Maintenance Downtime

I think this poor fellow really has a serious problem with his machine.

A typical example of no plan, just fix it when it breaks.

This is going to be painful, inaccurate, and is going to be expensive.

No plan, no preventive maintenance, the consequences can be frightening.

Imagine you are driving your car and you hear a slight knocking from the front wheel.

You have no time to investigate, so you just turn up the radio and the knocking goes away. ‘I will fix it tomorrow.

Guess what? Tomorrow comes and goes and you just enjoy the music, until late one night, traveling home on a lonely road the front of your car collapses.

Now from what originally was possibly simply a loose wheel nut that needed tightening, you have a multitude of problems.

Possibly a damaged wheel shaft, bearings to be replaced, maybe a new tyre, not to mention a huge safety risk on a lonely road at night, and a large towing bill guaranteed.

The result of being Reactive instead of Proactive.

Plant and Facilities

If we treat your assets in the same way as this poor fellow above has been treating his, then prepare for serious consequences!

Rather apply the principle of Proactive maintenance and reap the benefits for your plant.

Look and listen. You will be surprised how many issues can be dealt with simply and at minimal cost, which can result in huge savings both on maintenance expenditure and production volumes.

Reactive Fix when Needed

Reactive means repair when it fails and there are a bunch of things that can happen as a consequence of being Reactive.

• Normally it is an emergency
• It is inconvenient and the wrong time
• Spares and skills are not freely available
• There will always be time pressure. Possibly in the middle of a huge critical production run, means a temporary repair or quick fix is done, which normally results in poor workmanship and long term cost implications.

I recall many years ago having a water leak in the kitchen.

I was in a hurry so I did a quick fix and decided to sort it out properly later.

Later came and went and I never did sort it out until on Christmas Morning I got up to a flooded kitchen. Not the best way to spend Christmas morning.

I am sure most of us have stories like that.

It is also important to note that in an emergency breakdown situation, invariably nothing is recorded and zero information is established.

No historical information provision for the future.

If breakdowns and downtime are causing us nightmares, sleepless nights, loss of productivity and profitability, then we need to make a decision to move away from a Reactive mode towards a Proactive discipline.

We must remember that if we keep on doing what we have always done, then we will always get what we have always got.

Strobe Academy of Learning has been designed to provide easy-to-use video-based training courses.

You determine your own pace of learning in your own time. Dream big, study well, be smart and become successful. You will never know how much you can achieve until you commit to pushing your limits.

The courses are available either:

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For more information email us at info@strobe-al.co.za or visit www.strobe-al.co.za