6 Benefits of Preventive Maintenance for Facilities 

Performing only reactive maintenance sets your facility up for downtime and shortens the life of your equipment. Preventive maintenance, however, allows you to schedule maintenance tasks at strategic times to keep your assets in good working order. In essence, you repair the equipment before it breaks down. Businesses that practice preventive maintenance can avoid downtime. 

Companies can schedule tasks in their preventive maintenance program in several ways. Some use equipment usage data to schedule tasks; others use timelines. The maintenance checklist then becomes a critical part of facilities maintenance operations. 

Here are six benefits of preventive maintenance. 

Cost Savings 

One of the most popular benefits of preventive maintenance is that it saves money. When equipment breaks down, you have to repair it as quickly as possible, which means you’ll usually pay more for parts and supplies. You’ll also have to pay more to ship the parts overnight. 

If you require a specialist technician, you’re likely to pay more for quick service. You’ll also incur costs for lost sales and productivity. Generally speaking, planned maintenance requires roughly one-third of the resources that reactive maintenance does. A carefully scheduled preventive maintenance program can significantly reduce your spend. 

Reduced Downtime 

Unscheduled downtime is costly. Forbes magazine estimates manufacturers lose as much as $50 million annually because of unexpected downtime, such as equipment breakdowns. 

Consider, for example, what happens when a piece of equipment critical to the operation is down for just a few hours. You’ll incur costs for: 

• In-house or maintenance contractors 
• Overtime for your production employees 
• Stopping and restarting the assembly line 
• Wasted materials 
• Lost revenues and smaller profit margins 
• Overnight shipping for parts 
• Lost sales opportunities 
• Potentially for the loss of customers 

Increased Equipment Lifespan 

Preventive maintenance can extend equipment lifespan, which improves the ROI of your equipment. An effective preventive maintenance program detects minor faults in equipment and makes adjustments before they damage your product or the equipment itself. For example, disassembling a machine can reveal cavities that might not be visible from glancing at the machine from the outside. Scheduled maintenance also creates the opportunity to use sensors and preventive maintenance software to track performance. Finally, a preventive maintenance program can help your team more effectively gauge how long a machine will run and calibrate ways to extend its life. 

Many assets can benefit from preventive maintenance. Examples include the HVAC system, electrical systems, vehicles, and production line equipment. 

Improved Efficiency 

Another benefit of preventive maintenance is that it allows the equipment to run efficiently and reduces waste. Regular maintenance improves two key metrics: Total Effective Equipment Performance (TEEP) and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Both use availability, performance, and quality in the calculation. TEEP also uses utilization. 

Consider, for example, your HVAC system. Since preventive maintenance typically results in less downtime, the system will be available more. It will also perform better — maintaining air at the right temperature and dispersing it more effectively. The air quality will improve if coils and air filters are cleaned regularly. Since the system is available more, it also can be utilized more. 

Compliance and Safety 

Another one of the benefits of preventive maintenance is safety. Equipment that fails to work properly presents a safety hazard. Injured employees lose time from work and incur worker’s comp claims. The National Safety Council says that workers lost 99 million days, costing companies $163.9 billion in 2020. Preventive maintenance can find potential safety issues before they cause injuries. 

Preventive maintenance can also help companies manage compliance issues more effectively. Preventive maintenance software can often store compliance requirements in its database and automatically issue work orders when necessary. It can help you avoid fines for violations. 

Scheduling and Implementation 

When equipment breaks down, maintenance employees must stop whatever they are doing to fix it quickly. Back office staff also may have to respond to procure parts and issue purchase orders. One breakdown can wreak havoc with your schedule. 

Companies that practice preventive maintenance can schedule tasks well in advance. CMMS software can automate and streamline preventive maintenance scheduling. It will. One dashboard calendar lets your facilities manager monitor the status of preventive maintenance tasks throughout your campus. An analytical dashboard can provide detailed metrics to help predict when specific tasks are needed. Preventive maintenance software can also help facilities managers better schedule staff and contractors well ahead of time. 

Ready to Experience the Benefits of Preventive Maintenance? 

ServiceChannel provides preventive maintenance software that automates the preventive maintenance process. It tracks standards for each machine brand so that you can schedule maintenance based on the manufacturer’s recommendation. It also automates ordering parts and supplies so that they arrive right when you need them. You can connect your Internet sensors with our software so that when a machine’s performance falls out of range, the platform issues a work order to check it. We also provide the option to connect with the best contractors in your area in case you need specialist help. 

If you are ready to enjoy the benefits of preventive maintenance, learn how ServiceChannel Managed can help your facility achieve peak performance.