Deferred maintenance – two words that can send shivers down the spines of facility managers and property owners alike. From spiraling repair costs to safety hazards and diminished property value, the repercussions of postponing maintenance can be severe.  So, what exactly does deferred maintenance entail? Why is it such a pressing concern? And, most importantly, … Deferred Maintenance: How To Reduce Your Maintenance Backlog Read More ..read more

Whether it’s ensuring that a manufacturing production line runs without hitches or a tractor on a farm operates efficiently, machine maintenance makes sure that the used equipment is safe and functional while minimizing the total cost of ownership. Join us as we explore the best practices for keeping your machinery in top operating condition year-round, … Inside Machine Maintenance: How to Keep Your Machinery Healthy Year-Round Read More ..read more

Every piece of equipment, machinery, and asset is a cog in the intricate machinery that propels a business forward. But what ensures that equipment operates at its optimum capacity, ensuring not only productivity but also safety and longevity? The answer lies in meticulous and strategic maintenance planning. In the following sections, we will define what … 7 Key Maintenance Planning Principles and Best Practices Read More ..read more

While cloud-based maintenance solutions have become an industry standard, there are situations in which on-premise CMMS can be a better match for a company’sspecific requirements. As a vendor that offers both cloud and on-premise deployment, we are in a unique position to objectively discuss both sides of this story. How does on-premise CMMS software work? … Benefits of Running On-Premise CMMS vs Cloud Based Maintenance Software Read More ..read more

Maintenance work order cost tracking can be a challenge. For instance you run a large equipment maintenance program and create several hundred work orders a month. How well are you alerted to material and labor usage problems? Not being able to track such items will often result in unexpected costs that will break your budget. In addition, keeping an eye out for overruns can alert you to possible issues. For example you estimate an equipment maintenance task should take sixty minutes. However, the work order actually took ninety minutes to do. The technician made mistakes due to lack of traini ..read more

Is a breakdown maintenance plan even possible? How can one plan for breakdown maintenance? It is by nature very unpredictable!  However, there are some things that you can do. This will make your maintenance team better in handling unplanned equipment breakdowns and other maintenance emergencies. Breakdown maintenance planning tips 1. Prioritize your preventive maintenance tasks Set three task priorities. “High” – must complete on time. “Medium” – must complete but can be rescheduled. “Low” – good to do, can be skipped once in a while. Use your maintenance software put together a m ..read more

Equipment maintenance Workflow Setup Well organized maintenance programs have a clear equipment maintenance workflow (see the diagram below). For instance a workflow with the following steps: External users or customers send in maintenance work requests. We schedule this maintenance work as well as preventive maintenance and create work orders. Technicians receive these work orders and complete them. We generate maintenance reports and so on. But that’s just part of the story… What is a workflow? A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of business activity enabled by ..read more

Why Equipment Downtime Tracking Is Better Than Tracking Equipment Availability We always want to measure total equipment downtime. Equipment availability especially when expressed as a percent can mislead. For instance say the equipment downtime doubles from hundred hours to two hundred hours. However, if you have a lot of equipment, you will see just a small percent drop in equipment availability. No warning bells get triggered! Just think about it… Below is an example from our FastMaint CMMS software showing equipment downtime over three prior periods. There was an small increase in the dow ..read more

What is maintenance backlog? Maintenance backlog refers to maintenance work that is overdue. We usually measure maintenance backlog in hours or days. It shows the total time estimate it would take to complete the pending maintenance work orders. It is a very important maintenance metric for facilities managers, maintenance managers and maintenance planners. We must take big increases in maintenance backlog seriously! What causes maintenance backlog? Maintenance work orders can remain incomplete for a variety of reasons such as: 1. Spare parts or supplies are not available We can usually fore ..read more

CMMS Software Selection Can Be a Challenge Maintenance management covers a wide field. Ongoing maintenance is required for facilities & equipment in different types of industries. So having a CMMS software program that can keep track of such maintenance and schedule work orders becomes very useful. A maintenance software program is useful in locations with a lot of machinery. For instance, manufacturing plants, mining operations and so on. However, it is also useful where you have a lot of facilities needing maintenance. This includes office buildings, hotels, resorts and restaurants. Addi ..read more