Visualize it, Track it, Prove it: Cirrus Aircraft Takes Asset Management Workflows to the Next Level

Establishing Best Practices

The Cirrus maintenance team made efforts to fully utilize Asset Essentials to help develop best practices for asset management and preventive maintenance. “We’ve focused on answering questions like, ‘What is good asset management?’ and ‘What should asset entry within our system look like?’” Miller says. “We’ve gone from a very vague or simple description of an asset, or it may not have been in there at all, to developing guidelines for what needs to be included, like photos and manuals, and showing the team how that can help make their work easier by having those tools available to them.”  

In addition to developing processes and guidelines for recording and tracking assets, Cirrus is also using Asset Essentials to create best practices for preventive maintenance. “Managing PMs is a big part of our business,” Miller says. “We have to work with the team to help them define timelines for PMs and figure out what a good PM looks like. I love that Asset Essentials provides a robust suite of options for that, like checklists, a library of tasks you can implement into a PM, and being able to upload manuals or link to websites.”  

Planning for a More Connected Future 

Miller and his team have been considering opportunities for incorporating sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help them predict building and maintenance needs. After attending Illuminate , Miller learned about the opportunities Brightly offers for predictive maintenance.  

Seeing that Brightly offers those solutions and integrates them seamlessly into Asset Essentials is a huge value-add for us,” 

Brian Miller, Lead Facilities Analyst, Cirrus Aircraft

As Cirrus plans for the possibility of using IoT-connected sensors to plan for predictive maintenance, Miller says he is continually impressed with Brightly’s ability to stay ahead of the curve. “We keep seeing those situations, whether it’s the sensors or Origin offering a different way to use your assets, there are a ton of different options that pop up with Brightly,” he says. “It’s great to know that instead of reinventing the wheel, we can go and use an existing platform that we already have to jumpstart our plans. I love that Brightly is constantly evolving and exploring new paths.” As Cirrus plans for the possibility of using IoT-connected sensors to plan for predictive maintenance, Miller says he is continually impressed with Brightly’s ability to stay ahead of the curve. “We keep seeing those situations, whether it’s the sensors or Origin offering a different way to use your assets, there are a ton of different options that pop up with Brightly,” he says. “It’s great to know that instead of reinventing the wheel, we can go and use an existing platform that we already have to jumpstart our plans. I love that Brightly is constantly evolving and exploring new paths.”  

Increasing Efficiency

Since ramping up Cirrus Aircraft’s use of Asset Essentials, Miller reports significant gains in efficiency. “You want as few clicks as possible to do something, you want a system to be intuitive and run fast,” he says. “A tool that is cumbersome and difficult to use really slows your team down. Asset Essentials gives lots of options and lots of control, but doesn’t overcomplicate things.”  

Because Asset Essentials is intuitive and easy to use, Miller has successfully implemented the use of the mobile app across all employees for creating work orders.  

For example, Miller uses Asset Essentials’ location-specific QR codes to create custom signage to hang throughout Cirrus facilities. The signs provide a QR code for employees to scan using the Asset Essentials app if they see a maintenance need to create a new work order. When a work order is created by scanning the QR code, that work order is easily traced back to an exact location, such as a specific break room or bathroom. “It’s all done automatically, and nobody has to figure out what to call the location,” Miller says.   

Reporting Robust Metrics

When it’s time to report to the Cirrus executive team, Miller says he can easily access all the information he needs from Asset Essentials. “The software has a really robust reporting suite,” he says. “I can generate metrics on our team’s performance, on how many work orders we’re doing, what the PM cycles look like, what our on-time percentages are, really critical information for anybody in leadership to be able to see.”  

At Illuminate, Miller said many of his counterparts discussed the struggles of hiring and retaining quality maintenance staff members. With Asset Essentials, however, it’s easy to be able to see what your team is doing and track their performance. “I always tell my team, ‘I need you to complete the work orders in Asset Essentials because I want you to be able to get credit for all the hard work I know you’re doing. I know you’re doing it, but we need it in Asset Essentials so we can visualize it, track it, and prove it.’”  

With robust reporting, Miller expects to be able to use Asset Essentials to keep track of the workload and the opportunities and plan for personnel budgeting in 2025.

Learn more: BrightlySoftware.com