The Benefits of Preventive Maintenance
The functional yang to preventive maintenance’s yin is what’s known as reactive maintenance. Reactive maintenance is, essentially, the process of putting maintenance aside until something goes wrong. This could be something unexpected like theft, a fire, or a natural disaster. It could also simply be the equipment ceasing to work due to its lack of regular maintenance.
On the other hand, preventive maintenance is focused on anticipating equipment failure and taking corrective action before such a breakdown occurs. In the end, preventative maintenance becomes far less costly and results in less downtime.
Preventive maintenance can extend the lifespan of the equipment, decrease the risk of future breakdowns, ensure equipment is safe, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve overall productivity.
Extends Equipment Lifespan
By scheduling regular preventive maintenance, your equipment will last longer, the warranties will be kept up to date, and you will save money. Constantly replacing broken equipment can be costly. If you can extend the lifespan of your equipment, you will not have to spend time and money constantly replacing it.
Decreased Risk of Breakdowns
Most of the benefits listed are a direct result of decreased risk of breakdowns. When equipment fails, productivity will plummet until it is repaired or replaced. Around 90% of mechanical failures are preventable. With regularly scheduled maintenance, you can effectively lower the risk of equipment failure and keep up with productivity.
Increased Equipment Safety
By maintaining equipment and ensuring it is working properly, you can prevent dangerous breakdowns and improve the safety of your equipment and employees. Health and safety are always primary concerns in a business that uses potentially dangerous machinery. Liability lawsuits can also be expensive, so it is best to keep equipment failure to a minimum.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Efficient and well-looked-after equipment will always translate to customer satisfaction, increased earnings, and cost savings. Having preventive maintenance in place will increase customer satisfaction and strengthen brand image as the quality of your products and overall reliability increases.
Reduced Costs
Simply using a piece of equipment until it fails and then repairing or replacing it can cost up to ten times as much as regular maintenance. The repairs themselves, the cost of rushed shipment of parts, paying for technicians, and the downtime required to have them fixed can add up. Preventive maintenance saves money – there is no way around it.
Improved Productivity
When you meet maintenance requirements regularly, productivity rises, and downtime falls. This leads to improved productivity and efficiency. Poor maintenance can reduce your company’s productivity by around 20%. Preventive maintenance allows you to schedule repairs at convenient times for your facility, effectively reducing any disruptions in efficiency.