The manufacturing industry is the sixth largest employer in the United States. In 2017, the manufacturing industry contributed 11% to the Gross Domestic Product for the economy. Because of this, a solid maintenance strategy is critical for manufacturing facilities to perform at peak performance and meet customer demands.

Unplanned downtime in the delivery and production process can cost maintenance managers significant time and money.

With a CMMS, maintenance managers can perform routine maintenance throughout the manufacturing plant that extends asset life, and prevents and predicts equipment failures.

Read on to learn three ways a CMMS helps maintenance managers decrease downtime and improve asset management.

 

1. Extend equipment life with asset management

Equipment breakdowns can lead to costly repairs, plant downtime and less overall production. Because of this, asset management is an important task that can save maintenance managers time and money.

With a CMMS, asset management is simple. It gives managers the ability to manage assets from different locations in one central hub. This increases the accuracy and effectiveness of storing information about assets. Beyond that, asset management provides managers with the visibility to monitor equipment performance and functionality. With this insight, manufacturers are able to schedule maintenance visits to inspect and repair equipment as needed.

Asset management can have a major impact on a manufacturing plant’s productivity and service levels, decreasing downtime.

 

2. Predict equipment failure with preventive maintenance

A manufacturing plant has thousands of machines across different locations and departments. Failing to keep assets functioning properly can cause unforeseen delays in the manufacturing process, as well as increased technician overtime and spending.

Preventive maintenance (PM) enhances asset performance by increasing uptime. This is because PM schedules provide managers with the ability to easily plan for maintenance before a breakdown even occurs. This saves a manufacturing plant money because efforts are focused primarily on preventing equipment failure rather than responding to emergencies. As a result, maintenance teams have less unplanned downtime, overtime hours or emergency inventory orders.

 

3. Improve labor productivity with automated reporting

From servicing assets to managing various buildings to overseeing operations, maintenance managers and technicians have a big job to fulfill. In order to maintain production without interruption, a CMMS gives manufacturers much-needed transparency into maintenance operations with automated reporting. Automated reporting helps managers gain a transparent look into KPIs, and collect the data they need to make informed decisions.

Automated reporting features include:

  • Executive reporting for a snapshot of how staff time is spent, like percent of overtime hours or preventive vs. corrective maintenance.
  • Access to summary data, charts and graphs for real-time asset information and work order progress.
  • A breakdown of hourly cost per headcount compared to overall maintenance costs.

With automated reporting, maintenance managers are able to collect data on KPIs like response times, technician efficiency or top used inventory. This helps managers make informed decision to ensure the plant is operating at peak condition and weed out any underperforming assets or departments.

Ready to learn how your manufacturing plant can decrease downtime and improve asset health? Download our ebook, A Manufacturer’s Guide to Preventive Maintenance with a CMMS, for more information.