Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) is a professional certification offered by the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP). Individuals who hold the CMRP designation have expert knowledge in reliability and maintenance engineering, strategies, and practices. Earning your CMRP certification demonstrates your commitment to maintaining high standards of excellence in the profession. In this post, we’ll cover what the CMRP program entails and the value a CMRP certification could bring to your maintenance team.
What is the Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional Certification?
Maintenance, reliability, and physical asset management professionals can earn the Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional certification. In fact, it is the top credential for this field. This certification program is the only one of its kind that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANSI follows ISO standards for all accreditation purposes.
The CMRP test examines a broad spectrum of expertise. The SMRP Body of Knowledge (BoK) assesses professional proficiency in five key areas, including:
- Business & Management
- Equipment Reliability
- Manufacturing Process Reliability
- Organization & Leadership
- Work Management
Who Provides the CMRP?
The Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals is both a nonprofit and a member-owned organization. SMRP members are also practitioners in maintenance and reliability. So, fellow maintenance and reliability practitioners own the CMRP program. As a membership-based organization, the SMRP values collaboration, continuous improvement, accountability, trust, integrity, and social responsibility as ways to promote excellence in maintenance and reliability.
The SMRP was established in 1992 and has since grown to include 60 nations on six continents, over 7,000 members, and over 5,000 CMRPs and CMRTs (Certified Maintenance and Reliability Technicians). They are the top resource for maintenance, reliability, and asset management education.
Why Should You Become a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional?
There is a myriad of benefits that come with CMRP certification for both organizations and individual maintenance technicians and reliability professionals.
Better Job Prospects
The Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional certification is a prerequisite for hiring by over 5,000 employers worldwide. Even when CMRP certification is not required, employers often prioritize CMRP-certified candidates. A professional development certificate proves your commitment to continuing education and training within your field.
Globally Recognized Best Practices
CMRP is the only certification program accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Additionally, the CMRP program is recognized globally with its focus on ISO standards.
Maintenance and Reliability Cost Savings
In a survey of SMRP members and CMRP-certified professionals, 72% say that CMRP practices have saved their organization at least $50,000 in the last year. An additional 37% of those surveyed estimate an annual savings of at least $1 million.
Learn How to Use Industry Standard Metrics
SMRP metrics give maintenance and reliability specialists the ability to measure maintenance and reliability practices in a standardized manner. This helps you establish a consistent method of measuring performance, creates realistic expectations, and aids in making valid comparisons.
Improvement of Operational Metrics
62% of organizations that employ CMRPs or CMRTs report an improvement in operational metrics, including overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Furthermore, 45% state that CMRTs and CMRPs increase their company’s problem-solving abilities by thinking “outside the box”.
What Does the CMRP Exam Cover?
Individuals take the CMRP exam to assess how well they know the five pillars of the SMRP body of knowledge.
Business & Management
What do maintenance and reliability have to do with business and management? Well, this pillar guides professionals in translating business objectives into suitable maintenance and reliability goals. As an example, you might set the following goals if you want to achieve an OEE of 90%:
- Fewer than 10% of emergency maintenance labor hours
- No more than three stockouts per week or month
Ideally, these goals should support the business results of your organization.
Equipment Reliability
In equipment reliability, maintenance and reliability professionals focus on two types of activities:
- Assessing the reliability, availability, maintainability, and criticality of equipment.
- Choosing the best maintenance plan of action to ensure that assets continue to operate safely, reliably, and cost-effectively.
The reliability of equipment directly correlates with safety. The more reliable your equipment, the lower your incident rate. So, this is a critical pillar for maintenance and reliability.
Manufacturing Process Reliability
Manufacturing process reliability focuses on improvements in the manufacturing process. While this is highly applicable to manufacturing facilities, such as paper mills or plants, there are still many valuable lessons for service-based or other industries.
Organization & Leadership
As part of the maintenance planning and scheduling process, it is essential to understand how best to assign tasks to your staff. This pillar covers how to align the skills and qualifications of your employees with the right tasks to accomplish organizational goals. After all, world-class maintenance and reliability is a company-wide effort.
Work Management
Maintenance and reliability activities require skills such as scheduling, planning, inventory management, and quality assurance, which fall within the work management subject area. Putting best practices to use in every area of maintenance and reliability work allows CMRPs to truly optimize their organization.
Who Can Take the Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional Test?
Anyone interested in maintenance and reliability can participate in the CMRP, regardless of their educational background or work experience. Candidates who wish to become a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional must meet the following requirements:
- Complete the CMRP application
- Pay all fees in advance
- You have not taken the test in the last six months
- Take note, that the test is currently only available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
After registering online with SMRP, you’ll be able to choose a testing time and location that works for you. There are 5,000 SMRP test centers worldwide, so chances are you can find one close to you. The CMRP exam is timed, and you have two and a half hours to complete the exam. With 110 multiple-choice questions, that works out to 1.7 minutes for each question. Generally, you receive your results within a few minutes of finishing the test.
Apply CMRP Lessons to Your Organization
In addition to becoming a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional, you can also join your local SMRP chapter to connect with other professionals. Not only does this allow you to learn from others in your area, but it also helps you apply what you’ve learned to your organization. The key to CMRP certification is to not just learn the five pillars in theory. To maximize reliability and maintainability in your business, consider how you could employ them. Think about how you could make your company better. You will comprehend the pillars better by doing so, which will benefit you on the test and for years to come. By earning your CMRP certification, you’ll be more qualified to manage a maintenance and reliability program that complies with best practices while being safe, affordable, and effective.
