Author: MaintenX

Facility managers have the difficult task of keeping their facilities in good shape to ensure business processes run as smoothly as possible. Moreover, they must accomplish that while minimizing costs. Thankfully, there are many different things that a facility manager can do to help mitigate costs without losing efficiency.

One of the most effective ways to cut costs in your maintenance budget is to implement a preventative maintenance plan for your facility systems and equipment. By inspecting regularly and making small fixes over time, the business won’t be bombarded with reactive maintenance necessities. Preventative maintenance extends the lifetime of your equipment, reduces the likelihood of dangerous and costly failure, and makes your expenses predictable and small rather than unexpected and large. A well-maintained facility allows its owner to schedule replacements and upgrades at his convenience, as opposed to being forced into them.

Another way to cut maintenance costs is to contract in a maintenance team instead of employing one full-time. This is particularly true for small businesses with limited resources. An outside team is only used when needed, so all associated costs are justified, and don’t come with HR costs.

We at MaintenX know the struggles of operating within a maintenance budget, and we look forward to helping you manage yours. To learn more about our services, call us anytime.

Some businesses can manage their facility and office spaces with in-house maintenance professionals. Others, however, do not have the resources to fund a full maintenance staff, which can cause problems. Thankfully, it is possible for a company to operate successfully with a reduced maintenance staff, and facility managers can employ several strategies to keep costs down while avoiding malfunctions.

A focus on preventative maintenance can be especially helpful for small businesses with reduced maintenance staff. It prevents major problems from arising and requires little manpower. By scheduling regular inspections and performing minor fixes frequently, costly equipment breakdown becomes unlikely.

But some businesses are in the unhappy medium of having specialized equipment or extensive infrastructure with insufficient budget for enough full-time help. In that case, there is nothing wrong with bringing in additional maintenance support. Many companies specialize in facility maintenance and contract out their teams. This is often the most cost-effective option for the businesses stranded in the middle.   

But only one of those companies will consult with you to draw up a comprehensive maintenance plan and carry it out. MaintenX excels at all aspects of facility maintenance, drawing on more than 30 years of experience in the industry. Contact us anytime to keep your business humming and you costs down.

There are two dominant models for maintenance operations management: centralized and decentralized. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and choosing the appropriate method largely depends on the size and resources available to a company.

The centralized model involves having all of the procedures and projects go through a single team or facility manager. This is popular among small businesses who only have a single, smaller facility with fewer systems and less equipment to manage. The small scale makes it cost-effective, and a well-organized central hub can execute good vertical project control. Past a certain scale, however, it can end up being less efficient if the single team gets overloaded.

A decentralized maintenance management plan is more common among larger companies with multiple facilities, lots of equipment, or an expansive campus. Under this model, different parts of the facility are broken up into different management teams and technical staff. On the upside, there will almost always be personnel available to meet maintenance needs. With that, however, comes difficulty in management. The more teams there are, the more organized the overall communication and coordination scheme has to be.

No matter which model your business chooses, MaintenX is on your side to assist in any and all facility maintenance plans and projects. To learn more about the services we offer, please contact us at any time.

Efficiency is the goal of any facility manager, particularly when it comes to maintenance of business systems and equipment. Efficiency should go hand in hand with reliability to optimize performance, and this is the primary idea behind reliability-centered maintenance. This kind of maintenance planning seeks to ensure that all processes are running as they should, with a minimal risk of failure.

Reliable equipment is worth paying for. A higher initial capital outlay justifies itself in useful lifespan. If machinery and facility systems like HVAC work effectively for a long time, then the facility manager has avoided the inconvenience, expense, and hassle of constant repairs or even premature replacement. Breakdowns are one of the leading causes of downtime in a facility, and they can also become safety hazards. Maintenance is an overlooked component of keeping employees safe.

So how does one execute a reliability-centered maintenance plan? The answer lies in preventative maintenance, which is the regularly scheduled inspection of facility systems and equipment. Small fixes are made as necessary, extending the life of infrastructure and reducing the risk of sudden failure. Preventative maintenance allows business owners to plan for upgrades and major repairs instead of having them thrust upon them.

MaintenX excels in helping businesses develop and execute a reliability-centered maintenance campaign, including preventative maintenance scheduling. We would be happy to assist your business with those and other services; contact us anytime.

All businesses aspire to maximize efficiency, and responsibility for this falls to the company facility manager. Operational efficiency has a lot to do with managing the resources of the facility, whether water, electricity, time, or money, in a way that reduces waste and maximizes output. There are a few ways to go about this, varying by facility type, but the end goal remains the same for all.

Properly maintaining facility systems and equipment goes a long way to increasing overall efficiency; clean and well-maintained equipment just runs better. Preventative maintenance is best practice when it comes to execution, because regular small fixes are more cost-effective than large repairs at an inconvenient time. Moreover, equipment breakdown usually leads to downtime, which is the absolute bane of operational efficiency.

Cutting down on wasteful use of electricity and other utilities is also a major boon to efficiency. This can be achieved a number of ways, but one of the best is through appliances that are designed to be “green,” or do the same work with less energy. These might include motion-controlled light switches, sinks, and other such pieces of equipment. Don’t forget to change behavior, too; get in the habit of turning off lights when they’re not needed, use an office dishwasher instead of hand washing, etc.

Maximum efficiency is the goal of every facility manager, but it’s easier to achieve than one might think. We at MaintenX are here to help in any facility maintenance project or schedule to help your business be the best it can.

One of the primary roles of the facility manager is to manage the resources of their business and building as efficiently as possible. The first step in this endeavor should always be minimizing waste. This is easier said than done, but there are many things that a facility manager can do to reduce waste in their commercial building.

One of the best ways to reduce waste is to install equipment that consumes less. Motion-activated light switches, for example, ensure that power only goes to lights when occupants actually need it, and flushless urinals save many thousand gallons of water every year. Any initial expense incurred from buying and installing is quickly recouped by their savings. If you reduce your facility’s consumption by a significant enough amount, you might even qualify for certain tax breaks.

Another type of equipment that is useful for reducing utility waste is the kind that does the same amount of work for less energy. Switching to fluorescent or LED lightbulbs or water-based appliances marked as “green” will cut down on wasteful usage of electricity and water. Do some research on what efficient equipment could fit your facility’s needs first, then pick the most cost-effective option for you.

Installing and maintaining resource-saving equipment will save resources and money in the long run. To learn more about MaintenX can help select the best kind for your commercial facility and install it on-site, please call us today.

As autumn approaches the weather gets progressively cooler, and certain parts of the United States switch from using their air cooling to their air heating. Both functions run off the same HVAC system, of course, and proper maintenance is required in order for the units to run as efficiently as possible. This is especially true in business or commercial facilities where the comfort of all employees and customers is the facility manager’s responsibility.

One of the best ways to improve the heating efficiency of your HVAC system is to give it a thorough inspection before it starts being heavily used. Odds are that the system was used a lot during the summer, but until the weather really turns it might be idler. During that time of decreased use, look over the entire system, especially the heating components. By doing this, you can catch problems like dirty or damaged heating coils early on, and repair them before they are needed.

It is also a good idea to inspect the ventilation systems of the facility. Even if the AC system seems to be working properly, if airflow is restricted, it will reduce the efficiency of the system overall. Replace filters now to ensure the system isn’t working harder than it has to.

MaintenX has more than 30 years of experience inspecting and repairing HVAC systems, so contact us today to schedule a visit with our seasoned professionals.

Wherever you are in the country, your facility can be invaded by unwanted pests. Insects, rodents, and other crawlers are annoying, but many do real damage. For small businesses in particular, dealing with pests might be a challenge, so here are some tips that any facility manager or business owner can use.

The best way to proactively repel pests is to adopt good cleaning practices. Insects, in particular, are attracted to food items and sugars. Larger arthropods follow them, so remove any unwanted or unused foodstuffs from susceptible areas. Always dispose of trash in proper receptacles, preferably sealed trash cans. In addition, remember to always clean drains, fountains, and bar drips, as even lingering scents of sugars and food can attract ants and other small insects. Consider fake office plants, which attract nothing.

Clean entryways into rooms and buildings; pests enter the business space through them as well. Dusting and cleaning doorways, ceilings, and windows will help remove materials that pests find attractive. Mop heads and other reusable cleaning tools should also be cleaned and replaced regularly.

Beyond that, hire a pest control company as soon as you see evidence of pests. It’s easier and cheaper to stop an infestation from taking hold than to hire an exterminator to remove an existing one. Toxic chemicals can be hazardous to employees, and the office may even have to be vacated for some time.

We at MaintenX understand those costs, so we recommend taking the preventative option. To learn more about our janitorial and other facility maintenance services, please contact us anytime.

Cleanliness is an important attribute for any business or office space, and not just for appearance’s sake. A clean office increases employee health and productivity, while boosting morale and encouraging loyalty.

Even if an employee doesn’t get “sick” from conditions in the office, minor symptoms can reduce performance. Dust from uncleaned carpeting or office surfaces can irritate sinuses, mold and mildew can cause allergic reactions, etc. Companies lose $226 billion per year to sick days; dust exposure alone reduces cognition by up to 6%. A clean workplace, on the other hand, reduces the probability of colds and flu by 80%, and is associated with an overall productivity gain of up to 8%.

There’s value on the consumer side as well; customers consistently rank cleanliness above value, speed, and even convenience in restaurants, and above lighting, music, and temperature in retail. 94% of consumers would avoid a business with unclean restrooms.

Evidence also suggests the morale-boosting effects of a clean office environment; it reduces absenteeism by 46%. Sick days can sometimes be a proxy for job dissatisfaction. Counteract that with a good scrubbing!

Not all small businesses have a cleaning staff, but all need to be regularly cleaned for sanitation and employee productivity. To learn about how we at MaintenX can meet all of your janitorial and facility maintenance needs, please feel free to contact us at any time. The question isn’t whether you can afford regular cleaning, it’s whether you can afford not to clean.

Reactive maintenance involves repairing or replacing a piece of equipment or facility system when it breaks down or ceases proper function. While reactive maintenance is sometimes necessary for emergency situations, working to prevent those situations will save time, money, and hassle.

Preventative maintenance is the best way to reduce the likelihood of reactive maintenance in your business. The basic idea is to monitor and service your plant regularly, performing small fixes over time. This spreads out maintenance cost, giving you a small consistent expense as opposed to large unpredictable ones. It also allows you to plan repairs and upgrades instead of being forced into them at potentially inconvenient times.

Preventative maintenance also extends the lifespan of facility systems and equipment, which maximizes your infrastructure investments. Replacements are often costly and can cause facility downtime, which is best avoided. No one wants to be without A/C in midsummer or without running water anytime.

At MaintenX, we believe in the power of preventive maintenance as an effective alternative to contingent reactive maintenance. We would be happy to help your business draw up a maintenance schedule and execute it, so please feel free to contact us at any time.