For several business owners, there is not enough reason to invest in TPM maintenance strategies and tools. The first thing they are told is there is a huge upfront investments way before your assets actually fail or need immediate replacement. You may think that a reactive maintenance plan is way better than a preventive maintenance plan due to the advance costs that you have to bear, but when the asset breaks, this actually boosts your maintenance and repair costs.
There’s no upfront investment required in reactive maintenance and hence short-term savings will actually cost you more in the long run. If you ask experts, they’ll tell you that reactive maintenance is nothing but an outdated and old-school maintenance paradigm that will cost your business big time later.
Reactive maintenance – A wait and watch approach
When you invest in reactive maintenance, you actually wait for the issue to occur. You decide to fix it after it occurs and this is why it is called a ‘Run-to-failure’ approach where you constantly keep using the machines until they break. Once it breaks down, repairs are made in order to restore it to its original condition.
Apparently, reactive maintenance seems cost-effective. When the machine is new, there are minimum chances of maintenance but with time, it is important to invest in maintenance so that there are reduced instances of immediate repair and downtime. With time, breakdowns are more inconsistent and frequent.
If you run a field service company, you have to invest more time for repairs. This will not only harm the productivity of the company but also reduce your revenue and profits.
Reactive maintenance costs you more – The reasons
Reason #1: Serious damage means bigger repair costs
If you’re foolish enough to use your assets till they fail or break down, you are actually putting the machinery at risk of worse damage. A definite component of the equipment starts wearing down due to inaccurate operation, poor environmental condition, wear and tear due to regular use, and manufacturer’s defect.
If you leave things unaddressed, this can lead to a rippling effect on the number of failures. Relying only on reactive maintenance, it is never possible to spot these details and this is when the assets would sustain severe damage leading to a huge loss.
Reason #2: It is costly when you don’t comply with regulations
Not adhering to quality, safety, and environmental standards can have a detrimental impact on the financial results of the company. If there is an equipment that performs at a suboptimal level, this could have a negative impact on the product that is being manufactured through that equipment. A bad quality product can further lead to hefty fines, especially if it belongs to highly regulated industries like automotive manufacturing or pharmaceutical products.
Although productive maintenance doesn’t guarantee you that your operations will certainly meet all compliance standards, it can certainly boost chances of averting the common mistakes that often lead to legal steps being taken against your firm.
Reason #3: Lifespan of your assets are minimized
The ultimate goal of predictive maintenance and enterprise asset management is to maximize the lifespan of your company’s physical assets at a cost that is bearable by the company. Every single part of the asset life cycle, from operation to design to disposal and maintenance should be done with the sole goal of getting the most out of every asset.
It is only through a productive maintenance strategy that you can understand maintenance vs repair and start investing in the former to avoid incurring huge costs. A preventive maintenance strategy is instrumental in attaining this goal as it lets you perform maintenance when the costs are the lowest.
Therefore, when you’re running a business, you should make sure you invest in regular maintenance to avoid incurring hefty costs in the long run. Get help of a business planner to plan your TPM schedule.
