Downtime is inevitable in any industry, especially during seasonal breaks or periods of low demand. However, downtime does not have to be wasted time. In fact, it can be a valuable opportunity to perform repairs and maintenance on your equipment and facilities, which can improve your productivity, efficiency, and safety in the long run.
According to studies, manufacturers deal with an average of 800 hours of downtime annually and lose at least 5% of productivity because of it. The typical cost of downtime for industrial manufacturers is between $30,000 and $50,000 per hour. This means, conservatively, downtime can cost the average company between $10 and $25 million a year!
To avoid these losses and optimize your operations, you need to have a proactive maintenance strategy that leverages downtime for preventive and corrective actions. Here are some tips on how to use downtime for repairs and maintenance:
1. Plan ahead. Before downtime occurs, you should have a clear schedule of what maintenance tasks need to be done, who will do them, and how long they will take. You can use maintenance software or a CMMS to help you organize and prioritize your work orders, assign tasks to technicians, track progress, and document results.
2. Analyze failure data. One of the benefits of using a digital platform for maintenance is that you can collect and analyze data on your asset performance, failure modes, root causes, and repair costs. This can help you identify patterns and trends, as well as areas for improvement. You can use metrics such as mean time to repair (MTTR), mean time between failures (MTBF), and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) to measure your maintenance effectiveness and efficiency.
3. Avoid reactive maintenance. Reactive maintenance, or fixing things when they break down, is costly, risky, and inefficient. It can lead to more downtime, lower quality, higher expenses, and safety hazards. Instead of waiting for problems to occur, you should aim for preventive maintenance, which involves regular inspections, tests, lubrications, adjustments, and replacements to prevent failures and extend asset life.
4. Implement total productive maintenance (TPM). TPM is a methodology that focuses on involving everyone in the organization in maintaining and improving the equipment and processes. TPM has eight pillars: autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, quality maintenance, focused improvement, early equipment management, education and training, safety health and environment, and TPM in administration. By implementing TPM, you can reduce downtime by 50% and lose production by around 20%.
5. Train your staff. Downtime is also a good time to educate and train your staff on the best practices of maintenance and operation. You can use online courses, webinars, videos, manuals, or workshops to enhance their skills and knowledge. You can also use simulations or mock drills to test their readiness and response in case of emergencies or breakdowns.
6. Review your inventory. Having the right spare parts and tools on hand is essential for efficient maintenance. You don’t want to waste time looking for or ordering missing items when you need them urgently. During downtime, you can review your inventory levels and replenish them as needed. You can also use a barcode system or RFID tags to track your inventory movements and locations.
7. Audit your compliance. Compliance with safety standards and regulations is not only a legal requirement but also a moral obligation. You want to ensure that your equipment and facilities are safe for your workers and customers, as well as for the environment. During downtime, you can audit your compliance status and address any gaps or issues that may arise. You can use checklists or audit apps to help you conduct inspections and generate reports.
8. Seek feedback and improvement. Finally, you should always seek feedback from your staff, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders on how you can improve your maintenance processes and outcomes. You can use surveys or interviews to gather their opinions and suggestions. You can also use benchmarking or best practices to compare your performance with others in your industry or sector.
By using downtime for repairs and maintenance, you can turn a challenge into an opportunity. You can improve your asset reliability, availability, quality, safety, and profitability while reducing costs and risks.
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