As a facility manager, what is your view of maintenance service? Do you dread scheduling maintenance because of the downtime, or do you consider maintenance a worthy investment in your facility’s future?
Unfortunately, the majority of facility managers view maintenance as a ‘necessary evil,” that counteracts performance and productivity. However, nothing could be further from the truth. By performing routine maintenance, you are preventing equipment failures and premature replacements that cause more downtime than all preventative maintenance services combined.
Maintenance doesn’t slow you down. Without it, your facility would likely have to increase its operating budget and suffer from poor working conditions. No one wants to work on or with equipment that is run down, poorly maintained, and inefficient. You don’t want to own that equipment either. Simple preventative maintenance services can provide long-term cost savings and increase facility output with the higher performance of well-maintained equipment.
While you should never skip preventative maintenance, there are several ways in which you can minimize downtime:
Audit your facility.
Facility audits should be performed on a routine basis to better understand your facility maintenance needs now and in the future. A maintenance audit can include the predicted performance of equipment, as well as auditing for energy usage and waste cumulation. By making your facility more efficient overall, you can reduce long-term costs as well as unexpected downtime.
Upgrade equipment.
Old and failing equipment should be replaced before it breaks down. Maintenance costs on outdated equipment will be more expensive over time than the upgrade is upfront. Consult with your maintenance technician to determine when equipment should be replaced, and work these expenses into your budget early on.
Schedule maintenance during off-hours.
If you’re worried about the downtime that maintenance services can create, schedule your maintenance requests after your facility closes for the day. While maintenance calls during off-hours are more expensive, they can help reduce downtime at a facility where time is of the essence in operations.
Communicate clearly with your maintenance staff.
In order for your maintenance team to be able to provide services quickly and efficiently, they need all the necessary information before arriving at your facility. This helps to avoid unnecessary time spent explaining your issue or needs to the maintenance staff upon arrival. They can simply get to work and not waste your staff’s time.
Schedule preventative maintenance to avoid emergency maintenance.
Emergency maintenance calls will result in significantly more downtime than routine preventative maintenance requests. By scheduling preventative maintenance, your technicians can prevent unexpected equipment failures and prepare for potential setbacks.
MaintenX emphasizes the importance of predictive and preventative maintenance with our clients. We don’t want to spend any more time at your facility than needed. By communicating issues early on and letting us perform checks on your most important equipment, we can help save you time and resources dedicated to maintenance. Call us today to schedule a preventative maintenance consultation.
