What To Look For When Integrating A Maintenance Software Solution
When equipment experiences downtime an unexpected downtime, you will need as much information as possible to identify what happened and prevent downtime from happening in the future. Fortunately, maintenance software solutions are available that can automate much of this process.
Why Downtime Prevention Is Important
Problems associated with equipment downtime include:
- A halt in production
- The product in production is often lost
- Overtime needed to replace equipment
- New equipment costs
- Parts replacement costs
- Less time spent on preventative maintenance
Because of the inconveniences and expenses associated with equipment breaking down, it is worthwhile to spend extra money on software that assists your business on scheduled downtime and downtime prevention. You may realize that your firm is just not generating the profit that you expect. Analytics can provide you with clear answers for where the bottlenecks are coming from and what can be done to prevent them.
One of the reasons why preventative maintenance is so important is because the workers who have been trained on how to repair an old machine may no longer work in that industry. Also, the parts necessary to repair an old machine may no longer be available. Without preventative maintenance, you may need to purchase a new machine. When looking for maintenance software solutions, there are several features to look for.
Data Format Export Options
Data needs to be exported as a format that can be used by a third party program, such as Excel. This helps save a small amount of time by allowing you to avoid converting the data to a separate format.
Best And Worst Case Scenario Analysis
Maintenance software should offer an analysis for the best case and worst case scenarios for the downtime of a machine. This can allow you to determine which machines should be prioritized when trying to prevent downtime. The best case and worst case scenarios are based on the conditions that the equipment will normally operate under.
OEE
OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) is another important element to track. This refers to how well a manufacturing operation is used. This plays a role in determining the most optimal period for a scheduled downtime. The availability section of a metric determines the amount of time that the equipment has to operate. The time lost as a result of downtime is referred to as availability losses. Each of these features not only allow your company to reduce downtime, but also help you consider how downtime fits into the overall productivity of your business and helps your business maximize profit.