A few years back, a major manufacturer went to incredible lengths to fly me across the Midwest to fix a downed production line, probably spending tens of thousands of dollars. The urgency and cost showed how expensive downtime can be compared to swift repairs. This experience highlights why proactive maintenance is critical – preventing failures before they happen saves far more than emergency fixes. Investing early in upkeep protects operations, avoids costly shutdowns, and ensures business continuity without extreme last-minute measures.
Some facts
A global survey of 1000 companies revealed that unplanned downtime costs them between $1.25 billion and $2.5 billion annually. For 98 percent of companies surveyed, just one hour of downtime now costs upwards of $100,000. This is why building an industrial productivity roadmap is essential. It minimizes risks, boosts industrial productivity, and ensures long-term operational resilience.
Proactive versus reactive approach
Reacting to downtime or productivity pressures rather than developing a proactive plan to improve always proves more costly and stressful. Industrial facilities today make extensive use of automation and there are some things companies can do to stay ahead of the competitive curve, for example:
- Make sure you have the right spare parts on hand
- Ensure your automation system’s technologies are still readily available
- Look at the skills of your staff. Can they support and maintain your equipment?
- Make sure your automation systems are serving your needs in terms of data transparency – remember automation can give you valuable data which can further improve processes if displayed and used correctly
- Upgrade your systems if needed to provide clear, usable diagnostics to help you fix downtime events
- Select a reliable repair service capable of fixing all your electronics and helping you to address the root causes of failures
Some of the items above may seem expensive but I know process lines where 30 seconds of downtime can cost as much as $10,000 US in lost profits. Planning ahead and being proactive can pay off very quickly. It is very important that industrial companies understand where their automation system risks are and develop a road map to address them.
What is your proactive plan to ensure minimal downtime and increased productivity?
Conversation
Great advice John! I have been in this business over 30 years and been in the same position with several customers. It always amazes me how much is lost by leaving out the proactive planning. I would add to the list make sure your plant line diagrams are up to date, and that your staff knows how to read them and keep them up to date.
Rich, thanks for taking the time to comment. You make a very good point. Always a good idea to make sure the drawings are up to date so when you need them for trouble shooting they point you in the right direction. Do you think proactive planning is tough for companies to do because they are so short staffed these days?
That as well Mr. Boville, but having a clear understanding of how to implement such a pro-active planning is often misunderstood or often ignored. Unqualified personnel are often the issue.
Adam, Good points. Addressing the qualifications needed to maintain the plant must be a key part of any plan. Any plant assessment should include a comparison of the equipment installed with the skills of plant staff and the development of a training plan to address any gaps.
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Wendy
Wendy,
Thank you!
It would have been much better to make sure that the right automation spare parts were on hand. It takes time to take inventory and make a list of the spares required then money to buy those parts. Usually though these are small expenses compared with an hour of lost production!
Nice stuff! Great tips for maintaining Industrail productivity.
Hello David!,
Thanks for the comment! The old adage about ‘an ounce of prevention’ being ‘worth a pound of cure’ rings very true here.
Hmm.. It is better to avoid one of course. But in case as this might probably happened, we need to prepare for worst case scenario right? An anticipation is needed. Ohh and look at those numbers. A 5%? That is huge.
Hello David and many thanks for taking the time to comment! This problem was due to the failure of a simple PLC counter card costing about $900US. There were no spares in the plant. As you say it is important to plan and prepare for the worst. The costs are small compared with cost of downtime (I estimate hundreds of thousands of dollars in this case)!
It was cool to ride in a biz jet and helicopter though!
I like your tip to have a maintenance and repair schedule for you equipment. Heavy construction equipment can start to have safety and efficiency issues if it gets worn down. Performing simple maintenance tasks and making repairs when needed can make your equipment last longer. Thanks for the tips.
Jack,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree with you that regular maintenance is a good investment. It is much easier to plan to avoid safety issues and keep equipment running at peak efficiency than deal with the costly alternatives!