A preventive maintenance plan can extend the life and reliability of any company’s assets, but it is far too complex to maintain manually for most organizations. Given the breadth and volume of assets, it is critical to have a computerized maintenance management system. The effective use of such a system will enhance your assets’ lifespan and reliability in a number of ways.
Stay on Top of Manufacturer Recommended Maintenance
A computerized maintenance management system can aid greatly in ensuring that manufacturer-recommended maintenance is completed in a timely manner. As part of the initial entry of an asset into the software, these maintenance events will be catalogued, and reminders set to schedule when appropriate. This will allow for a seamless maintenance plan. The importance of appropriate and timely preventive maintenance cannot be overestimated, as many asset breakdowns are a result of missed manufacturer-recommended maintenance services.
Detailed Notes in a Moment’s Notice
Perhaps the greatest value of a robust preventive maintenance software package is the ability to review detailed notes on the status and history of an asset in a moment. Instead of needing to research manual files or make a phone call to determine the maintenance history of an asset, an individual can access the same information on a web-enabled computer. This will allow a maintenance technician to more deftly address the root cause of the breakdown, and as a result reduce the downtime for an asset. Beyond that, analyses can be conducted to identify any trends for particular brands or models, to inform future asset purchases.
Schedule Maintenance and Deploy Staff
Maintenance management systems allow for enhanced simplicity in the implementation of a preventive maintenance plan. All assets will need maintenance, no matter what system is employed. However, this maintenance can be scheduled and assigned well in advance, and in alignment with slow times for the business. This will ensure that assets are available when needed, without any surprises. As a side benefit, an effective preventive maintenance plan will create more opportunities for an organization to stay lean and avoid overstaffing based on a poor understanding of current maintenance needs.
Keep Replacement Parts on Hand
Part of reliability is a quick return to service when an asset does fail unexpectedly. A fully functioning preventive maintenance plan includes keeping replacement parts for all assets on hand at the appropriate locations. This will allow maintenance technicians to fix assets and return them to service as soon as possible. After all, assets are maintained by an organization to work, and subsequently each hour of downtime represents lost revenues.
DPSI is an award-winning provider of maintenance software for many industries including fleet, manufacturing and more. We partner with our clients to ensure their success, providing them with everything from a thorough initial assessment to ongoing support. Contact us for more information or request a free demo today.
