Have you ever heard the saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Well, that saying couldn't be more true when it comes to maintenance in a maize milling or juice processing or bottling company or any other kind of operations that depends heavily on equipment.
Picture this: you're running your company like a well-oiled machine, and suddenly, one of your machines breaks down. You call your maintenance team in a panic, and they're rushing around trying to fix the issue while you're losing money by the second. Not a great feeling, right?
Now, imagine if you had a proactive maintenance system in place. Your procurement & maintenance teams would be the heroes of the day, and you'd be saving money left and right.
Here's how you can set up a proactive maintenance system in a few simple steps:
Step 1: Assess your equipment
The first step is to assess all of your equipment and determine what maintenance is required for each machine. This includes everything from routine maintenance like lubrication and filter changes to more complex repairs.
Step 2: Create a maintenance schedule
Once you've assessed your equipment, it's time to create a maintenance schedule. This should include all routine maintenance tasks, as well as any repairs that need to be made. The schedule should be based on the manufacturer's recommendations and any specific requirements for your industry.
Step 3: Assign responsibilities
Now that you have a maintenance schedule in place, it's time to assign responsibilities. Who will be responsible for performing each maintenance task? Make sure that everyone on your team knows their role and what is expected of them.
Step 4: Implement a tracking system
To ensure that your proactive maintenance system is working effectively, you need to implement a tracking system. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet or as complex as a specialized software program. The important thing is that you're keeping track of all maintenance tasks and when they were performed.
Now, you may be thinking, "but how much money can I really save by implementing a proactive maintenance system?" Well, let me show you some mock data on possible real money saving calculations:
Let's say that you run a maize milling company and one of your machines breaks down. The repair costs you $10,000, and you lose $20,000 in production while the machine is down. If you had caught the issue during routine maintenance, you could have fixed it for $2,000 and avoided the downtime altogether. That's a savings of $28,000!
Or, let's say you run a juice processing company, and one of your machines breaks down during a busy production run. The repair costs you $5,000, and you lose $15,000 in production while the machine is down. If you had caught the issue during routine maintenance, you could have fixed it for $1,000 and avoided the downtime altogether. That's a savings of $19,000!
See what I mean? A proactive maintenance system can save you a ton of money in the long run. And not only that, but your maintenance team will be the heroes of the day, saving you from downtime and lost profits. So go ahead, set up that proactive maintenance system and give your maintenance team the recognition they deserve!