It’s commonly understood that preventative maintenance is important for industrial machinery, but it’s more than just “important” it’s critical. When you see it in terms of money saved and customers retained it might just change how you prioritize getting it done.
The machinery on your shop floor required a massive amount of capital investment and each purchase was made with a purpose. Your business had a need big enough to justify the expense. That same need will make itself abundantly clear if, or when, that piece of machinery goes down. In short order, that customer that’s been happy for years will be breathing down your neck if a critical machine goes down. Many times it can be as simple as keeping up with routine maintenance to avoid these situations.
You may feel like you can’t afford the downtime of taking a machine out for maintenance but did you know an unexpected shut down often results in 2-3X as much downtime? Unplanned problems mean waiting for parts to be ordered and delivered and technicians to be scheduled and arrive. A planned preventative maintenance can get parts ordered ahead of time and minimize lost time spent waiting. Not to mention it avoids losing customers due to unplanned downtime. Customers don’t want to hear that you’re going to miss delivery because your machine went down unexpectedly. The cost of just one lost customer could more than cover your preventative maintenance.
A complete and catastrophic breakdown is your worst nightmare. The cost of adding man power to replace a machine or sending all of that work elsewhere is enormous. Most major failures have warning signs which can be detected during preventative maintenance. If you find even just one problem early and prevent complete shut-down it’ll pay for your preventative maintenance costs for years.
Running at maximum efficiency is always the goal. In order to do that it’s important to utilize the latest software upgrades from the OEM, the latest design for consumable parts, and the most current materials for internal components. During routine maintenance is the perfect time to make these changes. While you may lose some money during the downtime, in the end you’ll gain that back and then some with increased efficiencies. In addition, inefficient machines, those not operating at optimum capacity, will consume more electricity and further eat into profits. Regular maintenance can eliminate energy inefficiencies.
Finally, many insurance companies offer premium reductions for companies that keep well maintained machinery. Contact your provider to see what discounts you might qualify for and apply that to the bottom line cost of preventative maintenance to see even further benefits.