Manufacturers beginning an integrated OEE+CMMS evaluation face a paradox: the market has hundreds of vendors claiming to offer both OEE and CMMS capability, but truly integrated platforms — where OEE and CMMS share a native data model rather than API connectivity — number fewer than a dozen. The first shortlist task is distinguishing native integration from marketed integration. Send a one-page qualification questionnaire to any vendor you are considering before investing time in demos. The qualification questionnaire asks four questions: Do OEE events and CMMS work orders share the same asset record in the same database, without synchronization? Can an OEE availability event automatically create a CMMS work order with full asset context in under 60 seconds, without API calls to a separate system? Can a single management dashboard show OEE availability trend and CMMS PM compliance rate for the same assets without data export or manual joining? Is there a single vendor support team accountable for both OEE monitoring and CMMS functionality problems? Vendors who answer no to any of these four questions are not offering native integration — they are offering two tools with API connectivity, which should be evaluated against a two-tool buying decision rather than an integrated platform decision.
Week 1: send qualification questionnaire to all vendors under consideration. Eliminate vendors who fail qualification criteria. For remaining vendors, request a 15-minute qualification call covering: customer references in your industry deployed in last 18 months (request names to call), total first-year cost estimate for your site count and asset volume (not a detailed quote — a ballpark range to filter obvious outliers), implementation timeline for your specific configuration, and data hosting region for GDPR or data residency compliance. Score each vendor on a simple 1-3 scale across these four dimensions. Eliminate vendors scoring below 8 of 12 total points. Week 2: with the field narrowed to 5 to 8 vendors, run 45-minute demos for each. Use the 30 demo questions from the integrated OEE+CMMS demo guide for each vendor. Score each demo response. Request reference contact details for your top 3 vendors. Call at least 2 references per shortlisted vendor — ask specifically about OEE-CMMS integration quality in daily operations, not just overall satisfaction. Narrow to 3 vendors for full evaluation with detailed RFP response, pricing, and contract review.
Use this scoring template to evaluate integrated OEE+CMMS vendors consistently. Native integration architecture (25 points): shared database for OEE and CMMS (10 points), automated OEE-to-work-order creation under 60 seconds (8 points), single management dashboard for combined KPIs (7 points). OEE monitoring depth (20 points): PLC connectivity to your equipment brands (8 points), real-time OEE display with accurate loss categorization (7 points), historical OEE analytics with configurable periods (5 points). CMMS capability (20 points): PM automation with compliance tracking (8 points), spare parts inventory with reorder automation (7 points), management reporting without custom development (5 points). Implementation quality (20 points): industry references deployed in last 18 months (8 points), realistic timeline validated by references (7 points), implementation team quality demonstrated in call (5 points). Commercial terms (15 points): total first-year cost competitive (6 points), pricing transparency with no hidden costs (5 points), data portability guarantee in contract (4 points). Maximum total: 100 points. Shortlist vendors scoring 70 or above for full RFP evaluation. Vendors scoring below 60 are eliminated. Vendors scoring 60 to 70 may proceed if they have a specific capability that outweighs the scoring gap.
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