Manufacturers often spend a lot of time focused on machine
uptime and not nearly enough time monitoring downtime. Uptime, otherwise known
as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), is comprised of three important
components:Quality, Availability and Performance, according to
SensrTrx. When any of these three are disrupted for any reason, machine
downtime occurs. Machine downtime can be due to a number of reasons including
regular maintenance and servicing, cleaning, changeovers, repair or unexpected
equipment failure. Sometimes, companies have no control over downtime such as
in the cases of extreme weather or power outages.
Regardless of the cause, unplanned downtime can mean a major
financial impact on your company. Downtime can cost companies tens of thousands
of dollars in lost production, if not more. Think about your production
capacity. For simple math purposes, let’s say you produce 500 units an hour at
a cost of $50 a unit. That’s $25,000 per hour. If your equipment is down for 4
hours, that’s a loss of $100,000 in potential revenue. That doesn’t even take
into account decreased staff productivity, rescheduling costs and equipment
replacement costs, not to mention decreased customer trust, according
to Machine Metrics.
While an average cost of downtime is often factored into the
price of manufactured goods, most companies often underestimate the cost of
downtime and are surprised by their losses. Machine downtime is an unpleasant
fact of life in manufacturing, but here’s what you can do to minimize loss.
Reduce
Machine Downtime for Maximum Performance with These Tips:
- Perform a Risk Audit. Evaluate your current processes and
equipment to spot potential problems before they lead to a downtime event. Ask
yourself questions such as: How old is current equipment? How often is
equipment serviced and maintained? Are parts reasonably available or do they
take weeks to arrive? This regular audit will help you make more informed
maintenance decisions and avoid costly repairs down the road, according to the
blog BusinessTech.
- Create a Preventative Maintenance Schedule. Every piece of
equipment needs to be repaired or replaced at some point. Without regular
preventative maintenance, those unavoidable repairs and replacements will come
at the most inopportune time. Instead of leaving it up to chance, be sure to
schedule regular maintenance on integral pieces of equipment before they break.
- Use Quality Tools. To
ensure maximum performance, use the right tools for the job. Using cheaper
cutting tools or equipment may seem like a bargain at first, but those lesser-quality
tools will result in more changeouts costing you time and money. The old saying
of “you get what you pay for” has never been more accurate than when it comes
to tools of the trade.
- Install Sensor Technology. When profit depends on your
equipment running smoothly, you’ll want to be alerted the minute something is
wrong with that machine. Sensor technology is available that can detect changes
in vibration, temperature, heat and light and may offer you just enough time to
address the issue before it leads to equipment failure, according
to Sage Automation.
- Re-evaluate Data Collection Systems. Are you accurately
tracking your operational data? Data is great for helping to make better
business decisions, but only if that data is reliable and available. Uptime and
downtime data are pretty arbitrary if your data isn’t accurate and timely.
Consider implementing software that can help you collect and analyze data for
real-time reporting, helping you make reduce production downtime.
- Regularly Train Operators. Even with the best maintenance
program, human error is unavoidable. While it would be great to be able to
blame equipment failure on a system breakdown, sometimes it’s all operator
error. Avoid unnecessary downtime by investing time into a regular training
program for all employees, both new and veteran workers. Successful programs
should include operational training, as well as education on how to safely and
effectively perform lockout tagout procedures before repair or maintenance.
Training should be available to all affected and authorized employees for
maximum safety and performance.
In your facility, work doesn’t stop. That’s why you need a
company that can keep your operations running smoothly, both day and night. You
need a partner that can help improve productivity and reduce downtime, so that
you can focus on doing what you do best. M&M Sales & Equipment can
audit your current processes and uncover opportunities that can not only help
you do more for your customers, but run more efficiently and profitability as
well.
Contact us by phone, visit
our website or stop in one of our four locations to learn more.