Mastering Unplanned Downtime
Mastering Unplanned Downtime
Unplanned downtime is a costly nightmare for businesses, particularly in warehouse and industrial settings. The financial impact of reduced capacity, idle operators, lost revenues, and dissatisfied customers can quickly escalate. Fortunately, there’s a solution: service management software. For those looking to invest in new service management software, this article should offer an insight into assisting your maintenance practices for the better, leading to smoother operations, improved profitability, and ultimately minimising unplanned downtime.
How to Mitigate Downtime
Research shows planned and preventative maintenance are key to minimising downtime. Planned maintenance visits ensure all the OEM recommended service visits are scheduled in advance. Preventative maintenance takes this further scheduling specific maintenance tasks that are performed whilst an asset is still working to prevent an unexpected failure.
More breakdowns occur when you don’t service based on actual usage, because the reality is periodic service visits (as recommended by the manufacturer) are just estimates. Even within one warehouse environment the same equipment can be used differently resulting in some assets requiring a service before others.
Technology is your Secret Weapon
When it comes to managing equipment health and scheduling service visits, it’s important to not overlook the benefits of choosing the right service management technology.
Traditionally, manual data transfer between systems is time-consuming and prone to errors. With modern technology, data communication between connected systems can occur automatically, eliminating the need for user intervention. By integrating various software applications and equipment, companies can establish seamless data. This technology uses simple AI, something that is already in use and will soon become commonplace. In an industrial environment this could be service management systems receiving telematics data from assets and using the data, i.e. run rates, parts warnings, to adjust service schedules and order parts. This approach not only ensures service visits can be carried out at the optimal time but helps to minimise equipment downtime and reduces the risk of unexpected breakdowns.
Efficient Parts Management
Service management software’s ability to communicate asset data also extends to managing parts and inventory. It can automatically identify the specific parts and components needed for a service visit based on the asset’s data and maintenance requirements. This ensures that engineers have the correct parts readily available, minimising delays and enabling higher first-time fix rates.
Data Driven Approach
By monitoring performance and identifying patterns or trends, you can make data-driven decisions regarding asset maintenance, optimise service schedules, and identify opportunities for process optimisation. These insights enable businesses to take a proactive approach to asset management, leading to better resource allocation, reduced costs, and improved overall operational efficiency.
Start tracking downtime and assess the financial impact and you’ll soon realise that service management technology can positively improve your performance and your bottom line.
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