Maintenance costs can easily chew up a lot of dollars for companies. Is your organization in a firefighting mode or in other words reactive maintenance mode? Yes, then you are exposed to a greater risk of higher maintenance costs, downtime, and failure rates. Preventive maintenance is a prominent maintenance method that many professionals use to eliminate costly repairs, sudden equipment breakdowns, and asset failures. An effective asset tracking software can automate most of the time-consuming processes required for maintenance of valuable assets. The advances in technology today offers maintenance professionals with even better proactive maintenance approach.
Businesses and preventive maintenance
At many times, companies go an extra mile to buy high-quality assets hoping that it will save them money but neglect the importance of maintaining their assets properly. You will probably end up losing a lot of money that way. Companies that tend to neglect their equipment and ignore their reputation may prosper temporarily but will ultimately be replaced by companies who take good care of their assets and reputation.
It is a given fact that equipment items that are routinely serviced on predetermined schedules outlast those that are not. However, there are companies that still neglect this practice and only respond reactively to equipment failure. This is a sorry state of affairs because preventive maintenance of assets has never had greater implications than they do in today’s economy. Preventive maintenance not only extends the lifespan of regularly used assets but also lets them perform better. It is no secret that well-maintained equipment performs a lot better than poorly-maintained equipment.
Companies which take some time out for proper equipment maintenance on a regular basis usually get the best possible performance out of their assets. We have enlisted some tips on how an online asset tracking system makes preventive maintenance quicker and easier – helping companies get the best out of their assets.
1. Practice consistent maintenance routines
When you have hundreds and thousands of equipment and assets to take care of, organizations often feel lost. They find it hard when it comes to tracking which assets require frequent maintenance and at what interval. It is here that scheduling recurring services and setting maintenance alerts using asset tracking software comes in handy. It makes preventive maintenance easy for businesses.
Whether it is periodic machine lubrication or simply battery replacement, scheduled services can surely extend the life of your valuable assets.
Most of the equipment items tend to have a developed timeline and maintenance workers need to service them accordingly. It could be a mechanical assembly on a work floor, vehicle or a machine. Maintenance needs to be in the form of routines like parts replacement, repair or inspection. Downtime is definitely costly whether in the form of damage to an organization’s reputation and brand or profit margins. With planned preventative maintenance, equipment items are less prone to breaking down which translates into lesser repair costs.
Read more: Reduce Costs with Maintenance Management Software
2. Generate detailed work orders
Nothing falls through the cracks with a topnotch asset tracking solution. It is not enough to know when a certain equipment requires maintenance. With a robust asset tracking solution in place, you can create work orders for tasks that need to be done on equipment. It enables you to assign it to your employees and constantly keep track of the status of work being performed. This means you don’t have to keep sending reminders to your employees to make sure they complete the task on time.
It allows you to easily schedule, assign and close work orders. It quickly improves the workflow efficiency. It even has a calendar-based work order feature that lets you take care of the recurring tasks – like periodic machine lubrication or a tire replacement. It automatically schedules services according to the meter and time cycle you set, making sure maintenance is never overlooked.
3. Manage spare parts inventory
Remember the last time you were looking for a tool to perform a very important task but couldn’t find it? It sure must have been a bit frustrating and time-consuming. If a maintenance department of a company happens to be disorganized, it can be hard and frustrating for maintenance managers to find the parts they require at the time of need. Spare parts are often required to make quick fixes.
Asset tracking software lets maintenance managers track assets that need to be maintained. They can set automatic reordering of parts to maintain the assets. This means they will have the right spare parts at hand which can be helpful in performing repairs quickly. Businesses often depend on emergency asset repairs to keep their operations running smoothly. You don’t have to roam around in the storerooms to locate the parts you need. A cloud-based asset tracking tool tells you where exactly they are!
4. Access to maintenance history and reports
In the long run, businesses eventually need reports on maintenance that provide insights on when and how maintenance tasks were done, and why they were performed! Detailed reports crafted by asset tracking system offer preventative maintenance activities a context. They give businesses a bird’s eye view regarding how their business is being run. Asset tracking software enables organizations to easily access and capture repair transaction history on any piece of equipment. This lets them determine whether an asset is still worth its value or not.
Practicing seamless asset tracking can offer a sustainable regular process to you that profiles the performance of your assets accurately. Businesses are even able to evaluate if maintenance events are performed against certain warranties for some assets. In other words, the entire maintenance staff will know if an asset is subject to a warranty which actually has a great impact on how you tackle upkeep.
Read more: 5 Ways CMMS Helps You Reduce Maintenance Costs
5. Keep up with the routine inspections
One of the most important facets of preventing any breakdowns is keeping up with the inspections. Asset tracking software automates the scheduling of inspections, preventive maintenance issues, and expensive repairs from showing up very often. They are right when they say prevention is better than cure. Shifting from reactive to proactive maintenance extends the lifespan of equipment along with minimizing operational costs.
With preventive maintenance, make quick repair and fixes.
Inspection completions can be accurately and quickly recorded. You can easily view inspection instructions – indicate if the inspection is a pass or fail. You can also capture start and end times of an inspection and record additional notes for future reference. Having barcodes for all your assets can be a bonus. It allows the maintenance team to scan the assets using their mobile devices helping them access the due inspection from anywhere and anytime.
6. Ensure compliance with regulatory standards
An organization’s maintenance department has to comply with international and national regulatory standards. Maintenance managers have to go through random inspections and periodic audits conducted by regulatory agencies. In that case, a maintenance management and asset tracking software generate reports giving details regarding maintenance work performed on various assets. This way you can easily show regulatory compliance and minimize the amount of time it takes to prepare. This also applies to all the paperwork involved in an audit. Compliance becomes easily traceable reducing the threat of noncompliance penalties.
Read more: Using Asset Tracking Tool in the Midst of an Audit Season
Interested in knowing more about our asset tracking software?
EZOfficeInventory is a leading asset tracking software used by businesses around the world regardless of their size. Track and maintain your valuable assets to maximize their performance and your profit.
For more assistance, drop us an email at support@ezo.io.
