Breakdown maintenance can be defined as the maintenance that is performed on equipment that has broken down or is currently unusable. It is usually more costly as compared to preventive maintenance. You can implement Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) software to carry out breakdown maintenance efficiently.
Breakdown maintenance can either be planned or unplanned. Run-to-failure maintenance is an example of planned maintenance, while examples of unplanned maintenance include corrective maintenance and reactive maintenance. Let us see how you can use CMMS to carry out breakdown maintenance effectively.
6 Tips on How to Use CMMS for Breakdown Maintenance
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Prioritize the preventive maintenance tasks
Prioritizing will help you understand and plan various preventive maintenance tasks in an efficient manner. You can prioritize in three ways:
– High: Needs to be completed on time
– Medium: Has to be completed on time but can be rescheduled
– Low: Can be skipped once in a while
You can put together a maintenance plan using CMMS where you can include various types of tasks during your work day. In case an unexpected requirement comes up, you can refer to your priority list. It can easily help you reschedule medium-priority tasks or skip low-priority maintenance tasks altogether to make time for the emergency.
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Evaluate the historical work orders
Do you see any patterns in the way the equipment breaks down? For example, does the season (hot or cold weather) have any effect on how the equipment works, does heavy use of equipment cause a variation in its performance, etc. Look for similar patterns and trends using preventive maintenance software so that you can be prepared for such periods. Based on the historical trends of the work orders, you can also schedule training programs, hire temporary staff or encourage your staff to take a vacation during less busy periods.
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Prioritize equipment based on breakdown delays
Consider the duration of delays you would experience as a result of fixing equipment breakdowns. It costs you the work hours and as a result revenue loss. With the help of CMMS, you can monitor overall equipment performance and this enables you to prioritize the best-performing equipment.
This will also offer you some flexibility in deciding when and how to fix equipment breakdowns.
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Use historical data to identify common types of breakdowns
Use historical data generated by the maintenance management software to identify the equipment that is prone to frequent breakdowns. List out the common causes of breakdowns and check if they could have been avoided through regular preventive maintenance. Additionally, if equipment breaks down frequently, it would be a good idea to consider replacing it with available alternatives that are more reliable.
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Identify the causes of equipment breakdown
You can use the historical data to identify common types of breakdowns your equipment faces. You must make sure that the breakdowns are not occurring due to operator errors, such as overloading the machine or ignoring equipment warnings. CMMS software helps in identifying such breakdowns and dealing with them efficiently. Train your technicians properly on how to fix such breakdowns quickly. You can be assured of a rapid turnaround and increased customer satisfaction.
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Put together a maintenance calendar
Maintenance managers must create a maintenance calendar by listing out the work that needs to be done in the upcoming week, month, quarter or year. You can group or reschedule various items together, to decrease the duration when equipment is unavailable due to maintenance. You can even identify conflicts that are caused by production deadlines so that you can reschedule and move around some tasks.
It’s time you transform breakdown maintenance to boost your business profits. We at NEXGEN can help you achieve the same with effective CMMS solutions. Get in touch with us today and learn more about the benefits of CMMS for planning effective breakdown maintenance.