by Jerry Mooney
In any manufacturing environment, one of the biggest efforts you are going to undertake is to prevent loss by any means. Not only does this mean product loss, but it also means time and money lost due to the breakdown of equipment. Here, we’re going to look at the steps you can take to make sure your manufacturing facilities are always at their maximum operational capacity.
Make sure you’re tracking the data
How do you know how much you’re really spending on repairs and replacements? It can easy to lose track of each little problem throughout the working day. As such, it’s important to have a system of metrics by which to measure it. By measuring total effective equipment performance, you can start to note exactly how much productivity you’re losing as a result of every equipment-related downtime incident. This can also help you focus on those causes of downtime that are most costly.
Create a preventative maintenance schedule
If you’re constantly rushing to put out fires as they appear, you will be dealing with a lot more loss than is necessary. To that end, you should make sure that you’re investing in preventative maintenance, rather than simply reacting to each new problem. One tip that can help you cut costs and upskill your employees is to make the person responsible for operating the machinery also responsible for taking the time to maintain it. The better that the people on the ground get to know the equipment, the better they are to sooner notice any issues.
Make sure you’re purchasing quality
When it comes to new installations and repairs, you have to make sure that you’re not skimping simply to get things up and running as soon as possible. If you’re not choosing parts fit for the environment, you are going to need repairs again much sooner than you thought. For instance, stainless steel pipe is much more effective than other materials thanks to its ability to withstand extreme temperatures, and due to its low rate of contamination. You have to think about how your parts not only affect your operations but the integrity of the product on the other side.
Get to know your equipment
As part of fixing the supply of parts to your facilities, as well as your preventative maintenance efforts, you are going to get to know your machines better. This means you can get to know which parts are most likely to malfunction first. You should also get in touch with their manufacturers to confirm this. This way, you can either have a backup ready to get up and running or you can at least calculate the costs of the replacement and be ready to get the ball rolling at any time, saving money by acting more quickly on issues.
Unless you’re taking the time to measure your operational efficiency, to prevent wear and tear, and finding the best resources on the market, it will always be a race to repair faster than things break down. Don’t get caught in that cycle.