Regular maintenance of construction equipment is crucial to managing the high costs of running a construction business. Not only equipment maintenance can help you get the most out of your assets, but it also boosts their resale value, minimizes downtime, and helps control service intervals and cost. Otherwise, project interruption due to equipment breakdown could lead to loss of client trust and ultimately, loss of profit.
Over the years, newer and more efficient techniques in equipment maintenance have been developed to help companies determine the condition of their assets and then predict when maintenance should be performed – hence the predictive maintenance mode. This approach has been proven to result in more significant cost savings over reactive maintenance because it is only conducted when it is required and when it will have the least effect on schedule projects needing the support of the equipment in question.
However, while choosing this strategy is a great way to maximize all the assets you have, merely deciding to adopt one is not enough. Like with any initiatives you implemented before, the preparation is just as crucial as execution. To ensure a successful predictive maintenance program, here are the key areas to focus on:
1. Real-Time Condition Monitoring
The truth about predictive maintenance is that it requires a set of tools in order work. Specifically, you need a tool that will provide the data you need in real-time, all the time. Investing in construction equipment tracking software, though may require a significant investment, is a big leap if you want to transition to predictive maintenance as seamlessly as possible.
A good solution such as Bizprac will not only allow you to know your equipment’s operating costs per hour but can also help ensure your high-value assets – like excavators and trucks – are monitored extremely closely and worked to the max. Additionally, smaller items like handheld tools can also be assigned to different categories since they have a lesser value and may not need constant monitoring.
2. Including the Right People in Data Analysis
All relevant departments should be able to access all the relevant data gathered by the monitoring system in order to ensure a successful data assessment. For instance, fleet managers should be able to access data about the trucks and hauliers in order to make an informed decision on when such assets should be serviced.
It’s important to understand that predictive maintenance should not take over your monitoring efforts, but rather enhance it. To ensure that the data collected are efficiently used, make sure to have a clear structure in your company for who monitors specific items and how data should be passed on to one another promptly.
3. Establishing Criteria for Continued Success
Predictive maintenance is money up front. You need to identify the criteria that you need to achieve in a specific time frame in order to get your ROI. Is it 25 avoided failures on the construction site? Is it the ability to order spare parts far enough in advance that you avoid downtime entirely? Having a clear objective governing your ROI ensures your ability to measure the effectiveness of your predictive maintenance strategy from the day of implementation onwards.
4. An Asset Management Program to Keep Everything in Check
In order for your predictive maintenance program to be successful, you need the ensure buy-in from all key players in your organization. That’s why a construction management software is essential to make sure that your company is set up for success. Through an integrated builder software, you will be able to integrate work-orders and equipment data, providing you with the most accurate insight of an asset’s condition plus work order history, servicing information, and more.
Having constant equipment monitoring, the right people involved in data assessment, the right success criteria in place, and an integrated construction management software will enable you to sustain and proactively improve your predictive equipment maintenance strategy. Consider all these factors, and you will be able to safeguard the success of the transition, bringing your business to the next level of efficiency for the long haul.
Call us at 1800 009 970 or send an email to sales@bizprac.com to learn more about Bizprac and our construction management software today.
