When you have a big factory operation, you know the machine downtime and what it costs you and your business. Big unplanned maintenance could be an issue for any business owner who doesn’t take any preventive measures. You don’t want to be in that part of the story.
All you need to do would be to try to have constant system maintenance sessions that significantly reduce the chance of having an accident when people are present. Remember that breakdown maintenance could cost you more than ten regular maintenance sessions. Today we will see why maintenance sessions are so important for factories and how unplanned ones can ruin your business.
Should you be thorough with your business, it’s better to have a plan before any accident happens. That’s why such maintenance remains very important for your business’s existence and continuity. Let’s take a deep dive into the unplanned maintenance issues that can erupt suddenly.
Maintenance Is Mandatory Under Civil Law
You need to know, if you don’t already, that maintenance is mandatory under civil law in many industries. That means you have to perform scheduled maintenance on your infrastructure in regular time increments which you have an obligation to declare to the local authorities.
Factories are work scenes for many workers, and that means you need to provide a higher level of security for them. It’s important that you avoid any unplanned maintenance since that action could be seen as a result of a problematic schedule on your part. Unions are there to protect their workers and ensure that you devote a good part of your profits to keep your factory working smoothly and flawlessly.
Unplanned Maintenance Remains The Key To Uncertainty
There is great uncertainty about any maintenance that happens unplanned. People who perform or need such maintenance have the anxiety about something happening to their infrastructure and need to find a solution fast. For that reason, unplanned maintenance could cost a lot more than the scheduled ones and require more experienced personnel to find all the reasons for leaks or any other issues that happen suddenly to the machinery. It’s necessary to do planned maintenance to ensure you have no issues with operations, and then the unplanned maintenance could happen only once in a while and not for major issues.
Many Issues Could Arise From Unplanned Maintenance
When external engineers and inspectors come to your premises for unplanned maintenance, there is a good chance you have some issues arise. That happens all the time when there is a major breakdown, and you need to fix it immediately. Leaks that cease operation to some of the engines or pumps could be the reason for unplanned maintenance.
However, you need to be prepared for the increased costs of the maintenance that could find some issues that were covered by regular maintenance. That’s the reason you need to have only the certified maintenance personnel perform your regular inspections rather than waiting for an accident to happen that could give you even more trouble.
You Need to Hire Experts that Cost More
When having unplanned maintenance to your system, there is a higher chance that the experts who come to your factory will charge you a lot more. That happens because they need to come to your premises without prior notice and need to reschedule the regular maintenance they perform on other premises.
That’s why you need to expect them to be thoroughly looking at your system and charge you a maximum per-hour wage plus their remuneration for the reports. If you have a lot of unplanned maintenance throughout a year, it may be possible that you fail your financial goals and jeopardize the existence of your business in the long run.
Inspectors Could Come and Visit Your Premises
After the completion of any unplanned maintenance that you need to declare to your logs, there is a high chance you have state inspectors coming to your premises. That is obvious since they need to know if everything works right and that no employees’ lives are at stake.
These inspectors could issue a warning or a return visit to see if you keep all the safety and maintenance standards right. Some jurisdictions are very keen on closely viewing all factories that had unplanned maintenance. So the best solution would be to have regular maintenance sessions, even though they seem worthless, to ensure that you have the power to keep inspectors away from your premises.
Your Insurance Contract Could Become Void
Insurance companies offer contracts for factories provided you perform the scheduled maintenance. If you fail to document the reports from such maintenance or even if you constantly have the need for unplanned ones you may face the danger of insurance contact annulement.
That means you may be out of the crucial insurance coverage you need for your factory to operate legally. Insurance usually covers only the extreme case of an accident happening in the premises that could never be prevented. It is more than evident that if you have more unplanned maintenance the chances to have an accident to your personnel is higher and that is a legal reason to have a void contract.
People who own factories should never cut from the maintenance costs. It’s something that will make them susceptible to other inspections and cost them even more money in the near future.
Conclusion
Having unplanned maintenance could happen in all factories. But if that becomes a mode of operation, then you most probably have a management issue. People who operate your business and make administrative decisions about it should realize that keeping the premises safe and sound is a lot better for your profitability.
Planning maintenance is the most important rule to follow when you have a factory. That will mean you can attract the best employees and expect productivity to skyrocket since there would not be so many days of non-operation because of unplanned maintenance.
