Reactive vs. Planned Maintenance
Reactive Maintenance focuses on fixing equipment and bringing it back to its operating condition after it’s already broken. Emergency repairs such as this, cost 3-9 times more than planned repairs. This kind of approach is significantly more expensive because of unexpected shutdowns during production instead of pre-planned maintenance shut downs. Rush shipping for emergency parts cost much more than regular shipping and staff is often forced to work overtime to repair machinery.
Planned Maintenance
Planned maintenance reduces stoppage and the additional costs of emergency repairs. A scheduled plan gives you the opportunity to improve your operations and continue to operate at full speed.
Some Disadvantages of Reactive Maintenance
- Shorter life expectancy of equipment – Reactive maintenance does not keep your equipment running in optimal condition. Over time, systems that have not been properly maintained wear and break faster and don’t maximize their initial investment.
- Safety issues – When work is scheduled, technicians have time to review the procedures and safety requirements to complete the job correctly. Technicians tend to take more risks when maintenance work is reactive because they are under pressure to get equipment running without further time delays.
- Time-consuming – Reactive repairs tend to take longer. Factors like time to diagnose, travel time, time to pull parts from stores or emergency order, and time to pull correct manuals and schematics, all impact how long it takes you to get back up and running.
- Sporadic equipment downtime – Planned maintenance can be scheduled while unplanned repairs can happen anytime.
- Interferes with planned work – Emergency repairs are usually prioritized at the expense of day to day work. Planned work may have to be delayed or cancelled entirely.
- Collateral damage – A minor issue could quickly turn into a major repair without proper maintenance.
- Indirect costs – Unplanned downtime can lead to schedule problems if equipment cannot be returned to production in time. This can damage your reputation with clients and cause revenue issues.
- Repeat issues – Emergency repairs do the bare minimum to get the equipment up and running. This can lead to future issues and eventually cause more downtime.
- Higher energy costs – When equipment is not properly maintained, it uses more energy. Doing simple things like greasing moving parts or changing filters can reduce energy consumption by up to 15%.
At ABCO Systems, we offer our clients a full maintenance plan that is designed to address any potential problems that could pop up at any time. When you sign up for this plan, you can expect the following:
- Regularly-scheduled maintenance
- On-site visits to inspect machinery
- Real, low-cost resolutions for discovered issues in the system
Our qualified inspectors and technicians make it their responsibility to find failure points that could lead to future problems. A maintenance plan with our company is one of the best preventative steps that you can take.
Contact Us Today
If you’re ready to commit to keeping your systems up to par, contact ABCO Systems for the next step. We can be reached at 201-507-0999, or you can also fill out our online contact form.