It goes without saying that if you service a vehicle on a regular basis, it will run more safely and efficiently as well as last longer. The same holds true for equipment at your manufacturing plant or facility. You can lower costs, boost efficiency, and extend equipment life with the help of preventive maintenance software. Software can play an essential role for managing the maintenance of facilities and production equipment.
A large investment has been made to establish your plant or facility, so it makes sense to effectively manage maintenance. Computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) records the assets your company owns and manages, alerts you when maintenance work needs to be performed on your assets, and provides you with information about spare parts, costs, and asset failures. Below are five ways to extend equipment life with preventive maintenance software.
1. Manage spare parts
Be sure to have spare parts on hand and track their location with CMMS software. If you don’t have the spare parts and tools needed to maintain an asset on hand, the asset may break down before you are able to obtain the replacement parts you need. Preventive maintenance software helps you keep a well-stocked spare parts inventory.
2. Inspect your assets on a regular basis
Equipment doesn’t usually break down without warning. A maintenance manager should inspect equipment on a regular basis to look out for warning signs that it needs work or maintenance. Never rely solely on CMMS software to tell you when to perform maintenance. Visually inspecting your assets on a regular basis will help you nip problems in the bud and extend equipment life.
3. Take detailed notes about your equipment
Take detailed notes about each and every piece of equipment you have. Information that you need to keep includes the age of the machinery, issues, repairs, warranty information, etc. The more information about your machinery that you have at your disposal, the easier it will be to handle any issues that arise.
4. Create an effective maintenance plan
Effective maintenance begins with a plan. A maintenance plan will help you stay on budget, boost profits, and increase the reliability and life expectancy of your equipment. A comprehensive maintenance plan outlines the tasks you need to perform to properly maintain each piece of equipment. It also includes information about stakeholder needs, health and safety regulations, training and managing staff, and implementing CMMS software.
5. Optimize your preventive maintenance schedule
A poorly planned maintenance schedule can lead to equipment failure. To ensure that every piece of equipment you have receives the maintenance it needs, utilize preventive maintenance software to develop a rigorous schedule.
If your maintenance management software generates a corrective work order for a piece of equipment, you’ll know that you need to adjust the preventive maintenance schedule. On the other hand, if your CMMS tells you that a particular piece of equipment is doing well, you may need to shift your attention to other equipment.
Extend Equipment Life with Preventive Maintenance Software
DPSI offers preventive maintenance software for companies, large and small, spanning many industries including manufacturing, facilities, food and beverage, fleet and more. Contact us today for more information about our products or to sign up for a free 30-day trial.
