A lot of companies today are holding onto maintenance mindsets that simply aren’t benefiting them—they wait until something breaks down before they fix it. That sounds logical, right? This mindset, also called reactive maintenance, is costing these companies more time and money.
There are a lot of decisions to be made when it comes to maintaining, repairing, or replacing equipment. Still, most of it boils down to one simple question: would you rather fix your machinery when it breaks, or prevent the machinery from breaking in the first place? When the line is down—seemingly always in your busy season—you might find yourself wishing you could schedule your own downtime instead of waiting for it to strike. With proactive maintenance, you can.
While proactive maintenance—the idea of preventing problems instead of solving them when they come up—can sometimes result in a larger investment upfront, it’s the most cost-effective option in the long run. When you’re considering how much time and money is really lost due to equipment failure, you can’t count the money spent on maintenance without counting the time wasted while your machines are shut down or malfunctioning. You’ve heard it before—time is money.
Benefits of Proactive Maintenance
When it comes to proactive maintenance, there’s a wide variety of benefits. Regarding operations, proactively maintaining your equipment will not only improve processes but will also improve efficiency and productivity overall. You’re basically chipping away at a large amount of unscheduled downtime you’d have to deal with if you weren’t being proactive. Not to mention, the downtime your facility experiences is now schedulable—that means you’re choosing when your machines are down, and they’re down for less time overall. This flexibility results in a smoother, more consistent operation—that leads to a greater output, which leads to more money.
While it might cost more upfront to maintain equipment that isn’t broken, well maintained machinery won’t break down nearly as often. In the long run, that means far less downtime, which of course, means less money wasted on downtime. If implemented correctly and consistently, proactive maintenance makes a great addition to your efficiency strategy.
Making the Transition to Proactive Maintenance
Implementing a proactive maintenance mindset is, of course, easier said than done. One of the hardest parts of switching to proactive maintenance is having everyone involved in your facility’s processes learn the new way of doing things. It might take your team some time to adjust to changing operations, and possible disruptions in what they’re familiar with.
If you’re accustomed to an outdated system, it might be hard to realize what’s possible with a new system that’s designed to benefit your facility long-term. Having a proactive mindset when it comes to equipment maintenance will save you money and time. It will also help your facility keep up with evolving technology and increased customer demands.
For more advice to keep you on schedule, on budget, and always informed, call Revere Control Systems today.