Whether you’re managing heavy machinery or small equipment and tools, using software to maximize equipment lifespan can improve efficiency, control costs and boost your return on investment (ROI).
Tips to Maximize Equipment Lifespan
No business can afford to constantly replace equipment, so fleet managers must find ways to maximize equipment lifespan. Fortunately, there are a few simple, proactive measures you can take to protect your investments.
Monitoring equipment health and conducting maintenance efficiently are the best ways to maximize equipment lifespan. By tracking equipment details and maintenance tasks, fleet managers can gain necessary insight to increase equipment longevity.
Some fleet managers still manually track equipment with whiteboards and spreadsheets. Not only does this limit real-time visibility into equipment status, but it also makes it difficult to communicate maintenance needs with team members.
Equipment management software enables fleet managers to comprehensively track and manage maintenance for all types of equipment and vehicles. Leveraging software allows you and your team to collaborate in real time to maximize equipment lifespan.
Leverage Electronic Equipment Inspections
Regularly inspecting equipment ensures you have a baseline understanding of equipment condition and allows your team to identify underlying issues and inform you immediately. Implementing routine equipment inspections allows your operators to monitor equipment health daily, weekly or by usage (hour intervals).
Some fleets still use paper inspection forms, In addition to often being damaged or illegible, paper inspection forms often aren’t returned to managers for days or weeks at a time. To maximize equipment lifespan, it’s important to address any equipment issues quickly.
Equipment management software allows users to perform inspections via a mobile app and upload results instantly. Fleet managers receive notifications of inspection failures, enabling them to begin scheduling repairs quickly to maximize equipment lifespan.
Perform Basic Preventive Maintenance Regularly
Taking a proactive approach to maintenance is one of the easiest ways to maximize equipment lifespan, but many fleets have trouble keeping up with routine maintenance tasks. Creating a preventive maintenance schedule ensures you’re regularly completing service tasks and monitoring equipment health over time.
Tracking maintenance schedules for all of your equipment on whiteboards can be overwhelming. Equipment management software makes it easy to schedule and manage preventive maintenance tasks for all of your equipment.
Fleet managers can set maintenance schedules based on usage or calendar intervals and automate service reminders. Receiving service reminders for upcoming tasks provides ample time to schedule maintenance and assign new tools to operators.
When it comes to preventive maintenance, a little can go a long way. Including small service tasks, like cleaning and lubrication, in your preventive maintenance schedule is a simple, yet significant way to maximize equipment lifespan. To streamline small equipment maintenance tasks, consider keeping your spare parts and cleaning products organized and in stock by managing inventory in your software.
Implement an Efficient Equipment Maintenance Workflow
When we talk about maximizing equipment lifespan, we’re referring to methods of maintaining equipment to increase longevity. Having a strong equipment maintenance strategy ensures your team can perform maintenance efficiently and monitor equipment health in real time.
Equipment management software is the most powerful solution for managing equipment maintenance. Tracking equipment health in a centralized system and enabling communication across your team with a mobile app ensures you’re able to solve issues efficiently and get the most out of your equipment.
Collaborate With Your Team Remotely
Communication barriers are one of the biggest challenges for fleet managers when trying to improve maintenance productivity. Without a way to monitor repair progress and track equipment status, you can’t effectively maximize equipment lifespan.
Leveraging software and a mobile app allows you to collaborate with your team and receive real-time status updates from anywhere. Team members can update equipment status, complete inspections and comment on equipment issues in their mobile app to keep managers informed in real time.
Instead of playing phone tag, managers are notified of issues immediately and can view all comments and updates in a configurable dashboard to get a bird’s eye view of operations.
Manage Maintenance Tasks With Work Orders
Keeping track of maintenance tasks for a variety of equipment, vehicles or other assets can be a challenge. Creating and managing work orders in equipment management software streamlines tasks and allows you to easily monitor progress.
Work orders can be created based on inspection failures, preventive maintenance reminders or other identified issues. Fleet managers can easily task out maintenance to technicians and track productivity to ensure repair efficiency.
Managing equipment maintenance in software provides a complete audit trail of repairs for each piece of equipment. The ability to review tasks by line item allows you to verify the proper maintenance tasks are completed and provides detailed insight into equipment health.
Tracking work orders and analyzing equipment service history allows managers to better understand equipment health, spot overarching issues and leverage data to maximize equipment lifespan.
Monitor Maintenance Expenses
Maintenance is one of the largest ongoing costs for fleets. Fleet managers are always searching for ways to stay within budget and boost their ROI. While maintenance itself is expensive, replacement costs, even for small tools, can significantly impact your budget.
Taking measures to maximize equipment lifespan ensures you're not prematurely replacing equipment. On the other hand, it’s equally important to track maintenance expenses to understand when repair costs outweigh replacement costs.
Tracking expenses in equipment management software allows you to closely monitor your budget and determine the best time to replace equipment. Comparing equipment health data with real-time expense reports can provide insight for managers to make data-driven decisions regarding equipment.
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