Low Maintenance Equipment: Solutions on How to Reduce Downtime

When an industrial system or piece of equipment within the system goes offline for any reason, downtime results. This downtime can be planned and due to scheduled maintenance. Alternatively, it can be due to an unexpected breakdown or other unforeseen occurrence. Regardless of whether downtime is planned or unplanned, the results are the same. Production comes to a halt. Because of this, it’s necessary to have a strategy for lowering maintenance costs due to unplanned downtime. One crucial approach to reducing unplanned downtime involves integrating equipment into processing systems that require less maintenance. 

Minimize Downtime with Low-Maintenance Equipment Solutions

Preventive maintenance strategies are vital for lowering maintenance costs in material processing applications. One way material handling companies deal with the problem of unplanned downtime is through system integration of low-maintenance equipment. Solutions for production facilities aim to remain fully operational 90 percent of the time, with downtime of no more than 10 percent. A study published in 2020 quantified the causes of downtime in manufacturing.

According to the study published in Plant Engineering Magazine: 

• 34% of downtime is due to antiquated machinery.
• 20% of downtime occurs because of equipment failure.
• 11% of downtime happens as a result of mistakes by operators.
• 9% of downtime ensues from not setting aside time to properly maintain machinery.
• 8% of downtime is a result of poorly designed equipment.
• 6% of downtime results from failed maintenance planning.
• 5% of downtime happens because machine operators aren’t trained properly.
• 4% of downtime occurs due to lack of experienced maintenance personnel.
• 3% of downtime is because of a variety of other reasons.

Identifying these causes of downtime makes it possible to address issues that tend to slow maintenance. Equipment solutions are just one element in resolving these problems, with ongoing hiring and training of competent equipment operators a key aspect of any maintenance planning.

Understanding Downtime in Material Handling Processes

To understand the concept of downtime and how it should be addressed, it’s essential to consider both planned and unplanned downtime. Both of these types of downtime affect the efficiency of a processing facility, so it’s important to understand their costs. Planned downtime for shift changes or converting equipment to handle another product is necessary in many facilities that process material around-the-clock, for example. Some planned downtime can even increase efficiency over time, such as for scheduled upgrades or modifications to allow equipment maintenance. Solutions like these can make equipment more effective and facilities more productive.

Production facilities truly want to avoid unplanned downtime as much as possible. Unplanned downtime increases operational expenses without any benefit. This includes overtime for maintenance personnel while also elevating repair costs as failing components require replacement. Other issues result from blockages from product buildup, mechanical breakdowns, or even software glitches. Not following a maintenance plan properly and poor training can also result in unplanned downtime. Such inefficiencies ought to be dealt with through implementation of both predictive and preventive maintenance strategies.

Minimizing Downtime & Lowering Maintenance Costs

Modern material processing facilities mitigate unplanned downtime by employing both predictive and preventive maintenance plans and utilizing real-time monitoring systems enabled by IoT (Internet of Things) -connected devices and AI-enabled software. Reducing downtime enhances productivity, and while these modern tools provide a means to keep production lines running smoothly, the best way to lower such costs involves low maintenance equipment. Solutions for enhancing productivity in material processing facilities must focus on processing machinery and keeping it well-maintained to prevent delays and ensure continuous operations. While unplanned downtime often results from equipment breakdown, operator error and material shortages come into play as well, so these must also be considered as means for lowering maintenance costs.

Strategies for dealing with downtime and lowering maintenance costs include: 

• Analysis of root causes: Equipment maintenance solutions help lower maintenance costs by encouraging ample dataflow. By combining data with analytics software, it’s possible to understand the root causes of breakdowns, delays, stoppages, and other downtime.
• Baseline measurements: By measuring baseline metrics, stakeholders can better follow maintenance of equipment. Solutions such as TEEP (total effective equipment performance), OOE (overall operations effectiveness) and OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) offer a means to monitor productivity, with metrics like MTTR (mean time to repair) and MTBF (mean time between failure) used to measure the success of an intervention, while also assessing the seriousness of the problem.
• Continual improvements: Having a culture of continuous improvement among the production team helps reduce production delays and enhance processes, in turn lowering maintenance costs.
• Data analysis: Along with finding root causes, analytics software produces reports based on collected data, which allows production teams to quickly identify trends in data that enable better informed decisions.  
• Maintenance software: Software connected to devices can monitor processes and detect changes in performance. This allows operators to more easily create workarounds for problems that would slow maintenance of equipment. Solutions that involve both predictive and scheduled maintenance allow for a more holistic approach to maintaining key pieces of equipment, which in turn aids in lowering maintenance costs.
• Material supply: Without a consistent and continuous raw material supply, downtime will inevitably result. It’s important to ensure that sufficient raw materials are always available to prevent downtime due to shortages.
• Optimizing processes: By employing lean manufacturing standards, processing companies can optimize machinery to keep it low maintenance. Equipment solutions can involve identifying inefficiencies within the processing system, including ascertaining where bottlenecks occur to better streamline processes.
• Real-time monitoring: With workflow maintenance, equipment solutions that enable real-time monitoring can include IoT sensors combined with analytics software to evaluate data and track system performance. Connected devices within processing systems provide instantaneous information that enables operators to immediately intervene once an issue is detected.
• Responsibility: It’s important to foster an approach among machine operators and others on a production team to detect and report any issues immediately. Cultivating a culture that makes every worker accountable goes a long way to lowering maintenance costs, while also encouraging more seamless production.
• Spare parts inventory: Keeping an inventory of spares can more quickly allow maintenance of equipment. Solutions that allow swift replacement of critical components lessens downtime from equipment failure.
• Training: Developing skills helps streamline workflow in maintenance of equipment. Solutions that permit both operators and maintenance personnel to spot issues within systems before they become real problems curbs downtime resulting from worker error. 

Processing efficiency is intimately connected to downtime. By examining all the dataflow for equipment maintenance, solutions for inefficiencies within a processing system can be more easily found. Such strategies help limit unplanned downtime and lower maintenance costs.    

Low-Maintenance Equipment Solutions to Limit Unplanned Downtime

One of the best ways to limit unplanned downtime is just to maintain a steady workflow. Maintenance, equipment, and solutions for reducing downtime are tied to keeping uptime at maximal levels. To accomplish this effectively, it’s important to keep equipment well-maintained and up to date. This isn’t just about replacing worn components but engaging with innovative machinery manufacturers to find new and more efficient ways of processing materials.

For example, updating a bagging machine may not require such a substantial investment but rather involve revamping it to include automated controls, new production software, or other remedies. In most cases, extending a system's useful lifespan requires integrating already existing conveying, mixing, and other systems with cutting-edge equipment. In some cases, a component may look exactly the same but be made from an advanced material that withstands corrosion or wear better.

For low-maintenance equipment, solutions may also lie in something as simple as cleaning certain points in a processing system at more regular intervals to prevent product buildup around essential mechanical parts. Preventive maintenance is highly effective in extending the lifecycles of critical processing machinery. It reduces the chance of unplanned downtime due to mechanical failures without the need for new capital investment.

But the human factor is another key element to any strategy that seeks to better allow equipment maintenance. Solutions should also be based on operators and maintenance personnel having intimate knowledge of the machines they oversee. By understanding their basic functions, it’s easier to detect when there’s an issue. It requires regular training of production teams to limit the number and extent of stoppages. This applies to approximately one out of every five downtime incidents, helping to reduce operator error due to lack of training.

Lowering Maintenance Costs with Interactive Documents

While in the past many pieces of industrial equipment came with thick manuals describing every little detail about it, the 21st century has enabled maintenance technicians to use such information interactively. This augments efficiency, helping techs to access information more quickly and reduce downtime.  

Lowering Maintenance Costs with Prater’s Spares & Service

For our customers who regularly inspect and maintain their equipment to reduce downtime, Prater Industries offers preventive maintenance to support these efforts. Lowering maintenance costs by keeping essential components for key pieces of machinery on hand is one way to do this. Additionally, we encourage customers to consult with our experienced customer support team about any inquiries about our equipment. To learn more about Prater’s low-maintenance equipment and solutions for avoiding unplanned downtime, contact the material handling specialists at Prater Industries.