Heavy equipment is the backbone of daily operations for everything from construction to agriculture to manufacturing. As such, heavy equipment maintenance plays a vital role in keeping your organization operating at a high level.
Although every piece of machinery will eventually cycle through your business, it’s possible to extend the lifespan of heavy equipment through robust maintenance management. Heavy equipment maintenance is the key to efficiency and profitability, and following these five best practices can extend the lifespan of your equipment.
In this article, we’ll review the 5 best practices and more:
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Your business needs some way to identify which pieces of equipment are due for maintenance, and which have already received a tune-up. Equipment tags and labels streamline the maintenance process significantly by allowing your team to simply scan a code and quickly log maintenance information.
Not only that, but the right maintenance software will give your field technicians a wealth of information every time they scan this code. At a minimum, labels can help your team:
The challenge is that heavy equipment often operates in demanding environments. If you opt for low-quality tags and labels, your team may not be able to read the information.
Always use quality tags designed to withstand the elements. Ideally, you should choose tags that will last the entire product’s lifecycle—or even longer. In terms of design, the labels should be highly visible and resistant to wear and tear so they remain legible over time.
There are so many ways you can label your equipment. Generally speaking, the identification method you choose doesn’t matter as long as you stick with the same method for all heavy machinery.
If you use different identification methods, it could be confusing for anyone reading the text on the labels. This makes it harder to decipher information without scanning the equipment, which leads to wasted time and productivity.
Before labeling your heavy equipment, standardize your identification practices. Try to add as much helpful information as possible, including:
If you decide to change your labeling practices down the road, it’s a good idea to relabel older equipment with new labels. This way, all your equipment follows the same standard going forward.
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Manual maintenance logs are still around, but they’re inefficient, time-consuming, and prone to human error. Opting for a digital maintenance management system is the best way to gather maintenance information about all the equipment in your company—while improving accuracy and reducing costs.
Your technicians only need to scan the QR code or barcode on the equipment and the maintenance system will pull up the equipment’s entire history. This system gives you real-time updates, too, so you can quickly identify which pieces of equipment are due for maintenance.
Plus, a maintenance platform can also track warranty information on every piece of equipment. If you ever need to file a claim, you can quickly pull that warranty information in a few clicks.
Maintenance software can do a lot more than just track maintenance. Once it gathers enough data about your equipment, it can tell your team when they need to conduct proactive maintenance. It even accounts for the equipment’s environment, and can remind your team to maintain equipment in harsh environments more frequently.
Instead of doing maintenance on a predetermined schedule, you can follow the software’s recommendations to only focus your efforts on equipment that actually needs maintenance. This reduces redundant or unnecessary maintenance, which drives up your labor and materials costs.
To learn more about predictive maintenance, check out the video below:
While the right labels and software will go a long way to improving the lifespan of your heavy equipment, they can’t replace training. Human error can lead to equipment damage and failure, which is why it’s so important to train all your operators and field technicians.
Ensure your entire team understands the labeling system and maintenance software. They should know how to interpret labels, add maintenance logs, and follow standard procedures for maintaining equipment.
It’s a good idea to train employees when they join your company as well as on a regular basis. This is doubly important if you make changes to your labeling, identification, or maintenance practices.
Heavy equipment is a big investment for any business. Regular maintenance helps you get more mileage out of each piece of equipment and ensures safety and productivity. Blend the efficiency of durable labels and maintenance software to get as much value from your investment as possible.
As effective as software is at tracking your equipment maintenance, it isn’t possible without durable tags. Metalphoto of Cincinnati creates high-quality tags designed specifically for equipment in harsh industrial environments. See the difference for yourself: Request a free MPC label and tag kit now.
Businesses can extend the lifespan of their equipment with regular maintenance. Durable tags, digital maintenance platforms, and predictive analytics will optimize the value you get from regular maintenance, too.
Every heavy equipment label should include product parts identification, safety instructions, and a QR or barcode for tracking maintenance information.
Metal labels are the best standard for industrial environments. Opt for labels made from Metalphoto®, anodized aluminum, or brass.
Our sales engineers are experts in automatic asset tracking, tagging and identification,a nd can answer all your questions. Get in touch now.
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