Even though you, as a plant operator, understand the importance of proper plant maintenance (and the ramifications of improper maintenance), it’s not something you necessarily enjoy talking about – and most people don’t have a lot of time to think about it, either. With the full schedule you already keep, how can you find the time to develop an effective plan for preventative maintenance?
In spite of the challenges, maintaining your plant well is a vital part of keeping operations up and running. In order to continue being profitable, you’ve got to make sure your plant is producing the way it’s supposed to, and that means coming up with a maintenance plan.
Read on for the keys to a successful plant maintenance plan.
Key #1: Know the Cost of Downtime
How much money do you lose when your plant isn’t fully operational? You need to know this number before you do anything else, because it will act as your baseline and will help you to justify the cost of maintenance. The best way to do this is to figure up how much it costs you for every hour your plant isn’t operating at full capacity. Then, use history as a guide to factor in how often this is likely to be the case and consider the costs of repairs.
Key #2: Know the Cost Savings of Maintenance
Next, you’ll need to know how much money you could save by establishing a maintenance plan. If you put a certain amount of money into preventative maintenance, and it keeps your machines up and running when they would otherwise be down, how many hours of downtime have you saved (and thus, how much money)? What you’ll probably find is that the cost of maintenance is more than justified because of how much it saves you in downtime losses.
Key #3: Make a Schedule – and Keep It
Once you know your baseline numbers, you can start making a schedule for addressing your machines’ needs before they present themselves. It will be incredibly helpful to find a partner for your plant maintenance who can come to your facility, inspect your equipment, and make recommendations for a maintenance schedule. Make sure you are a part of the scheduling process so that your maintenance partner isn’t coming in at a bad time – this will help to keep costs down, too.
Key #4: Make a List of Priorities
As you and your maintenance partner are creating a maintenance schedule, be sure to make a priority list of your equipment based on what’s the most likely to experience failure. All your equipment should be inspected on a regular basis, of course, but you’ll want to place special emphasis on the equipment that needs to be watched the closest.
Key #5: Stock Up on Replacement Parts
Even the best-laid plans don’t always prevent problems from occurring. In order to truly keep your downtime as low as possible, you should stock up on replacement parts as you are able. Make sure you know who is responsible for installing replacement parts, how long it takes them, and how quickly you can receive parts if you don’t have one on site.
ProcessBarron Can Be the Maintenance Partner You Need!
We specialize in helping plant operators develop a maintenance plan that works. Reducing downtime is something we’re passionate about because we know that time is money, and when it comes to your business, losing money because of an equipment failure is not okay. If you’re ready to invest in your plant by scheduling preventative maintenance with a partner who cares about your success, contact ProcessBarron today.