Category: Building Maintenance

What is Total Productive Maintenance?

Most industrial production is done with the help of machines. When a mechanical breakdown happens, this will inevitably have an effect on the overall productivity of your facility, leading to a loss in profit.

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is one way of maintaining and refining the quality and consistency of production of:

  • Machines
  • Equipment
  • Employees
  • Supporting Processes

Total Productive Maintenance can be of great value and its target is to expand and streamline the core business processes of your company.

Why use Total Productive Maintenance?

Total Productive Maintenance is designed to:

  • Avoid waste in an ever-changing economy
  • Produce goods efficiently without sacrificing quality
  • Reducing overall production costs
  • Virtually eliminate the production of defective products

Preventive Maintenance

Preventative Maintenance is one of the most successful and time-honored systems in industrial settings. This is a daily maintenance system (cleaning, inspecting, oiling, and re-tightening equipment), designed specifically to maintain the optimum condition of equipment and prevent failure through refreshing and replacing small parts as needed, periodic scheduled inspection or thorough equipment condition analysis to measure the level of facility and equipment decline.

Just as a human’s life is extended by preventive medical care and regular doctor’s visits and check-ups, the life of service equipment and facility features can be prolonged by doing regular preventive maintenance.

 

Total productive maintenance helps workers care for the equipment and machines they use daily. This process can reduce costs while improving efficiency.

Want to know more about TPM? Contact MaintenX today!

Analyzing Your Office Space Usage

For almost any business, property and rental costs are the second biggest expense after employee wages. Analyzing your office space usage can help you decide if you need the space you have, and if you’re using your space in the most efficient way possible.

What is Space Utilization?

Analyzing how you use your area can help you reallocate space, shift workflow, or relocate to another space better suited to your needs while maximizing benefits and reducing costs.

Knowledge is Power

Knowing how much of your office space is really being used on a regular basis can save you and your company a lot of money.

The objective of office space analysis is to:

  • Establish a standard of current office space use.
  • Show opportunities for improving space effectiveness.
  • Use that data to create an action plan to enhance your company’s productivity while maintaining a competitive advantage.

Efficient Use of Office Space

When you track the space utilization of your workplace, you can then design a streamlined work environment. After this process, when you walk through the building you won’t see empty desks and unused meeting rooms.

With a nimble, responsive, and organized workplace, you will find that productivity increases, property, and rental costs are lower, and employees are happier and more satisfied with their work.

To learn more about office space usage analysis, call a MaintenX representative today.

How Fans can Increase Energy Savings

If you want to decrease your energy use and trim the fat from your electricity bill, ceiling fans might be able to help. With these power saving tips, you’ll learn how to make the most of your ceiling fans while reducing HVAC costs.

Ceiling Fans

If you’re looking to maximize your savings and lower your energy consumption effectively, a ceiling fan is your best bet. Ceiling fans circulate air in a room without using too much electricity. If you use an air conditioning system, a ceiling fan will allow you to use it less while maintaining the temperature you want.

Unfortunately, ceiling fans are appropriate only in rooms with ceilings at least 8 ft. high. Ceiling fans must be installed so their blades are no closer than 8 inches from the ceiling.

Generally speaking, more expensive ceiling fans operate more quietly often last longer than cheaper versions.

ENERGY STAR

To maximize your energy savings, look for ceiling fans that have the ENERGY STAR label. Fans with this label are guaranteed to move air 20% more efficiently than standard—and more expensive, over time—models.

Though ceiling fans deliver better circulation of cool air, they can still waste your money and energy if no one is in the room to enjoy their effects. Here are a few tips to avoid this:

  • Don’t install fans in rooms that aren’t used very often.
  • Turn fans off as you leave a room.
  • Keep the fan turned off, and the light on as a default. Only use the fan feature when you need it, and turn it off when you don’t.

If you’d like to know more about fans and energy savings, contact MaintenX today!

How Paint Affects Your Office Space

The effect paint can have on the environment of your office is enormous. Color choice can affect your employee’s behavior, productivity, and general well-being. Colors can be vital in setting the right atmosphere for workers to feel relaxed and motivated.

Below are some tips for finding the right paint scheme for your office:

Blue

Blue produces a calming effect on the body, and it’s not often you’ll find someone opposed to the color. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also the most popular answer to the question “What’s your favorite color?”.

Green

To boost creativity, integrate green into places where people brainstorm together or where computers are located. The color green also:

  • promotes agreement
  • reduces stress
  • alleviates eye strain

Yellow

The color yellow is a welcoming, stimulating color. It’s best utilized in active environments. Yellow is also good for:

  • stimulating hopefulness
  • fostering attention and direction
  • promoting innovation and creativity

Red

Red is a perfect paint color choice for office environments where people need to do something physical, rather than mental. Because the color red can sometimes trigger stress and anger, it should be used selectively and sparingly.

White

As a general rule, white is a terrible color to paint your office. White walls often elicit a sterile or clinical feeling, like being in a doctor’s office. It’s best to use white in small doses in the work environment.

If you’d like to know more about color psychology in the workplace, contact MaintenX.

Planning for Power Outages

There are a lot of things that can cause power outages, such as:

  • Severe storms
  • High winds
  • Earthquakes
  • Power surges
  • Brownouts
  • Blackouts
  • Tornadoes
  • Hurricanes
  • Accidents

Though outages can be unpredictable, there are some simple things that you can do to stay safe if they happen to you.

Emergency Plan

Having a power outage emergency plan is the most essential part of being prepared. Here’s a tip a lot of people forget to put on their emergency preparedness checklist: know where your emergency release lever on your electric garage door is. That way, you can get your car in and out in the event of an outage. It’s also a smart idea to hide a spare key outside your home, especially if you usually depend on your garage door as your main entryway.

Safety First

  • Stay away from downed power lines and anything that touches them.
  • Never use your outdoor stove, gas grill, or heater indoors.
  • Keep candles and any other open flame away from pets and small children.

Emergency Kit Essentials:

At a minimum, have these items in your emergency kit, and keep the kit in an easily accessible place:

  • Flashlights
  • Extra Batteries
  • Battery-powered Radio
  • Bottled Water
  • Camping Equipment
  • Cell Phone

 

Charge your Phone

If you have advance warning of an outage, charge your phone immediately. Try to keep a full battery by disabling non-essential apps and turning down the brightness of your screen.

Want to know more about power outage safety? Contact MaintenX today.

Preparing your Building for Snow and Ice

Keeping track of facility maintenance problems can be a real headache—especially if you have multiple buildings to maintain. That’s why having a solid maintenance plan for each season can be a lifeline for facility managers and business owners.

The safety and security of your occupants is certainly an important issue, but as facility management evolves, it is getting much easier to track and maintain the status of buildings year-round. Here are some tips to prepare your facility for the winter months:

Think Ahead

 As a facility manager, it’s vital to have an emergency plan in place and on paper and to train your employees on how to enact it. This should include preventive measures and procedures, as well as a list of critical shut-off locations for utilities, such as:

  • water
  • electrical mains
  • emergency generators
  • fire protection systems

Preventive Maintenance

 Ensure that your facility’s water heater and HVAC systems inspected and maintained on a regular basis. These systems must work especially hard during the winter and summer.

Clear Walkways

 Always keep walkways clear of snow and ice. You can use salt, chemical pellets, or sand. It’s always a smart idea to put out caution signs when needed.

Emergency Generators

 Check the fuel oil supply for your emergency generators in case of an outage. Also, make sure to maintain and inspect your generators on the schedule recommended by their manufacturer.

For more information on preparing your office building or facility for a snowstorm or winter weather, please contact MaintenX.

What is Resilient Flooring?

Need a long-lasting, water-resistant flooring material for your business? Resilient flooring might be right for you.

What is Resilient Flooring?

Resilient flooring is made of both natural and synthetic materials – generally a composite of polymer materials. Polymers have very large molecules, which increase strength, durability, and lifespan of floors.

Types of Resilient Flooring

  • Vinyl: The most popular option on the market today, this type of flooring comes in three varieties: Vinyl Composition Tile, Solid Vinyl Tile, and Luxury Vinyl Tile.
  • Linoleum: This option is a natural product built with linseed oil, wood, limestone, cork, and resins.
  • Cork: This organic material is made of thinly sliced tree cork and is a popular option for eco-friendly builders and homeowners.
  • Rubber: This type of flooring is produced from synthetic rubbers. It is commonly used in homes, gyms, and dance studios because of its impact absorption qualities.
  • Polymeric Poured Seamless Floors: Seldom found in homes, this type of flooring begins as a liquid is poured out to form a hard surface after curing. It is frequently used in manufacturing and industrial settings.

Maintenance

Resilient flooring and non-resilient flooring don’t just differ in price, but also in their respective maintenance needs. While hard surfaces are frequently more expensive than resilient flooring, resilient flooring is easier to maintain and is more cheaply replaced.

Want to know more about resilient flooring? Call MaintenX today!

Types of Building Sensors that can Improve Your Facilities

It’s an exciting, innovative time in the world of smart technology and the Internet of Things. Commercial buildings and homes alike are experiencing a technological revolution in how they operate and are becoming smarter and smarter by the minute.

But what makes a building “smart”? Put simply, automated systems in homes and companies:

  • reduce operational expenses
  • save energy
  • enhance space allocation
  • increase safety and security
  • improve comfort

You can think of sensors as the ‘sense organs’ of the building which allow it to take in information about the things happening within and outside it. Just like a living thing, a  building’s sensors give it the data it needs to react appropriately.

Here are some examples of the sensors now available:

  • Accelerometers
  • Air Quality
  • Atmospheric Pressure
  • Biometric
  • Electrical
  • Fluid Flow
  • Humidity
  • Imaging
  • Light
  • Magnetometers
  • Motion Detectors
  • Occupancy Detection
  • Air Pressure
  • Radiation
  • Sound
  • Temperature
  • Vibration

Energy Efficiency

By counting the number of occupants in a given space, HVAC systems can be optimized to save energy and money. Integrating sensors into lighting fixtures allows property managers a new understanding of energy management by allowing them to track lighting usage and observe trends and problem areas in energy consumption.

A smart, well-connected sensor array can automatically monitor any conditions you require and substantially boost performance in the residential, public or commercial facilities, including:

  • Hotels
  • Office buildings
  • Airports
  • Train stations
  • Libraries
  • Sport stadiums
  • Schools
  • Government buildings

Sensor-based smart facilities make life easier for facility managers while helping a business’s bottom line.

Want to know more about smart buildings? Call MaintenX today!

Tips for Protecting Against Flood Damage

 

Water damage is becoming progressively more common, and it’s one of the reasons why home insurance rates have risen in recent years. Weather is increasingly unpredictable, but you can still take precautions to make sure you don’t fall victim to flood damage.

Protect Electrical and HVAC Systems

Switches, sockets, circuit breakers, wiring, and other electrical equipment should always be at least a foot above the anticipated flood level.

Extra Protection for Exterior Walls

Your property can be severely damaged if water reaches the interior. To protect your building from flooding, consider adding a waterproof veneer to the exterior walls of your property. This veneer typically has a layer of brick covered with a waterproof material.

Last-Minute Safeguards

If you don’t have much time, complete these tasks to minimize water damage to your property:

  • Clear gutters, drains, and downspouts
  • Move furniture, rugs, electronics, and other belongings to upper floors, or elevate them using waterproof risers
  • Shut off electricity at the breaker

HVAC Equipment and Appliances

Flooding can also damage your air conditioning units, so make sure HVAC equipment is installed above potential water levels.

Washers and dryers, particularly those located in a basement or on the first floor, should be placed above the potential water level.

With climate change increases, the probability of severe weather, hurricanes, floods, windstorms, tornadoes, and wildfires are becoming risks in areas where they were not before. Protecting your home from natural disaster damage is more important now than ever, so make sure you’re prepared for potential risks.

Want to know more about how you can safeguard your property from flood damage? Contact MaintenX today!

How to Utilize Plants in your Office Space

Adding plants to the office can create a welcoming atmosphere in the workplace. But aesthetics aren’t the only reason to bring more greenery to your office. Here are just a few of the benefits of adding plants to your work environment:

More Comfortable Spaces

The suggested humidity for optimal health and comfort is about 30-60 percent, but a lot of work environments don’t even come close to these numbers. Low humidity in the workplace can increase tiredness and cause respiratory problems, leading to a substantial drop in office morale. What to do about this problem? Add some plants! There are many types of plants suitable for office environments. And the added greenery will increase humidity, increase oxygen levels, and boost morale by improving the look and feel of your workplace.

Plants Good For The Office:

Not all plants are good options for the office. Consider things like the amount of natural light provided throughout the day, how often they require watering, and how often they may need to be repotted. Here are a few great options for indoor spaces:

Orchids 

There is some evidence that orchids offer stress relief because of the soothing smells they produce—and if not, they still smell great! Orchids also naturally reduce toxins in the air. They can, however, be a bit tricky to keep healthy. Make sure your office fits the light, humidity, and temperature requirements for orchids to thrive.

English Ivy

English Ivy plants can help in stuffy offices with bad ventilation. They also have a curious knack for removing ammoniac and other odors from the air. You might be able to think of the perfect room for this plant!

Pothos

Pothos, or Devil’s Ivy, is a useful, no-fuss option for the office. Easy to care for, inexpensive, and low-light tolerant, it’s great for beginners. If you want something a little understated, the soft, heart-shaped leaves of the Pothos may just fit the bill.

Whatever plants you choose for your office, as long as you maintain them you’re sure to see benefits to both morale and air quality!