The costs of equipment and facility maintenance can run pretty high for a business, so it’s no wonder that managers look for ways to reduce them. For some companies, particularly those in the manufacturing space, maintenance costs can run higher than annual net profit figures.
Your company’s facility maintenance costs shouldn’t be a wildcard. The truth is that a high number of current expenses could turn out to be completely unnecessary. Obviously, no one wants to spend more than they need to, and this should be alarming in a business setting.
Even if your business is faced with continuous repair and other facilities-related expenses, there’s probably still room for improvement. Here are two areas you can focus on to cut down on unnecessary facility maintenance costs.
Process Improvement Facility Maintenance Savings
How do you usually approach an equipment failure? Most businesses have a reactionary approach. The machinery breaks, and you pick up the phone to find someone to come out and fix it.
This is effective enough until you realize that the equipment is going to continue breaking down, you end up with a backlog of unfulfilled work orders, and there is a pattern of reacting to emergencies rather than doing something to prevent them from occurring.
So, how do you break this pattern?
You can do this in several ways. First, take a look at what you’re doing that technology could accomplish instead. For example, can software alert you to threshold issues with a piece of equipment so that you can prevent another breakdown?
Second, put some processes and possibly software in place to reduce your administrative burden and financial outlays. What about using technology to track those repair costs and vendors to give yourself a break?
Just a few changes can help you remain focused on your business priorities and stop wasting money and time on things that could be accomplished through better processes.
Optimizing Facilities Maintenance Management
If you’re spending a lot on facilities maintenance, it could be due to a lack of information, or the right type of data.
When you’re managing a large facility or multiple facilities, it might not be immediately evident that you are having trouble with the same piece (or type) of machinery repeatedly.
This is where high-quality maintenance management optimization systems come into play.
When you have the most up to date tools at your disposal, you will be able to make data-driven decisions about your business that reduce costs.
Not only can you track the repair history data for your facilities, but also information about vendors and use data to make better equipment purchase and work-scheduling decisions.
It’s never convenient to have non-working equipment, but having to chase down data about your own business is also a costly endeavor. Information is power, and having this at your fingertips will be a catalyst for cutting costs in your facilities maintenance program.
Maintaining a facility on your own can be a challenge and is not always the best approach to reducing costs. Contact ABS today to learn more about how our wide range of services can work for your business.