4 Key Elements of an Effective Maintenance Program

Many businesses have adopted efficient ways of executing their operations. One of the ways is by using equipment and machinery. These tools increase productivity since they execute tasks faster than workers do.

However, for these tools to serve you efficiently and bring about efficiency, you need to maintain them properly. Maintenance ensures the tools are in top-notch condition. Hence, you can only achieve this by developing a program to keep you on track.

On the other hand, you might be wondering how to develop a maintenance program. Well, you’re in the right place. This article highlights the elements an effective maintenance program should have.

An effective maintenance program should include:

1. Maintenance Schedule

Your equipment requires regular maintenance to meet your needs efficiently. A maintenance schedule should help you keep track of maintenance.

Meanwhile, as you go about your company’s daily operations, you’re likely to forget to maintain your tools and equipment. Unfortunately, you’ll most likely remember them in the event of a breakdown that leads to a work stoppage. However, you can easily avoid unexpected breakdowns by regularly maintaining your tools.

In order to do that, a maintenance schedule should be one of the key elements of your maintenance program. The schedule should include a list of the maintenance tasks needed for each piece of equipment. This list should more or less act like a checklist during each maintenance.

With the list, you won’t miss out on inspecting any part. The tools’ manuals should guide you appropriately in coming up with the list. Most manufacturers will include every piece of information regarding maintenance in their manuals.

Besides listing the aspects needing maintenance, your schedule should also include the time of executing the maintenance activities. To reduce downtime, schedule the maintenance tasks after working hours. Here, you won’t interfere with your core operations, ensuring productivity.

In addition, it would also help to assign the personnel to take care of each piece of equipment. You don’t want a situation where different workers maintain your tools. It brings about a situation where there’ll be no room for accountability should a tool fail.

On the other hand, it’s best that you invest in software, such as 60Hertz, that’ll hold your maintenance schedule. Your maintenance team should have access to the software, whether they’re working remotely or within your premises. This way, you won’t miss out on a maintenance routine, ensuring your tools perform efficiently.

2. Maintenance Record

In maintenance, it’s one thing to have a schedule and another to execute the said plan. Hence, it’s important to include a maintenance record in your maintenance program.

After your team executes any maintenance, they must record all they did. It should include the time they performed the routine and the parts they inspected. Also, it should include the specific activities they did, for example, oil and wheel changes.

With such a record, you can decide when a certain part requires replacement. It would also help to have the maintenance record updated in real-time. Real-time recording eliminates errors during updating, where a worker might forget to add a given task they did. Errors will make you lose track of your maintenance program, reducing its effectiveness.

3. Regular Training

The effectiveness of your maintenance program remains with your maintenance team. They’re the ones who will benefit from it. Therefore, they should be part of your maintenance program. Furthermore, you can conduct regular training to assist them in better caring for your equipment.

The training should entail how to undergo the maintenance, including having practical exercises. You want them to execute the inspections as they should without them missing out on any aspect, especially when they’re doing repairs.

Significantly, errors during maintenance defeat the aim of your maintenance program. Also, should there be better ways of handling the repairs and replacements, train them in these ways to bring about efficiency.

Moreover, it’ll greatly help them if you hold these training sessions regularly, monthly or quarterly. The aim is to keep them on their toes and emphasize the importance of correct equipment maintenance. It’s the only way your tools will bring efficiency to your company.

4. Performance Metrics

Any undertaking requires performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of your project. The same should happen for your maintenance program. Therefore, it’s important to set performance standards, especially during the formulation of the program.

These standards can include the minimal number and frequency of breakdowns you expect with the implementation of your program. Furthermore, these metrics will help you know the effectiveness of the plan.

For example, suppose you aren’t meeting the set standards. In that case, you need to identify the bottlenecks and address them to ensure your program is effective. As you do this, in no case should you adjust your performance metrics to accommodate the inefficiencies?

Nevertheless, your aim should be to adjust your maintenance program to meet the set metrics. On the other hand, if you’re meeting the metrics, you can raise the standards to ensure more efficiency.

Conclusion

Formulating an effective maintenance program isn’t challenging; this article has shown that. You can use the elements given herein as a checklist for your maintenance program. Be sure to adopt these aspects in your program; they’ll ensure efficiency in your operations.