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So how do you get a grip on your downtime
reality? Tracking. Whether simple or complex, some form of
tracking is necessary to get a true picture of your operation.
Tracking doesn’t have to be expensive software or teams of
consultants roaming your plant. It can begin as a simple
notepad at each line or a notebook with log sheets that can be
filled out when the line or piece of equipment goes down and
again when it returns to service. Maintenance personnel called
to solve the problem can also fill out a form or jot down notes
that explain the problem and how it was solved. Not only will
this help you understand what type of problems are bringing your
system down, but it can help other technicians called to service
the equipment in the future that may not have experienced that
particular problem before. Add it up. With a simple paper log
you are already saving money by bringing a different technician
up to speed on a reoccurring problem. The tech spends less time
fixing the problem and the line is down less. Saving money on
both counts. Your technician is free to go back to his
preventive maintenance schedule (a discussion for a future
article) and the line is back to printing money. Lets face it
all production facilities are in the business of producing
money.
This now brings us to my second point – the
reoccurring problem. The data you collected with your paper log
will also need to be reviewed. Reoccurring problems are the
most obvious advantage of which you can make use. Find them.
Eliminate them. You will already have less downtime. Finally,
and probably more difficult with a paper log, is to organize
your data to be able to track and correlate downtime,
maintenance issues, operator issues, technician issues, etc. A
paper log makes this part a little more difficult as the
information generally has to find its way to a computer
somehow. If you have fairly automated systems they may already
have downtime calculations making it easier to get the data to
analyze. If not then adding computerized logs to your systems
may not be a difficult task. If you already have some type of
centralized database for trending or data collection, then
downtime information can be handled in this way also. Of course
there are dedicated packages specifically designed for downtime
tracking and some maintenance software packages have a downtime
element built into their routines. Whatever way you use to
manipulate the information you have gathered, this is where you
begin solving the more difficult issues. Is that machine really
a piece of junk, or is it only when a certain operator is
running it? Maybe it’s only when a certain technician has
worked on it. Whatever the reason, you have to have enough
information and have it in a form that you can properly evaluate
what the problem is.
Preventive maintenance. Much has been
written and can still be written about the importance of
preventive maintenance. Still, many facilities operate under
the fire fighting methods and don’t even get to the preventive
maintenance stage. Use your newly acquired downtime information
to get to parts before they fail. Take care of these issues and
you will achieve immediate positive results in limiting your
downtime.
Finally let’s talk about something worse
than downtime – rework. If you are producing bad parts,
batches, etc. then the machine might as well have been down
during that time! Worse. At least if a machine is down you
might save money on raw materials. With rework you not only
lose production time, but you also waste the raw materials you
use to create your final product. It’s my opinion that any time
spent producing bad product might as well be logged as
downtime. Obviously it’s more complicated than that, but the
point is that when you are setting up your downtime-tracking
program put in a system that tracks wasted rework time also.
What do you do when you finally cut that
downtime and can make use of your new production capacity? The
next step is lighting a fire under the sales guys to fill all
the extra capacity you now have.
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