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Maintenance is a crucial factor in prolonging the lifespan of equipment, reducing downtime, and decreasing overall costs. However, it often gets noticed in many operations once it becomes an emergency. This oversight can be attributed to various reasons, such as the lack of available resources, inconvenient timing, disorganization or lack of planning, and a misunderstanding of the benefits and importance of maintenance. Often, multiple factors contribute to a maintenance deficit that can accumulate high avoidable costs in emergency repairs, part defects, and facility safety. It is important to note that these maintenance issues do not stem from deliberate negligence by the facility management but instead result from resource constraints and prioritization decisions that prioritize core production processes.
Manufacturers address these issues in what ways?
To address predictive maintenance-related issues and ensure proper execution, many manufacturers partner with outsourced providers and enter into an annual maintenance contract. This contract maintenance agreement is a business arrangement between the manufacturing facility and the service provider for ongoing maintenance services.
An industrial contract maintenance agreement differs from ad-hoc or emergency maintenance services, encompassing comprehensive maintenance coverage for a plant's essential assets. This includes regular inspections, preventive maintenance, corrective repairs, and equipment upgrades. By signing such an agreement, manufacturers can ensure that their equipment receives consistent and high-quality care, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity.
An industrial contract maintenance agreement encompasses a range of services for a manufacturing plant's critical assets. These services include scheduled preventive maintenance, regular checkups, diagnostics, and emergency repairs. Additionally, the service provider typically supplies a dedicated workforce of skilled and certified technicians to perform the predictive maintenance tasks. Documentation and process development are also part of the agreement, ensuring that maintenance procedures are standardized and optimized for efficiency.
MRO asset management is another crucial element of industrial contract maintenance. This involves managing inventory and optimizing storeroom management to ensure the plant always has spare parts and supplies. With all these services provided under an annual maintenance contract, manufacturers can be confident that their equipment is always in optimal condition, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity.
An annual maintenance contract (AMC) is a valuable investment for various manufacturing industries such as aerospace, automotive, building products, heavy equipment, consumer packaged goods, paper/pulp, and tire/rubber fields. The following benefits of an ongoing AMC agreement apply across these industries:
1) Fixed maintenance costs: A comprehensive annual maintenance contract allows manufacturers to manage and account for maintenance costs on a long-term, fixed basis, thus avoiding unexpected expenses that can negatively affect the budget. By reducing variability in the maintenance budget, manufacturers can allocate funds confidently and efficiently throughout the rest of the business without fear of overruns in maintenance or shortfalls elsewhere.
2) Guaranteed maintenance support: A maintenance contract ensures that expert technicians can resolve problems at any time, providing a safeguard that in-house staff may be unable to offer. A contracted partner can provide multi-craft, experienced maintenance technicians that will solve all maintenance-related problems.
3) Enhanced Logistics: A comprehensive maintenance contract considers all facets of the maintenance process, leading to tangible logistical advantages that ultimately contribute to improving overall profitability.
4) Extended equipment life: An ongoing maintenance process should keep equipment running in top shape for as long as possible. A long-term maintenance contract provides the resources to consistently adhere to an effective scheduled or predictive maintenance strategy, resulting in greater production efficiency and extended equipment life.
5) Reduced downtime: Adhering to scheduled maintenance can minimize or eliminate downtime caused by equipment malfunctions. An annual maintenance contract's long-term, comprehensive strategy can enable downtime planning, ensuring that scheduled maintenance occurs during the least disruptive times in the production schedule.
6) Peace of mind to focus on core competencies: A maintenance contract provides management, operators, and other technical personnel with the resources to focus on core tasks and other bottom-line drivers such as innovation and customer service, thus eliminating the constant sense of unease and scramble to complete critical maintenance tasks that can adversely affect other parts of the operation.
With decades of experience as a pioneer in complete plant maintenance services, BMI is a market leader in contract maintenance. We can provide your facility with all the benefits mentioned above and more. Contact a BMI representative today to discuss your operation’s maintenance needs and goals.