Irrespective of the type of business you run, down time is never good. There’s always a chance that you may miss deadlines and upset your customers. When you miss one deadline due to downtime, you’re likely to miss others. Alternatively, you may find that you have to hurry the rest of your orders. A direct consequence of this is you may fail to offer your customers high quality work. 

This is where using pre-emptive maintenance can be extremely useful. With the ability to help reduce downtime, it can also keep your equipment in better shape. 

Let’s take a look at how you can stay on top of downtime with a little effort on your part.

Downtime occurs when some equipment or machinery begins to fail. When failure takes place, whole orders can be delayed. Parts may not be used when they should and fresh ingredients could begin to go off. 

When some or all of the above takes place it could result in money being lost. Trust that your customers had in you may dissipate and your reputation may not be what it once was. 

While downtime may not always cause such issues, it’s still worth avoiding. The backlog of work could build up, reducing space in the warehouse. In addition to this, you and your team could feel under even more pressure. Here’s where mistakes can be made. 

When you use pre-emptive maintenance, however, it takes away those concerns. A direct consequence means that your whole team can be much more productive.

One of the greatest advantages associated with using pre-emptive maintenance is its ability to bring peace of mind. The dealing with and the planning of maintenance-related issues ensures that almost every tool, equipment, vehicle, machine, etc is ship-shape and Bristol fashion (in very good condition). 

Tackling maintenance issues before they arise also means that you can get on with the tasks your customers expect. “How do you reach this stage?” we hear you ask. It’s simple. All that you need to do is create and refer to maintenance schedules.

Creating a maintenance schedule can be fairly straightforward, depending upon the software that you use. Ideally, you would have chosen some of the latest and best software that updates itself regularly. Additionally, the software should be easy to use. 

Pre-emptive maintenance is all about planning ahead. It’s about creating those maintenance schedules for every vehicle, tool, machine, etc. It’s about knowing when something needs to be examined in case there’s a fault. 

When it comes to the process of creating a maintenance schedule, you should find that it’s fairly easy. Simply set a reminder when you’d like the tool, for example, to be examined. Giving the reminder a name such as “Six-monthly maintenance reminder” makes sense. It also helps you to remember to set other reminders in the future.

Some tracking tools specifically let you set maintenance reminders. Others will only let you set reminders/alarms. However, you can typically name the alarms/reminders, helping you to keep track of them. 

Once your reminders have been set, just make sure that your maintenance team knows about them. They should be able to set new reminders and let you know when something has been repaired.

Once reminders have been set you’ll need to keep track of them. We’ve already seen that you’ll need to set them again. This is all part of the pre-emptive maintenance process. 

Make sure everything is regularly maintained so that it stays in the best possible condition. Don’t miss anything out, even the equipment that you rarely ever use. It will still need to be looked after. 

Ensure the maintenance team has the right tools so they can get the job done. Also, remind them to check off when maintenance has been completed on any tool, vehicle, etc. This will help you to understand what still needs to be done.

The best way for you to avoid downtime is to create a plan and stick to it. Think about what type of equipment you use and how often it needs to be looked over. Consider what you will do should you need to replace your equipment. Do you have a spare to use in the meantime or can you have a replacement delivered quickly? If you really want to avoid downtime in the future, you’ll need to keep on top of the maintenance. Read those reports you printed off and see what’s been repaired and what is still waiting. If things are breaking down consider sending them for maintenance more often. Whatever it is that you decide to do, do what you can to avoid downtime in the future. You need to keep your business running so you and your customers are happy.

Wish to chat with an expert about using pre-emptive maintenance and other strategies to reduce asset downtime? Contact us today at team@itemit.com. 

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