Did you know that the US. Navy pioneered preventive maintenance as a vehicle to drive improvements in the reliability of their vessels in 1963? Now more commonplace but still not widespread, preventative maintenance offers an approach to maintaining equipment that is good for you and for your pocket. And the good news is – GoCodes Asset Tracking can help you implement preventative maintenance, easily.
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Preventative Maintenance vs. Reactive Maintenance
So, what is preventative Maintenance? The GoCodes Asset Tracking team notes that, “Preventive maintenance is the routine, scheduled maintenance that occurs based on recommendations from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) or by industry experts. It helps prolong the lifecycle of an asset and helps to ensure user safety as well as legal compliance.”
For businesses in construction for example, preventative maintenance is critical to the operational longevity and efficiency of machinery, which requires a coherent system of inspections, issue identification and correction and/or other actions that limit equipment failure. But for some managers the cost of preventative maintenance might seem prohibitive. Here’s why:
Take a new rotary screw air compressor for example. Depending on its horsepower, air volume output and whether its stationary or a tow behind diesel type, a single unit can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $60,000 new. A manager may look at that outlay and decide to forgo the 5-10% cost of annual preventative maintenance for it and instead choose to implement reactive maintenance or “run-to-failure” maintenance.
Reactive maintenance ignores the recommendations of equipment designers (which were intended to help preserve the design life of the equipment) to keep operating costs to a minimum. In the short term this approach clearly offers the maximum usage of equipment, by pushing the tool’s productivity to the limit. But long term, that approach is financially problematic. Here’s why:
The Real Cost of Preventative vs Reactive Maintenance
Reactive maintenance shortens the life cycle of the equipment and increase the chance of breakages. That’s because, as Brightly (a Siemens company) states, “A preventive maintenance plan optimizes energy efficiency, ensuring equipment operates at peak levels…and keep(s) the machinery running smoothly…(resulting in)…a direct reduction of maintenance costs by an impressive 12-18%” overall.
And reactive maintenance is pricey, costing anywhere from 3-400% more than preventative repairs, according to the Dept. of Energy’s Maintenance and Best Practices Guide. That’s because by the time the equipment fails, the repairs required are much larger than they would have been if the equipment had been maintained.
Unfortunately, those breakages will take longer to repair, and so the cost of reactive maintenance is naturally increased by the additional unplanned downtime that is required to get it fixed. And that’s why it’s not recommended.
Of course, preventative maintenance isn’t foolproof. It can’t, for example, ensure that catastrophic breakages won’t occur. And there’s always concern that incidental damage to components could result from unneeded maintenance. But overall, as Jones Lang LaSalle found in its study of a large telecommunications firm preventive maintenance can achieve massive results. In fact in this study it accrued an astonishing 545% return on investment.
GoCodes Asset Tracking Makes Preventative Maintenance Easy
Of course, some managers may shy away from preventative maintenance because the implementation process can look so convoluted. That’s where GoCodes Asset Tracking comes in.
GoCodes Asset Tracking simplifies preventative maintenance by pairing heavy-duty QR code tags with a smartphone scanner app. Scanning a tag instantly shows an asset’s full-service history, status and documentation links, eliminating paperwork and data entry errors.
Administrators can easily set up recurring maintenance schedules and automated email alerts for upcoming service dates. They can also build standard digital task checklists, ensuring technicians follow the exact same inspection steps every time.
Finally, field teams can complete work orders and update asset information on the go. The app automatically captures GPS locations and timestamps upon scanning, providing accurate data to prevent equipment breakdowns and providing data that demonstrates legal compliance.
So, ditch the reactive maintenance and implement preventable maintenance this summer with GoCodes Asset Tracking. Keep breakages low, productivity and safety high and finally achieve that 545% return on investment – for a very healthy bottom line!
Want to learn more about GoCodes Asset Tracking, simply visit our website or sign up for a consult! We’re here to help.
