The verdict in three sentences
For a plant with 220 assets in an industrial zone such as Yopougon or Vridi, a CMMS pays for itself through avoided line stoppages, not through licence savings. A custom CMMS at 15,000,000-28,000,000 FCFA excluding VAT (about 23,000-43,000 EUR) costs more in year one than a market subscription, but it fits the equipment, power cuts and offline operation typical of West African sites. With one hour of downtime valued at 2,500,000 FCFA, gaining 3 availability points is enough to repay the project within months.
Market CMMS or custom: the real costs
SaaS CMMS tools charge per technician per month, in dollars. For a team of 25 technicians and supervisors, the annual bill becomes significant, before any local adaptation.
| Item | Market SaaS CMMS | Custom CMMS |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | 60-120 USD / technician / month | none |
| Annual cost for 25 users | 10,800,000-21,600,000 FCFA | 0 FCFA |
| Initial build | 2,000,000-5,000,000 FCFA (setup) | 15,000,000-28,000,000 FCFA |
| Hosting and maintenance | included | 3,000,000-5,000,000 FCFA / year |
| Offline use on the shop floor | partial depending on vendor | full, deferred sync |
| French interface, plant nomenclature | often translated, generic | native |
| 5-year cumulative cost | 56,000,000-113,000,000 FCFA | 30,000,000-53,000,000 FCFA |
Over 5 years, custom comes out cheaper from 25 users. Below 10 users, a well-chosen SaaS is often the better call.
What a CMMS must do in a cocoa plant
A bean processing plant runs cleaning, roasting, winnowing, grinding, pressing and packing. Critical assets (roasters, ball mills, hydraulic presses, boilers, compressors) leave no room for improvisation.
| Function | What it delivers | Estimated budget |
|---|---|---|
| Tree of 220 assets + QR codes | history per machine, access in 2 seconds | 3,000,000-4,500,000 FCFA |
| Planned preventive maintenance | routines by run hours or calendar | 3,500,000-6,000,000 FCFA |
| Work requests from the line | operators report faults on mobile | 2,000,000-3,500,000 FCFA |
| Spare parts store | thresholds, critical parts, supplier references | 3,000,000-6,000,000 FCFA |
| MTBF, MTTR, availability dashboards | weekly steering by the technical director | 2,000,000-4,000,000 FCFA |
| Offline mobile app | shop floor entry without network | 1,500,000-4,000,000 FCFA |
| Total | 15,000,000-28,000,000 FCFA |
Grid power cuts, even short ones, and weak Wi-Fi in production halls require an app that works offline and syncs later. This is one of the areas where international CMMS tools disappoint most.
Expected gains, item by item
| Indicator | Before CMMS | Target at 12-18 months |
|---|---|---|
| Line availability | 82% | 88-90% |
| Share of preventive maintenance | 20-30% | 60-70% |
| Mean time to repair (MTTR) | 4 h | 2.5 h |
| Spare parts stock value | 400,000,000 FCFA | 320,000,000 FCFA (-20%) |
| Critical part stock-outs per year | 10-15 | 2-4 |
| Monthly reporting time | 3 days | automatic |
Mini case study
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Mr Kouassi, technical director of a cocoa processing plant in Abidjan, manages 220 assets and a main line with 4,000 planned hours a year. Aiming for 85% availability in year one, instead of 82%, means 3 points, or 120 production hours recovered. Conservatively crediting only half of that gain to the CMMS gives 60 hours × 2,500,000 FCFA = 150,000,000 FCFA of protected output. The 20% stock reduction also frees 80,000,000 FCFA of cash. Against a 24,000,000 FCFA CMMS and 4,000,000 FCFA of annual maintenance, the project pays back in under 3 months on this estimate, a 2026 order of magnitude to validate against your own downtime records.
FAQ
How long does deployment take?
Allow 4 to 6 months: 1 month to inventory and code the 220 assets, 3 to 4 months of development, then a 1-month pilot on one line before rollout.
Can we import our Excel maintenance files?
Yes, intervention history and the parts list are imported at launch. Budget 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 FCFA for migration depending on file quality.
Can the CMMS connect to our ERP?
Yes, through an API or scheduled export to Sage, SAP Business One or Odoo for parts purchasing. This connector adds 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA.
Where is the data hosted?
Your choice: an on-site server to keep working without internet, or the cloud with replication. Cloud hosting costs 100,000 to 250,000 FCFA a month.
Do technicians need training?
Yes, 2 days per team is enough because the mobile app has only 3 or 4 screens. Adoption is the first success factor: aim for 90% of interventions logged by month three.
Let's scope your project. Send us your asset count, technician headcount and downtime costs: we price a custom CMMS between 15 and 28 million FCFA, deployed in 4 to 6 months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
