Boost Efficiency with Smart Maintenance Solutions

Maintenance activities have a direct effect on operational efficiency in nearly every industry. After all, employees need functional and comfortable facilities to work in. And they need the equipment they rely on to complete daily tasks to be operational.

Historically, maintenance operations have been largely reactive in nature. Maintenance teams respond to service requests once problems arise. While preventive maintenance occurs, it mainly follows manufacturers’ schedules, based on averages rather than actual equipment performance. The end result is frequent breakdowns and lost work time.

The rise of smart maintenance systems has revolutionized maintenance processes. Today’s modern computerized maintenance management systems empower facility managers to take a proactive maintenance approach.

These smart systems enable a maintenance process where teams no longer play daily catch-up. Instead, maintenance work keeps technicians ahead of service issues. The end results are improved operational efficiency, increased overall equipment effectiveness, and greater control over maintenance costs.

Making the switch from reactive to smart maintenance is simpler than you think. There are only three key steps to adopting a smart maintenance strategy: embracing predictive analytics, utilizing automated dispatching, and tracking maintenance costs and effectiveness over time. Explore each step in the process and begin reaping the benefits of smart maintenance.

Embrace Predictive Analytics for Proactive Asset Management  

Smart maintenance systems do more than simply place maintenance records in a centralized location. With artificial intelligence, they perform high-level data analysis of historical information and current status updates. Its machine learning algorithm allows you to leverage preventive maintenance software to go beyond a traditional maintenance plan.

By leveraging smart systems, you can proactively manage assets through predictive and prescriptive maintenance. Predictive maintenance provides accurate future forecasts based on historical and current data collected. Prescriptive maintenance takes it a step further, providing guidance on what your organization can do to enhance overall equipment effectiveness.

The following are just a few benefits of using prescriptive and predictive analytics.

Anticipate Failures Sooner

Advanced technologies track key performance data. When unplanned downtime occurs, the smart system conducts a thorough data analysis of maintenance data. Over time, it identifies patterns and trends. From there, the system learns to spot warning signs earlier and notifies you of potential issues. Consequently, it can often prevent equipment failures.

Optimize Maintenance Scheduling

A smart system tells you to perform maintenance when assets truly need it. It recommends maintenance tasks based on performance data, rather than guidelines developed based on average usage. As a result, your maintenance schedule only includes necessary work orders, allowing you to maximize the efficiency of your maintenance team.

Reduce Operational Costs

Fewer surprise breakdowns and optimized scheduling reduce maintenance costs over time. Your organization can spend less on complex repairs. Additionally, you can potentially reduce parts purchases without compromising quality control.

Improve Asset Lifecycle Planning

A smarter maintenance strategy allows you to better monitor asset lifespans. Maintenance data analysis can signal which assets are near the end of their lives. This way, you can plan for replacements and upgrades and budget accordingly.

Strengthen Asset Utilization

While supporting the health of essential equipment, smart systems also identify non-essential assets. Based on data insights, you can halt costly maintenance work on unnecessary assets and retire them. Additionally, smart maintenance technology highlights underutilized assets, allowing you to reallocate them. It can even alert you to unnecessary rentals and leases, helping you lower costs.

Support Risk Management

By monitoring equipment performance, smart maintenance solutions can spot warning signs of safety issues sooner. They also produce an audit trail that demonstrates compliance with regulations. For these reasons, a smart approach to maintenance management mitigates risks.

Addressing Common Integration Concerns

A key selling point of smart maintenance platforms is integration. With integrated CMMS software, the system you use for maintenance management connects to other vital platforms. These integrations permit you to share information between key systems, such as:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Parts inventory management
• Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
• Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Although many organizations may see the appeal of integration, they may worry about compatibility. For example, a manufacturing facility may use an antiquated parts inventory management program. The age of the software may tempt them to postpone adopting a modern maintenance management system until they can afford an upgrade.

The good news is that there are many solutions for overcoming integration issues. These include:

• Using edge devices and gateways to convert data collected to newer formats
• Middleware that helps two systems communicate
• Retrofit sensors that enable older equipment to capture and transmit sensor data
• Phased smart maintenance integration, prioritizing compatible devices and systems

Experienced vendors can advise organizations on which integration solutions are the best fit for their specific needs.

Leverage Automated Dispatching to Streamline Workflows

After completing the digital transformation of your maintenance processes, shift your focus to work orders. Your smart maintenance platform can automatically create service requests. Then, it will assign maintenance technicians to align with your new predictive maintenance approach. By leveraging automated dispatching, you can:

• Improve Efficiency: Automatic dispatching eliminates unnecessary steps from maintenance operations workflows. It can also integrate maintenance data into a centralized location, resulting in noticeable efficiency gains.
• Reduced Human Error: Your smart maintenance platform won’t forget to perform maintenance, and it won’t make data entry errors when generating work orders.
• Permits Closer Tracking: With automated dispatching, each work order gets logged and time-stamped throughout its lifecycle. You’ll have all the data you need to support compliance audits and capital planning.
• Accelerate Response Times: A smart maintenance system can generate a work order at the first sign of trouble, enabling maintenance workers to address issues more quickly.
• Lower Costs: Assigning the right technician to each maintenance work order at the ideal moment reduces costly breakdowns. It can also extend the life of assets, benefiting your bottom line.

Practical Tips for Automated Maintenance Scheduling

As you begin the move toward service automation for scheduling, keep these tips for success in mind.

Prioritize Critical Equipment

Use smart maintenance analytics to identify your most critical equipment. Then, flag them with priority levels to ensure near-instant service. Doing so will help you minimize unplanned downtime, keeping your business running smoothly.

Match Maintenance Technicians Automatically

Maintenance teams consist of technicians with varying skill sets, specialties, and expertise. By using asset-level tracking, tasks can be automatically matched with technicians’ strengths. This way, the most qualified member of the team will do all preventive maintenance and emergency repair tasks.

Integrate Alerts With Team Communication Tools

Connect your smart maintenance platform with team communication tools, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. Once integration is complete, alerts for maintenance tasks can appear alongside other key communications, so technicians won’t miss updates.

Expand Accessibility

Enable remote monitoring of work order requests by choosing a smart maintenance platform with mobile support. Technicians can then receive dispatches on their mobile devices from anywhere. Plus, they can update work orders right at the job site.

Factor in Lead Times

Use data from your parts inventory management platform to inform work order generation. Out-of-stock parts can be automatically ordered, and lead times factored into scheduling. As a result, technicians won’t be dispatched until they have everything they need to complete maintenance work.

Connect to Internet of Things (IoT)-Enabled Devices

Internet-connected devices and equipment can automatically send sensor and machine data to your smart maintenance platform, triggering service requests. Smart building technologies can also communicate with your system to enhance maintenance operations. For example, the system can collect real-time data from a smart HVAC system and automatically create work orders for filter replacements.

Validate ROI Through Cost Analysis and Preventive Strategies

Implementing a smart maintenance platform with AI and machine learning does require an investment of resources. Through ongoing cost-benefit analysis, you can cement stakeholder buy-in and keep your organization committed to smart maintenance initiatives.

Demonstrating the value of your new approach to maintenance operations requires more than anecdotal evidence. To validate return on investment (ROI), track the following key metrics.

Cost Metrics

Comparing your total maintenance costs before and after your smart maintenance initiative shows you a high-level view of savings. Drill down further by analyzing changes in:

• Emergency Versus Scheduled Costs: Show how using data-driven insights to support predictive rather than reactive maintenance lowered costs.
• Inventory Costs: Demonstrate reductions in inventory management expenses resulting from reduced overstock and the extra costs of emergency rush orders.
• Labor Hours Cost Per Work Order: Highlight how automatically assigning tasks based on technicians’ skills increased efficiency.
• System Payback: Track return on investment closely to pinpoint when cost savings offset the acquisition costs.

Equipment Metrics

Tracking metrics related to equipment provides proof that your smart building maintenance system improved availability and performance. Indicators to monitor include:

• Unplanned Downtime Hours: Showcase how predictive and prescriptive maintenance results in fewer surprise breakdowns over time.
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): Demonstrate longer MTBF windows post-smart maintenance to see the impact of your new approach on individual assets.
• Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): Illustrate how automatic dispatching enables faster work order resolutions.
• Asset Lifecycle: Observe how smart maintenance extends the average lifespan of individual assets within various categories.
• Forecast Versus Actual Maintenance Needs: Evaluate the predictive abilities of your smart maintenance platform by comparing projections with actual data over time.

Task Efficiency and Compliance Metrics

Validate how smart maintenance directly boosted operational efficiency by tracking metrics like:

• First-Time Fix Rate: See how the right technician receiving the right work order at the right time allowed more issues to be resolved on the first try.
• Maintenance Backlog: Call attention to reductions in unresolved work orders made possible by a smarter approach to maintenance tasks.
• Technician Response Time: Measure how automatic dispatching enables technicians to respond to requests faster.
• Audit Scores: Compare safety and compliance audits pre- and post-smart maintenance to spot improvements made possible by smart maintenance.

Reactive vs. Proactive Maintenance Operations

Keep these tips in mind to prioritize predictive maintenance strategies over reactive processes:

• Do Capture and Compare Data on Past Repairs: Comparing historical and current data enables you to identify negative cost trends.
• Don’t Universalize Maintenance Strategies: Different assets will require varying approaches to maintenance management. For example, a manufacturing industry organization may own two identical pieces of equipment at two factories. Maintenance scheduling needs for each may vary based on usage, environmental conditions, and other factors.
• Do Set Clear Key Performance Indicators: Establishing KPIs allows you to measure the impact of ongoing smart maintenance operations.
• Don’t Wait Until Asset Failure to Adjust Maintenance Schedules: Utilize a predictive maintenance approach, modifying maintenance schedules based on data. Doing so may prevent breakdowns entirely.
• Establish Standardized Procedures: Having clear workflows for responding to key data assets helps ensure your team responds appropriately to predictive maintenance opportunities.
• Don’t Forget to Document: Maintain records of predictive maintenance scheduling adjustments and their impacts. This data will help you continue to refine and improve maintenance processes going forward.
• Do Stay Up to Date on Smart Maintenance Technologies: Smart maintenance continues to evolve at a fast pace. Stay abreast of emerging tech, such as augmented reality for complex repairs and conducting maintenance in a virtual environment.

Implementing Smart Maintenance in Your Organization

Smart maintenance can be a reality for your organization. Embracing analytics will unlock the potential for predictive and prescriptive maintenance, leading to enhanced equipment reliability. Automating dispatching will permit the right maintenance technician to be quickly assigned to each work order request. Closely monitoring maintenance costs and other key metrics will keep stakeholders committed to your smart maintenance strategy.

ServiceChannel’s facility management software supports each step in the journey from reactive maintenance activities to a smart maintenance program. Our CMMS software uses artificial intelligence and a machine learning algorithm to predict equipment failures. Plus, it provides real-time data about asset performance.With our CMMS software, you can automate work orders and analyze data to monitor cost savings and asset performance. Our expert team can also recommend the right software solutions tailored to your organization’s unique needs.