Too often big business tries to cut back on doing preventive maintenance in attempts to cut back on overhead. Small to medium sized business will often try to do the same. This is a huge mistake and ends up costing more in the long run. In this post we will discuss the advantages of preventive maintenance (PM) and how not participating in a PM program in regards to your equipment is the same as just breaking it yourself.
Gaining Control of the Situation
Preventive maintenance is the foundation of any maintenance strategy. Having a strategy in place means that you schedule 80% of your maintenance at least a week in advance without losing any equipment. Some of you are thinking this is impossible because you would need an extra forklift as the ones you are currently using are going nearly 24/7 as it is. No, you do not need an extra, you are already short one.
If you track such things, look at the man hours you have lost to down equipment. Riding your trucks hard and leaving
them hung up wet, serves no one. The efficiency gained by the company in running hard are at least offset by the unplanned down maintenance periods. Often the number add up the other way, showing that some PM work could have saved a lot of money.
Options Exist
Having a truck that can rotate through your line up is often a great idea. The key is to schedule your maintenance so that by the time your “spare” gets through the line-up, it is ready for maintenance its self. This way your maintenance crew or outsourced maintenance service has an opportunity to fix issues before they can arise and impact your over all productivity. If nothing else, plan on rentals when you overhaul or will have a truck down for an extended period of time.
What You Get for Your Time
Did we mention increased overall productivity? In addition to having a steady production of work, you can also see safety increase. Often, “going until it breaks” could mean anything could break. This is not a safe attitude to have. Every accident that does not happen not only keeps employees safe, but saves the company money in workers compensation and insurance payments.
If you are starting a new program, get with your local maintenance and rental facility. The people there will be able to help you come up with and implement a foolproof solution to increase your maintenance efficiency, thus increase productivity and your bottom line. Any of the professionals at Bahrns will be glad to give you a hand on coming up with the right maintenance plan for your business.