Automating maintenance for facilities management

Konnor Baskaran at mpro5 discusses how automating maintenance management processes with facilities management software enables organisations to planned predictive maintenance seamlessly

Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) involves the routine inspection and maintenance of assets, following the manufacturer’s guidelines and recommendations. By monitoring and compiling asset lifecycle data, a proactive plan for regular check-ups is established, preventing issues before they worsen, leading to failure.

With 30% of all work-related deaths tracing back to poor maintenance activities, PPM strategies facilitated by technological advancements in maintenance management prove essential in adhering to specific safety laws and standards whilst preserving the value of a desired estate.

Inspection, detection, correction, prevention

Planned preventative maintenance can be split into four key actions.

• Inspections serve as a crucial element of PPM. By monitoring the safety of equipment and its functionality, management actively safeguard against workplace injuries whilst ensuring smooth facility operations. 
• Promptly detecting and flagging equipment faults is significantly more effective in avoiding issues worsening and operations lagging compared to the costly, time consuming, and disruptive nature of run-to-failure approaches.
• Once identified, correcting issues before they escalate and jeopardise operations ensures equipment is maintained and functioning at peak performance levels. Proactively correcting faults mitigates the risk of equipment failure, thereby upholding operational integrity.
• Preventing problems is also critical. Maintaining comprehensive maintenance logs, including compiling, populating, and filing, allows managers to track past faults and minimises the likelihood of recurring failures. In doing so, workloads and employee stress levels are managed, maximising operational efficiency, particularly during peak periods. When equipment is working as intended, staff can prioritise proactive maintenance rather than continually reacting to faults as they arise. 

Importance of planned preventative maintenance

A PPM strategy is essential for businesses to forecast, control, and monitor downtime costs accurately. Not only will this enable businesses to maintain efficient operations and reduce the risk of unplanned financial losses, but also ensures the highest levels of safety for both customers and workers alike.

Critical assets are often expensive and subsequently are costly to maintain. Maintaining assets optimally enhances their functioning efficiency, prolonging and preserving their lifecycle, which is vital for maximising return on investment.

While downtime cannot be entirely avoided, by employing preventative measures, breakdowns are decreased by an estimated 70%, according to Deloitte, protecting and benefitting service level agreements. 

Routine inspections and maintenance play a critical role in mitigating the risk of equipment failures that could pose dangers that have the potential to be detrimental to an estate’s compliance. With numerous regulations aimed at protecting workers’ safety during machinery operation, PPM becomes instrumental in protecting employees from harm and the estate from compliance failure.

Curating and implementing your PPM strategy

It’s no secret that the upkeep and maintenance of equipment is an expensive feat. However, by implementing PPM strategies, estates will save substantial costs in the long run, avoiding frequent replacements, repairs, and unexpected downtime, costing an estimated £38 million every year. 

The best approach to take when implementing PPM strategies is to create a checklist that maps out, inclusive of but not exhaustive, asset information, tasks, tools needed, safety and activity sign-off.

This can prove to be an extremely time-consuming and intricate task. Therefore those considering their PPM strategies should first explore the technological advancements dedicated to streamlining maintenance management processes. 

Harnessing facilities management software

Facilities management software boasts various technologies including smart automation, allowing management to allocate and schedule repeat tasks within the team immediately and systematically.

Reports can also be generated automatically based on data uploads via an app, easily accessible to management. Not only does this improve overall team visibility but also tracks any warnings or failures through GPS technologies. QR tags allocated to locations removes any confusion for staff at multi-site organisations. 

Emerging as an indispensable tool, advancements in software assisting PPM make implementing a successful strategy easy. By adhering to manufacturers guidelines and automating maintenance management processes, organisations can proactively monitor assets, prevent issues before they worsen and ensure the safety of both employees and customers.

As businesses strive for operational excellence, integrating FM software has become an essential investment for sustained success in today’s competitive landscape.

Konnor Baskaran is FM Lead at mpro5

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and SolStock