During difficult times it is understandable that business owners will look at every aspect of their organisation to identify potential areas for reducing costs.
Unfortunately this usually affects the business assets which reflect the greatest financial investment, and arguably the greatest impact on an organisations ability to continuously develop and grow their service offering.If you are in the manufacturing sector and your primary service offering lies in the production of a particular product or products then you will no doubt concede that planned maintenance and service contracts are critical to ensuring product quality and delivery schedules are maintained.
However, when there is a downturn in production due to a declining market planned
maintenance is usually one of the first areas to suffer.
Now don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that if a machine is going to stand idle for a substantial period of time and money is tight you may well think to yourself why spend money on planned maintenance?
Well ask yourself this, would you buy a new car and not have it serviced? The answer of course is no, so why should it be different for your machinery?
There are some very simple steps you can make to ensure that your machinery is kept in the best possible condition without it costing you the earth.
Firstly, if you have machinery that is likely to be stood idle for a long period of time, implement a procedure for starting up and turning the machine over under power for approximately 15-20 minutes per week. This will help to ensure that critical parts like bearings and motors don’t start to seize. Additionally this will allow for essential lubricating grease and oils to circulate the lubrication system reducing the risk of blockages etc.
Secondly, always try to keep the machine clean. The print and mail industry is renowned for the amount of dust created by paper converting activities. The infiltration of paper dust and similar debris can drastically reduce the life of many machinery components. Try to keep your machine covered if possible.
Thirdly, talk to your maintenance provider about a revised planned maintenance schedule for you machinery. You should be able to negotiate a revised pricing schedule for their ongoing support in consideration of the change in your circumstances and reduced production activity.
Now don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that if a machine is going to stand idle for a substantial period of time and money is tight you may well think to yourself why spend money on planned maintenance?
Well ask yourself this, would you buy a new car and not have it serviced? The answer of course is no, so why should it be different for your machinery?
There are some very simple steps you can make to ensure that your machinery is kept in the best possible condition without it costing you the earth.
Firstly, if you have machinery that is likely to be stood idle for a long period of time, implement a procedure for starting up and turning the machine over under power for approximately 15-20 minutes per week. This will help to ensure that critical parts like bearings and motors don’t start to seize. Additionally this will allow for essential lubricating grease and oils to circulate the lubrication system reducing the risk of blockages etc.
Secondly, always try to keep the machine clean. The print and mail industry is renowned for the amount of dust created by paper converting activities. The infiltration of paper dust and similar debris can drastically reduce the life of many machinery components. Try to keep your machine covered if possible.
Thirdly, talk to your maintenance provider about a revised planned maintenance schedule for you machinery. You should be able to negotiate a revised pricing schedule for their ongoing support in consideration of the change in your circumstances and reduced production activity.
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