Cutting Downtime with Smart Strategies

There's nothing that grinds operations to halt faster than a machine giving up mode shift. Whether it's a production line, a warehouse conveyor, or a pump that keeps everything moving, once equipment is offline, it's costing you time and money until things are back up and running again.

If you want to take the pressure and avoid those unexpected downtime costs and dramas, these practical ways can help you stay on top of everything and limit downtime as much as possible.

Stop Waiting for Failure

If you're operating on a “fix it when it fails” schedule, this needs to be eliminated in favor of a preventive maintenance plan. Because if you're waiting for something to fail before you do anything about it, you're going to be in trouble when it does eventually break down. Regular equipment checks can identify any issues that you can resolve sooner rather than later. 

Whether it's vibration monitoring, thermal scans, or even introducing a preventive maintenance schedule, it can give you days or even weeks of extra uptime and help you schedule downtime so you can accommodate repairs being carried out rather than being caught unawares.

Stock What Matters

Stocking up with parts that never get used is a waste of time, money, and resources. The smarter approach is to stay well stocked with the items you need on a regular basis, those with long lead times, or those that are most likely to fail. Keep them on hand, and rely on supplier agreements for the ones you don't use as frequently. This way, you get to avoid carrying spare parts you don't actually need and still have a good supply of what you're more likely to need.

Don't Rely on One “Got-To” Fixer

Every workplace has that one person who is the “go-to” fixer. But what do you do when they're not around? Everything just grinds to a halt. Cross-training staff removes the reliance on one person to complete repairs, upgrades, or essential functions and enables you to keep things moving even if they're not around. To help with this, having a clear repair log and how-to guides can help staff figure out issues and troubleshoot so you can get back up and running faster, even if no one can actually fix the issue.

Cut Part Hunting Time

When you need parts or you need to fund supplies for your equipment, finding the exact part you need can be tricky. And then there's the wait time once you know what you need. The idea here is that you understand the parts you need and know the codes. But doing this manually can be time-consuming. This is where tools like this bearing cross reference guide come in handy. Instead of casing suppliers, you can see the equivalent parts across all manufacturers, so you don't have to wait until you find what you need.

Downtime happens everywhere, and for the most part, isn't completely unavoidable. But there are steps you can take to reduce unplanned downtime and give your equipment the support it needs before it breaks down entirely.