In the industrial sector, preventive maintenance is key to keeping businesses and their machines running smoothly. For all companies, this is important to preventing downtime. It’s important for commercial and industrial businesses to focus on routine maintenance to avoid unexpected equipment failures and the many problems that can cause you.
We’ve been providing our expert facilities management to industrial businesses across Yorkshire for over two decades, and we’re happy to sure some of the preventative tips we’ve assisted clients with other the years.
What is Industrial Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is a strategic approach to maintaining machinery and equipment that focuses on averting unexpected downtime, decreases in productivity, or costly repair works. Preventing issues where your company will have to use the much more costly and time-consuming reactive maintenance.
To prevent future issues, have a proper preventive maintenance plan in place.
This plan should include regular inspections, routine maintenance, monitoring equipment conditions, and timely repairs before issues spiral.
Preventive maintenance is the strategy to ensure that machinery has longest lifespan possible.
Preventive Industrial Maintenance and Day-to-Day Operations
It’s fair to be apprehensive on how beneficial new approaches can be, weighed against how costly or disruptive they are.
We’ve worked with clients for many years and have worked through many teething problems to get them that much needed new approach to facilities management. Most importantly, we’ve worked hard to make sure that we take on all the headaches, so they can keep looking after their business.
We’re confident that the benefits of integrating preventive maintenance into the day-to-day is significant. It dramatically reduces the likelihood of unscheduled equipment breakdowns, thereby minimizing production interruptions and ensuring continuous operation.
A proactive approach will help save money in the long run and increase efficiency in reaching those all-important deadlines and targets.
This careful planning and regular maintenance results well-maintained machinery and higher quality outputs. If you’re aiming to be sustainable, you’ll be glad to know this results in equipment that is much more energy efficient. In exchange this also reduced the risk of costly emergency and extends the equipment’s shelf life.
So here are 7 useful tips for industrial preventive maintenance:
1. Consult Equipment Manuals
Starting with the most basic advice, it’s ideal to keep your operations by the book.
It’s important that every member of staff understands each piece of equipment’s particular maintenance needs. Ensure that you have the most up to date owner manuals for each piece of equipment and get you and your team revising.
Manufacturers know the best ways to keep their equipment in good working condition and may include their own preventive maintenance advice.
Another thing to keep in mind is that by following the maintenance instructions and suggestions in the manual you can avoid any mistakes that void your warranty. Again, another way that a good preventive maintenance plan and structure can protect you from a nasty hidden cost in the future.
2. Regular Equipment Inspections
You need regular maintenance and servicing for industrial machines. Making a plan and sticking to it not only keeps your equipment intact but ensures accountability across the board.
The regular inspecting of machines and equipment is the key to identifying potential issues before they escalate. Inspect machinery, their components, and electrical systems regularly to detect signs of wear and tear. You may also pick up on otherwise hidden damage that could have easily escalated.
Everything from boilers to cherry pickers, addressing small issues in a timely manner can prevent major breakdowns and costly repairs in the future.
3. Train your teams effectively
This sort of preventive maintenance is nothing without the right staff to enforce it.
The right staff can only make magic with the right training to set them on their way.
Frequent training sessions ensure that personnel are proficient in everything that make yours building tock This investment in skills and personal development not only boosts employee satisfaction and retention but makes everything much more efficient on the warehouse floor.
Rejus is proud to invest in our staff and use specialist facilities management and cleaning staff for our works. For anything outside of our remit, we use carefully vetted sub-contractors who are part of our fully managed services.
New technologies, such as CMMS and IoT devices, are a big part of keeping your business modern and efficient. The staff need to be properly trained to make this all work for you. A culture of knowledge sharing within the maintenance team will have a noticeable impact on your business overall.
4. Keep Accurate Records
As workers complete maintenance tasks, make sure there is a system in place for recording every job and storing all important documents. Record-keeping may not seem worthwhile in the short term for the world of maintenance, but you’re saving yourself a lot of headaches over time.
Keeping a record of completed tasks will help you identify patterns over time and create more optimised maintenance schedules going forwards. Knowing how long tasks are taking each member of the team, creates a much more predictable and easier to plan workload.
Finally, as a financial incentive, this record of your maintenance can boost your equipment’s resale value! It’s also another part of the process that can stop your warranty being voided.
If you choose Rejus for your fully managed services, our online KPI systems helps keep the most important documents recorded and organised for you.
5. Keep Everything Clean
Commercial cleaning services is our bread and butter, and we’ve seen the immediate positive impact on a clean workspace in industries across the UK.
Plus, A clean workplace is a safer workplace.
Top of the line cleaning solutions and high-quality machines make a different, from the ceiling to the floor. Not only will you be reducing the risk of accidents, but you’ll also be creating a more appealing environment for staff and visitors alike.
Think of the smaller details and how they might help. Cleaning equipment should be accessible to prevent any unnecessary risks being taken by cleaners.
Industrial cleaning, or even just cleaning in warehouses, is no small task. Everything from a co-ordinated and regular schedule to using the proper cleaning equipment as to be considered. Getting this right can do wonders for the cleanliness and safety of your property.
6. Keep Spare Parts on Hand
You’d be surprised at how many companies don’t think to keep spare parts on hand for their most valuable machines. Though often, and fairly, storage plays a part.
It’s well worth making the room for spare parts.
As a start take inventory of the parts you frequently need to replace. This is a good starting point of what you should prioritise. You’ll save money on shipping, and drastically reduce downtime, if you bulk buy the most commonly replaced items. You’ll also avoid the added obstacle of that part potentially being out of stock down the line.
Remember to keep an inventory of these spare parts at your facility, making it even quicker to sort through your stock and get one of your valuable machines replaced. Remember this is all in aid of avoiding that dreaded downtime.
7. Call in Professionals When Necessary
There will be times when you need to outsource the maintenance work for your industrial facility. This may be due to a lack of on-sight knowledge on specific equipment, or it may be sue to staff shortages, or maybe you just want to focus on other areas of your business. You’ll find out soon that outside help is needed.
It’s true that there are many preventative maintenance tasks your team can perform in-house, there are times when it’s best to entrust your equipment to outside help.
You could be experiencing a recurring problem, you may need to perform maintenance on a machine that is difficult to access, or maybe don’t have the specialized tools necessary for a maintenance task. It may even be as simple as needing external help to diagnose what the issue even is.
We’re proud to say we’ve helped many people in those situations and more. Our friendly team can carry out a free on-site audit at a time that works for you.
Speak to our team today if you’re in need of expert assistance or advice.