By Stefan Hockenberger, Managing Director, Europe
The path to improving your factory maintenance program with a mobile solution is through measurement. While downtime and overall equipment effectiveness are important to focus on, there are other underlying areas that are worth tracking. These three key performance indicators (KPIs) for plant maintenance support workflows needed to reduce the risk of unplanned downtime and improve asset management. Implementing a mobile solution helps organizations like yours to manage resources better.
Manufacturing and other plants are complex from production lines to auxiliary support systems. Floor operations maintain the equipment to maximize uptime and investment. In the past, requests were paper-based with staff carrying around clipboards with various forms. Some of this process has migrated to a digital format in that the lists are emailed, or documents accessed online – yet, they’re not always integrated or quite real-time, and rarely connect to back office functions. This results in inefficiencies such as incomplete work order status tracking or difficulty accessing equipment/repair history. These disconnects add time and money to operational budgets.
Maintenance backlog is a list of work orders that are incomplete tasks past their due date. The reason(s) can range from waiting on parts or supplies to low priority to the request was lost. A small percentage is typically not a concern as it is considered normal. However, if the number grows over time then it does become an issue and can lead to deferred maintenance that impacts operations. Many of these efficiency KPIs are set to under three work weeks per technician.
Service vs. failure repairs is an efficiency KPI that shows how many work orders were scheduled compared to emergency or breakdown reasons. If this ratio is low, then you’re spending more money and time on fighting fires rather than managing operations. It also disrupts production’s schedule.
Work order completion measures your team’s productivity and is generally shown as a percentage. You strive for a high number, say 90%. However, this is not a standalone efficiency KPI because rushed, completed jobs can result in near-future failures.
You can easily monitor the three plant maintenance KPIs defined above and see marked improvements after implementing a mobile solution to your maintenance program. Removing paperwork from your processes has been shown to reduce the maintenance backlog and downtime by 10% and more. Migrating to a handheld platform can reduce your overall service and maintenance costs by over 10% while extending the life of your assets.
A global leader in manufacturing high-quality, botanical cellulose fibers sought to improve the maintenance of their mechanical, crane-rail and electrotechnical assets when upgrading from barcode scanners and paper processes. By implementing our mobile solution, their technicians required 50% less preparation for work orders by shifting from three terminals to one smartphone. They have access to
Here’s another example. One large heating and air conditioning manufacturer implemented our mobile solution and improved their work order synchronization to 6-10 times faster than before. In addition, their customer service department uses it to reduce their service order acceptance to invoicing time from one month to only three days!
These instances are only a few examples that show how implementing a mobile solution in your maintenance program can improve the metrics of all kinds, including backlogs, maintenance types and completions. It offers a wealth of benefits from real-time notifications to barcode scanning. In addition, the reports from the mobile-connected system make it easy to show your compliance with company and industry regulations. The results are improved KPIs and more uptime for your systems. A good mobile solution connects the shop floor to the top floor with an easy-to-use interface.
Download our guide to receive two bonus KPIs. Learn more about mobile plant maintenance solutions from Movilitas.
