Machinery and equipment maintenance

Anna Turner highlights the importance of caring for equipment and taking steps to avoid an expensive malfunction.

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Busted, unreliable machinery and equipment costs you money. It costs you money because it makes you inefficient and slows down workflow. It’s imperative we keep machinery and equipment in tip-top shape so it's there when we need it.

Unsurprisingly, the key to reliable equipment is planning.

All machinery and equipment, from a large excavator down to a cordless power drill, needs maintenance. Not only will well-maintained equipment be more reliable, but it will also extend its lifespan, saving money on both fronts.

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You can carry out either reactive maintenance or preventative maintenance.

Of course, you will never completely eliminate machinery and equipment failures, but preventive maintenance will go a long way to reducing them. So, if you are always getting caught out by downed equipment and/or you want to extend the life of your equipment, spend some time now setting up a maintenance plan to save money in the future.

The first thing you need to do is to identify what machinery and equipment you require to keep your business running. These are the tools, equipment and machinery with the potential to bring your business to a grinding halt. It's important to develop a plan for when that equipment is offline. A great example is the boss's PC. What happens when it fails? Where is the backup? How will they keep the business running while it’s being fixed?