Why Excel Fails for Maintenance Tracking
Excel is great for many things. Maintenance tracking isn't one of them. Here are the 5 reasons spreadsheets eventually fail.
We've talked to hundreds of businesses who started with Excel for maintenance tracking. Almost all of them eventually switched. Here's why:
1. No Reminders = Missed Maintenance
Excel doesn't know when maintenance is due. It can't send you an email. It just sits there, waiting for you to remember to check it. And when you're busy running a business, checking a spreadsheet isn't top of mind.
2. Mobile is a Nightmare
Your team is out in the field. They complete maintenance on the excavator. Updating the spreadsheet? That requires finding the file, zooming in on a tiny cell, typing carefully... Most people just don't bother until they're back at the office (if they remember).
3. Formulas Break
You set up clever formulas to calculate next due dates. Then someone inserts a row and breaks the references. Or deletes a cell. Or pastes over the formula. Suddenly you've got #REF! errors and wrong due dates.
4. Version Chaos
Mike has the file open. Sarah can't edit. Mike saves his changes. Sarah opens it later and makes changes. Mike's changes are gone. Sound familiar? Even with cloud versions, simultaneous editing causes conflicts.
5. No Accountability
Who completed that oil change? When exactly? What did they observe? Excel can track this if you're disciplined, but there's no structure enforcing it. Data quality degrades over time.