Your manufacturing equipment needs to be treated as the steadiest employee you have. If so, it will never call in sick or even need a holiday. Below are suggestions for keep your manufacturing tools in the best of shape.
Cleaning and Lubricating
Keeping your machines clean is crucial. Are they exposed to manufacturing dust or harmful particles you can filter out? Are you in an industry that requires food safe products or a rigorous cleaning process? If so, you may need to re-lubricate everything you just cleaned. Of course, each machine needs its own lubricant that has to match industry standard.
Audit
There may be equipment that can put your human employees at risk or even in immediate danger. If you have boilers on the property, consider setting up a MACT audit, or Maximum Achievable Control Technology audit to study both the functionality of your boiler. If you have any questions on this topic, check in with an expert to be sure that your boiler is being treated with all deference to avoid any hazardous breakdowns or failures.
Regular Maintenance
In addition to cleaning and lubricating, it’s important to review your machines for anything that needs replaced within the mechanism. Hydraulics will eventually need new seals. Even in the cleanest space, oil will need changed and filters changed. By planning for this in advance, you lessen the risk of catastrophic breakdown.
Tracking Repairs
Getting in the habit of undergoing an audit and creating a report can also save you from breakdowns on tools such as compressed air, motors and fans, and HVAC systems, as well as steam created by the generator and put to use elsewhere.
Breakdowns
These frustrating time wasters are going to happen and there’s just no escape. If the source of the breakdown isn’t obvious, it pays to invest in your business and buy quality manufacturing equipment from Approved Hydraulics. It is also a good idea to have someone on site who can break things down. Even better, if you have to go through a breakdown but have had regular audit work done, you can go back in your records, check previous repairs and check in with the service tech to see if they noticed anything unusual.
If your repair and maintenance work has been less than well-documented, it’s time to change that. For small businesses who often have one or two technicians servicing their equipment, start with a log that will provide information both to you and to the tech before you starting asking about audit issues.
Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. You can connect with Anica on Twitter @AnicaOaks.
