When maintenance teams invest in new software or a CMMS implementation guide, they’re not just buying features to say, “look what we have.” They’re purchasing tools that will help their people to improve operations. They want those features to be used.
Yet, too often, industrial facilities’ expensive maintenance systems sit largely unused, while teams continue to manage work orders through spreadsheets and verbal handoffs.
Typically, the difference between a new system becoming a successful implementation and a costly mistake can be expressed in one metric: system adoption rate. Of course, the adoption rate is telling you something more than how many are or are not using the system.
The system adoption rate metric measures whether your investment in digital tools translates into real operational improvements, forcing you to confront why or why not it’s delivering results for your teams.
In this guide, we'll explore how to measure, track, and improve adoption rates for maintenance systems, as well as the specific strategies that turn software purchases into sustained operational benefits.
System Adoption Rate Explained For Maintenance Teams
The system adoption rate measures the percentage of target users who actively use a new maintenance system or software after its implementation. For maintenance teams, this metric determines whether your investment in digital tools actually translates into improved operations or becomes another unused platform gathering digital dust.
Understanding what product adoption is, in maintenance contexts, goes beyond simple login counts. Every maintenance software purchase represents a significant investment. And, that’s not just in licensing costs, but also in training time, data migration, and workflow changes. If your team isn't regularly using the new system, you may not experience the ROI you hoped for, such as reduced downtime, improved asset tracking, or streamlined work order processes.
Maintenance teams face unique adoption challenges because their work is hands-on, time-sensitive, and often performed in environments where stopping to log into a system feels like it takes too much time. Unlike office workers who spend their day at computers, technicians need systems that integrate seamlessly into their physical workflow.
The business impact of system adoption rates is clear and thoroughly researched. High adoption rates directly correlate with operational improvements. High system adoption rates are often associated with significant improvements in unplanned downtime and work order completion times for maintenance teams. Conversely, low adoption means you're still operating with the same inefficiencies you had before, just with an expensive software license on top.
How To Calculate Adoption Percentage For Industrial Workflows
Calculating the adoption rate for maintenance systems requires more nuance than standard software metrics because maintenance work varies by role, shift, and operational demands.
The basic formula (Adoption Rate = Number of Active Users ÷ Total Target Users × 100) only tells part of the story until you define what "active" means in your specific maintenance context.
Identify Target Users
Determining who should use the system begins with mapping your maintenance organization and understanding how different roles interact with maintenance data. Not every person in your facility needs to be a daily user, but everyone who creates, assigns, or completes maintenance work should be included in your target count.
Your target users typically include maintenance technicians who execute work orders, maintenance planners who schedule and assign tasks, supervisors who track progress and approve work, and reliability engineers who analyze failure patterns. Each group has different usage patterns because a technician might log in multiple times per shift to update work orders, while planners might use the system primarily during specific planning windows.
Expectations should vary by role because usage patterns differ significantly. A technician who logs into the system twice per week to close work orders might be fully adopted, while a planner who only accesses the system twice per week probably isn't using it effectively for scheduling and resource allocation.
Measure Active Usage
Active usage in maintenance contexts refers to regular, meaningful engagement with core system functions, rather than simply logging in or viewing dashboards. The challenge is defining "meaningful" in a way that reflects actual maintenance work patterns rather than arbitrary activity thresholds.
For maintenance systems, active usage typically means completing at least one core action per week. This includes creating, updating, or closing work orders, logging maintenance activities, or updating asset records. This threshold accounts for maintenance schedules that may not require daily system interaction, while ensuring users are actively engaging with the platform during maintenance work.
Monthly measurement periods are most effective for maintenance teams because they encompass the entire cycle of planned maintenance activities, emergency repairs, and administrative tasks. Weekly measurements can be misleading because maintenance work often clusters around planned outages or follows equipment-specific schedules that don't align with calendar weeks.
Run The Adoption Formula
Here's how to measure adoption of technology in your maintenance operation: Your maintenance team includes a diverse group of users, such as technicians, planners, supervisors, and reliability engineers. Over the past month, a significant portion of users engaged with the system by completing at least one meaningful action. Your adoption rate is (28 ÷ 40) × 100 = 70%.
Track adoption over time by running this calculation monthly and looking for trends. A steady adoption rate may be reasonable if it includes your most active maintenance personnel, but a downward trend over several months suggests you may be losing users and should investigate the underlying causes.
Essential Adoption Metrics For Maintenance Operations
Beyond the basic adoption percentage, maintenance teams require complementary product adoption metrics that reveal the extent to which the system is integrated into daily operations and whether usage patterns align with established maintenance best practices. These adoption metrics help identify specific areas where adoption is strong or weak, enabling targeted improvements.
Monthly Active Users
Monthly active users (MAU) is a more stable view of user adoption than daily metrics because maintenance work doesn't follow the same patterns as office-based software usage. This adoption metric helps you understand whether your user base is growing, stable, or declining over time.
Track month-over-month trends to identify seasonal patterns or the impact of training initiatives. A maintenance team might show lower MAU during summer shutdown periods but higher usage during peak production seasons when equipment runs harder and requires more attention.
For maintenance personnel, "active" means engaging with core maintenance functions, not just viewing dashboards or reading reports. A technician who logs in to check their assigned work orders but never updates them isn't contributing to the system's value, even though they appear in your user count.
Feature Adoption Tracking
Different maintenance roles rely on different system features. Tracking feature adoption metrics reveals whether users are getting full value from the platform or merely using it as an expensive digital clipboard.
Critical features for maintenance workflows include work order creation and management, asset history tracking, preventive maintenance scheduling, inventory management, and reporting capabilities. If technicians are updating work orders but never accessing asset histories, they're missing opportunities to learn from past failures and improve repair quality.
Warning signs include high overall adoption but low usage of key features like failure code tracking or spare parts management. This suggests users are treating the system as a task list rather than a comprehensive maintenance management tool.
Retention Vs Churn
User adoption metrics must account for whether users continue engaging with the system over time. Retention measures sustained usage, while churn identifies users who initially adopted the system but stopped using it regularly.
Calculate retention rate by tracking what percentage of users who were active in month one are still active in months three, six, and twelve. Maintenance systems typically exhibit higher retention rates than general business software, as maintenance work often necessitates documentation and tracking, regardless of the platform used.
Common reasons maintenance teams abandon new systems, as highlighted in Why CMMS Implementations Fail, include inadequate mobile access, overly complex workflows that slow down urgent repairs, and poor integration with existing tools like inventory management or asset monitoring systems.
Engagement Frequency
This adoption metric measures how often users interact with the system and reveals whether usage patterns align with maintenance operational needs. Unlike office software, where daily usage is expected, maintenance systems should exhibit usage patterns that align with maintenance schedules and work demands.
Typical engagement patterns vary by role. Technicians might use the system intensively during maintenance windows but less frequently during normal operations, while planners should show consistent daily or weekly usage for scheduling and resource allocation.
Red flags include users who log in frequently but complete few actions (suggesting usability problems) or users who complete many actions in very short sessions (suggesting they're rushing through required steps without engaging meaningfully with the system).
4 Practical Steps To Boost User Adoption And Engagement
Improving adoption rates requires addressing the specific challenges maintenance teams face when integrating new systems into established workflows. The most effective approaches focus on reducing friction, demonstrating immediate value, and supporting users through the transition from old methods to new capabilities.
1. Simplify Onboarding
Effective onboarding for maintenance teams acknowledges that technicians learn differently from office workers and often have limited time for training sessions that don't directly relate to their immediate work responsibilities.
Role-specific training approaches work better than generic system overviews because different maintenance roles use different system features and have different priorities. Train technicians on work order management and mobile access first, then introduce asset history and failure tracking once they're comfortable with basic functions.
Demonstrate immediate value by showing users how the system solves problems they currently face. This includes finding asset manuals, tracking parts usage, or accessing maintenance histories. Don't lead with advanced features or long-term benefits. Focus on what makes their current work easier or more effective.
2. Provide Ongoing Training
Continuous education matters for the adoption of a maintenance system because users discover new needs and challenges as they become more comfortable with basic functions. Initial training gets users started, but ongoing support helps them maximize the system's value over time.
Training formats that work for busy maintenance teams include short, focused sessions during shift changes, mobile-friendly video tutorials that technicians can access on demand, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing during regular maintenance meetings.
Make training relevant to daily maintenance tasks by using real examples from your facility, actual work orders from your system, and scenarios that reflect the types of problems your team regularly encounters.
3. Establish Clear KPIs
Measurable goals for system usage, supported by an action plan, help users understand expectations and provide benchmarks for measuring improvement. These KPIs should align with maintenance performance metrics, allowing users to see the connection between system usage and operational outcomes.
Sample KPIs specific to maintenance operations include the work order completion rate through the system, the adoption percentage of maintenance activities logged digitally, the average time from work order creation to completion, and the accuracy of asset maintenance records.
Track and communicate progress through regular reports that show both system adoption metrics and their impact on maintenance performance. When users see that higher adoption rates correlate with fewer emergency repairs or better equipment reliability, they're more likely to invest time in using the system effectively.
4. Leverage Internal Champions
System advocates within the maintenance team provide peer-to-peer support that's often more effective than formal training or management directives. These champions understand both the technical aspects of maintenance work and the practical benefits of the new system.
Effective maintenance champions typically combine strong technical credibility with effective communication skills and a genuine enthusiasm for process improvement. They don't need to be the most senior technicians, but they should be respected by their peers and willing to help others learn new approaches.
Support champions by providing them with advanced training, direct access to system administrators for quick problem resolution, and recognition for their efforts to help others adopt the system. While this one may be easy to overlook or put off until a later date, it shouldn’t be underestimated. It may be the most critical tool in your implementation kit.
Adoption Rate Vs Utilization: Understanding The Difference
These metrics measure different aspects of system success and provide complementary insights into how effectively your maintenance team is using new technology. Understanding the difference between adoption and utilization helps you diagnose problems and focus improvement efforts where they'll have the most impact.
Adoption rate measures the percentage of target users who use the system at all. This essentially shows how many people have transitioned from non-users to users. A technician who logs in once a week to update work orders is considered "adopted," even if they're not using advanced features or maximizing the system's capabilities.
Utilization rate measures how extensively the system is being used by those who have adopted it. This shows the depth and breadth of engagement among your user base. A technician who only updates work orders but never accesses asset histories or uses mobile features has adopted the system but isn't fully utilizing its capabilities.
High adoption with low utilization suggests that your onboarding was successful in getting people started, but users aren't discovering or utilizing advanced features that could provide additional value. Low adoption, despite high utilization among active users, suggests that the system works well for those who use it. However, barriers prevent broader adoption across the team.
Common Pitfalls That Lower Adoption Success Rate
Maintenance teams face specific challenges when implementing new systems, and understanding these common pitfalls helps you avoid them or address them quickly when they arise. Most adoption failures stem from a misalignment between system capabilities and the realities of maintenance workflow.
Underestimating Training Needs
Inadequate training has a more severe impact on adoption for maintenance teams than for office-based users, as maintenance work often involves time pressure, safety considerations, and complex technical decisions that can't wait for users to figure out software navigation.
Common training oversights in maintenance environments include focusing too heavily on system features rather than workflow integration, providing training only during day shifts when many maintenance activities occur during nights and weekends, and assuming that users will naturally discover advanced features after mastering basic functions.
Signs that additional training is needed include users who revert to old methods under pressure, frequent requests for help with basic tasks weeks after initial training, and low usage of features that should be central to users' daily work.
Not Aligning With Daily Workflow
Systems that disrupt established maintenance routines face adoption challenges because maintenance work often involves urgent repairs, safety protocols, and coordination with production schedules that can't accommodate clunky or time-consuming digital processes.
Workflow mapping before implementation helps identify where the new system will integrate smoothly and where it might create friction. For example, if technicians currently receive work assignments verbally during shift briefings, requiring them to log into a system to get the same information adds steps without obvious value.
Integrate the system into existing processes rather than requiring users to abandon familiar workflows entirely. If technicians are accustomed to carrying paperwork orders, provide mobile access that replicates the portability and quick reference capabilities they're used to.
Ignoring User Feedback
Maintenance technician input is crucial for successful adoption because they understand the practical constraints and requirements of hands-on maintenance work better than system designers or management. Ignoring their feedback often leads to systems that work well in theory but fail in practice.
Collect meaningful feedback through regular check-ins with users, observation of actual system usage patterns, and structured feedback sessions that focus on specific workflow challenges rather than general satisfaction surveys.
Demonstrate that feedback is valued and acted upon by providing regular updates on system improvements, acknowledging user contributions to system enhancements, and involving key users in testing new features or workflow modifications before broader rollout.
Why System Adoption Matters For Maintenance ROI
Low adoption undermines maintenance software investments by preventing you from realizing the operational improvements that justified the initial purchase. If only a small portion of your team uses the system regularly, you're still paying for the entire software license but not getting the full value from your investment.
The relationship between adoption rates and key maintenance KPIs is direct and measurable. Teams with high rates of adoption often experience noticeable improvements in work order completion times, reductions in parts inventory costs, and increased compliance with preventive maintenance. These improvements compound over time, creating substantial ROI that justifies continued investment in system improvements and training.
The long-term benefits of a high adoption rate for maintenance operations include improved data quality for informed decision-making, enhanced coordination between maintenance and operations teams, reduced administrative overhead for tracking and reporting, and an increased ability to implement predictive maintenance based on comprehensive asset data.
How Tractian CMMS Drives Superior Adoption Rates
Getting long-term value from a CMMS depends entirely on whether your team actually uses it consistently and effectively. The right CMMS brings structure, visibility, and control to your maintenance operations, turning daily tasks into long-term performance gains that justify the investment.
Most systems fail because they're too complex, too rigid, or too slow to implement. They create barriers that prevent technicians from integrating the platform into their actual work routines. What you gain in theoretical capabilities, you lose in practical adoption, because users bypass the system when it slows them down or doesn't align with how maintenance work actually gets done.
Tractian CMMS was built specifically to solve adoption challenges by delivering a platform your team can navigate intuitively from day one. Work orders, asset histories, and PM schedules are clean, accessible, and mobile-first, mirroring how maintenance actually happens rather than how software engineers think it should.
The platform goes beyond basic scheduling and logging by providing features such as AI-generated standard operating procedures, mobile execution capabilities that work offline, and automated KPI tracking that converts system usage into actionable insights. You're not just documenting work; you're improving it with every completed task.
All of this comes with zero-cost onboarding and a lightning-fast implementation process that gets your team using the system immediately rather than spending weeks in training sessions. No lengthy IT projects or complex integrations. Just a solution that starts delivering value from the first day of use.
Ready to implement a maintenance system your team will actually use?
