Preventative maintenance triggered by time, usage or other events
- Work order scheduling and real-time task tracking
- Calibration management, including certificates for compliance
- Inventory control, integrations with systems such as ERP, LIMS and QMS, and audit-ready reporting
Calibration gets particular attention. If your search began with calibration management software, the paper shows why it makes sense to treat calibration as part of a wider maintenance system, and how that supports lab regulatory compliance when it comes time for an audit.
Evidence and benefits for building a business case
A lab CMMS is an investment, and someone will ask what it returns. The paper groups the benefits into productivity, data tracking, inventory, cost and compliance, then backs them with figures drawn from several published industry studies and reports on organisations that adopted a CMMS. Those figures cover downtime, maintenance costs, planning time, inventory and equipment availability. If you're drafting a proposal for finance or senior management, this section gives you referenced numbers to start from.
A pharmaceutical lab case study
For many readers, the most practical part will be the case study. A leading UK pharmaceutical laboratory and manufacturer was dealing with an inefficient, time-consuming maintenance and calibration process. It implemented Pemac CMMS to align its calibration procedures, combining automated calibration tracking, a customised calibration module and integrated document management. The case study describes what changed for efficiency, error risk, audit preparation and compliance, and how managers reached a state of audit readiness.
Getting a lab CMMS rollout right
Buying software is the easy part. The whitepaper sets out five best practices for implementation, covering process, people, data and security, plus how to use reporting once the system is live. These are the areas where rollouts tend to stall, so it helps to plan for them before you commit to a system.
It also looks briefly at where lab maintenance is heading, including predictive maintenance and closer integration between systems, so you can judge whether the tool you pick now will still fit later.
The document is short enough to read in one sitting. It suits lab managers, maintenance and engineering leads, quality and compliance staff, and anyone in life sciences who has been asked to make the case for moving maintenance off paper.
Download the full whitepaper to get the survey findings on lab managers' biggest challenges, the industry statistics on CMMS outcomes, the five implementation best practices and the complete pharmaceutical lab case study. It's a practical starting point for planning, justifying and rolling out a laboratory CMMS.