Implementing an Innovative CMMS for a Major Wastewater Utility to Improve Systemwide Asset Management and Repair & Renewal Planning

This presentation describes the implementation of a modern Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for a major wastewater utility to improve systemwide management of vertical and linear assets and to strengthen repair, renewal, and capital planning decisions. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (the District) serves more than one million people across 62 communities within a 360-square-mile tributary area and operates three wastewater treatment plants, an extensive collection system, and a regional stormwater network. The District's legacy CMMS was outdated, inflexible, and no longer supported, limiting its ability to meet evolving operational, regulatory, and asset management needs. A new enterprise CMMS was required to support multiple departments, asset types, and workflows across the organization. This presentation will discuss the limitations of the previous system, the development of functional and business criteria for a replacement CMMS, and the process used to select and implement the new platform. Of primary importance was selecting a system capable of supporting the diverse needs of District users, including standardized maintenance practices, efficient work order management and scheduling, robust reporting, GIS-based mapping, and mobile field functionality. The CMMS also needed to align with The District's asset management objectives, including lifecycle management of aging infrastructure, regulatory compliance, condition assessment, risk management, and prioritization of capital investments. The District selected the NexGen Asset Management system due to its ability to manage more than 36,000 assets-including equipment, vehicles, buildings, and linear assets such as pipelines and streams-while supporting GIS integration, mobile workflows, and asset lifecycle planning. The implementation addressed the needs of a multi-generational workforce, ensuring usability for both experienced staff and technology-savvy early adopters. Asset management data generated through the CMMS informs repair and renewal recommendations that compete for limited discretionary funding alongside regulatory-driven Consent Decree projects. The presentation will highlight how cross-department collaboration between Engineering & Construction, Operations & Maintenance, Finance, and Asset Management improves project prioritization, funding alignment, and long-term capital planning. ________________________________________ Key implementation topics discussed will include: •Project governance, team structure, and cross-department collaboration •Development of location hierarchies and asset class hierarchies •GIS integration for collection system and stormwater assets •Standardization of preventive maintenance procedures •Use of QR codes for asset identification and field access •Deployment of mobile devices for more than 320 maintenance and operations staff •Ability to view O&M manuals, drawings, and attachments in the field •Integration with the District's financial system •Integration with employee time-off and labor tracking systems •Integration with PDMS for runtime data and predictive maintenance •Leveraging CMMS data for asset lifecycle planning The presentation concludes with a demonstration of CMMS capabilities, illustrating improvements in data collection, maintenance planning, budget forecasting, and data-driven decision-making enabled by the new system.