In this day and age, any downtime on your machines can cause a host of problems for your business. The good news is that you can use innovations in technology to prevent downtime by instituting a predictive maintenance program.

What is Reactive Maintenance?

The old model of maintenance happens when a machine or other asset has already broken down or stopped performing as intended. Not only does this cause the much-dreaded downtime, but it can also mean damaged products, late deliveries, and even lost customers.

What is Involved in a Predictive Maintenance Program?

The first step to implementing a predictive maintenance program is to start integrating Internet of Things (IoT) components such as mobile, wireless, and cloud-based technologies. These technologies can connect various systems together so that data flows from one system to another, seamlessly, in real-time. All these systems talk to each other, alerting managers and workers when a machine is acting outside of normal parameters.

How Can Predictive Maintenance Improve Your Processes

By integrating systems that produce real-time data, you can catch problems before they happen. A machine can then be taken off-line at a scheduled time (rather than during normal production hours) for evaluation. This saves on downtime and increased production during the workday. In addition, you may save money on parts that you would normally keep stocked for repairs as now you can effectively predict when a part is needed and order it on-demand. Getting real-time data can also improve operator safety. As soon as alerts go out, an operator can stop a machine, which may prevent personal injury. This also saves the company costs for insurance and workers compensation claims. Systems can also be set up to verify repairs once a new part is replaced.

Overall, predictive maintenance programs increase efficiency, decrease downtime, improve worker safety, cut costs, and increase profits.