It’s Time to Address Your Equipment Uptime

“Keeping your equipment up and running is an essential part of any successful component manufacturing operation,” says Chris Ortiz of Louws Truss. “Fortunately, there are now several robust software platforms that can help a company keep track of everything from parts to maintenance requests and maximize their equipment’s uptime.”

These software solutions, generically called centralized maintenance management systems (CMMS), allow component manufacturers (CMs) like Chris to track maintenance activity for every capital asset in their plant, from a chop saw to a forklift and everything in between. Each of these assets can be assigned a preventative maintenance schedule and the software tracks real-time progress on everything from that schedule to parts used from inventory to individual maintenance requests from production workers on the line.

“CMMS is a valuable tool for your maintenance department and management team to track actual maintenance costs for every asset in your facility, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of your maintenance staff,” says Scott Schulte of Builders FirstSource. “It helps ensure equipment is serviced promptly when there’s an issue, track who does the repairs, and even track parts taken out of inventory so you don’t run out.”

“CMMS is a valuable tool for your maintenance department and management team to track actual maintenance costs for every asset in your facility."

“A CMMS gives you incredible vision into everything that is going on with respect to your physical assets,” says Chris. “It is also an effective communication tool between your maintenance and production teams to address problems as soon as they arise.”

Both Chris and Scott admit that implementing a CMMS software platform takes an initial investment and requires significant buy-in from your maintenance team. “It won’t work if your teams don’t use it,” says Scott. “You need to get everyone invested on the front end and give them the ability to really own it.” With several options available, they encourage CMs to let their maintenance leaders evaluate and choose which platform to use.

“Customer service is key with CMMS. You want to make sure your maintenance teams feel like they will be well supported through implementation and that the software provider will be there to help them get the most out of the software as they enter individual assets and set up the system,” says Chris.

Another challenge is knowing where to stop. These platforms can manage an infinite amount of data, so it can be tempting to enter every single asset into the CMMS and run hundreds of reports from the data. Chris and Scott warn that it’s good to set a manageable limit of assets initially and slowly build from there over time. “Know what you want to get out of the system and customize your starting place to the size and complexity of your company,” says Chris.

The CMMS has an additional benefit in that it gives you robust information about equipment performance and true operating costs. This data can be very helpful as your company increases the sophistication of the equipment and also provides a valuable feedback look to original equipment manufacturers on how they can improve their products.