You have a comprehensive maintenance program for your company cars to minimise their time off the road, so why not your machines?
Every component in your manufacturing process should be part of a systematic program of proactive, pre-emptive maintenance to keep your line running longer, faster and more profitably than your competitors. Here are a few ways to build excellence into your operational maintenance program.
Keep it simple
The key to profitable operational maintenance is to build an ongoing program that doesn't require qualified (and costly) technicians to carry it out. In fact, your program should be designed to minimise the need for such technicians.
An effective operational maintenance program doesn't require in-depth knowledge of the machines themselves, much in the way you don't need to be a mechanic to change a tyre or run a basic set of systematic checks on your car.
Train your operators
The term operational maintenance is exactly what it says – maintenance performed by the operator working on the machine. Routine inspections, cleaning, lubricating and other basic servicing (including minor parts replacements) don't require highly trained, highly paid people any more than it requires a mechanic to check the oil in your car or rotate the tyres.
Equip your machine operators with the necessary skills to not only feed its production, but its daily health requirements and you can keep the need for costly technicians to major upgrades and replacements.
