Facility and maintenance managers will need to overcome various obstacles on the shop floor. Ignoring these problems will result in orders not being fulfilled, customers not receiving their products, and breakdowns in your production funnels. 

Here are four of the biggest maintenance problems  and how you can resolve them. 

 

Problem #1: Downtime

Faulty and malfunctioning equipment will have a significant affect  on your workflows. Machinery powers your production lines, and broken technology will result in unwanted downtime. 

Damaged and defective machinery is inevitable,especially after years of using the same equipment, but poor maintenance scheduling will lead to long periods of downtime, which interrupts your workflows. 

 

Solution:

Manage maintenance schedules in order to minimize unscheduled downtime and optimize production on the shop floor. 

The frequency of maintenance schedules depends on the size of your organization and the scope of your project. However, planned maintenance at regular time intervals will prevent breakdowns and reduce the impact of equipment failure. 

 

Problem #2: Poor Machine Availability 

Machine availability — the amount of time that workers use your equipment — is important in production maintenance. If machines are unavailable, your staff won’t be able to do their jobs properly. This will affect shop floor activity. 

 

Solution:

Use real-time tracking software to see which machines are available for which jobs — and when. This allows you to plan worker schedules, meet project deadlines, and plan future projects. 

 

Problem #3: Idle Time

Idle time is the time you pay workers when they are unable to carry out their regular duties. For example, you pay your staff to work 8 hours a day but they only work 6 hours because of broken machinery.

Idle time will result in loss of productivity and income, so it’s important you resolve this maintenance problem before it happens. 

 

Solution:

Track both workers and equipment to limit idle time in your business. A production manufacturing execution system provides you with valuable shop floor insights so you can optimize staff time and improve productivity. 

 

Production bottlenecks and maintenance problems like those above will have a significant impact on productivity. This is why it’s important to track your production processes and resolve maintenance issues as quickly as possible. When you plan maintenance activities, you will optimize your shop floor activity. Sign up now and find out how Prodsmart can help you.