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You need to keep your construction equipment running smoothly and predictably to avoid delays in project. For the sake of your fleet, you cannot skimp on maintenance. In fact, keeping up with the operation of your construction equipment is almost as important a task as using it. Without proper care, your equipment won’t be available when you need it to be.
WHY MAINTENANCE IS ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
Maintenance categorise in two forms — reactive and preventative. Reactive maintenance occurs when your equipment encounters a problem such as low / untimely greasing or performance problems due to other mechanical or electrical item. Though the machine may not completely break down, it will still experience enough problems to require service before it can work at its greatest efficiency. Often, reactive maintenance occurs after a breakdown happens, requiring a rapid response to the challenge to minimise downtime.
While this type of maintenance will get your equipment back into operation, you shouldn’t react to problems all the time. Doing so will stop work with the non-functional machine until it gets fixed. Depending on the severity of the problem, this repair time could take away hours or days from your project. Instead of waiting for parts of your fleet to go out of commission, consider taking a more proactive approach through preventative maintenance.
Preventing issues will save time and money because you’ll service construction equipment before it loses efficiency and performance. Regularly servicing equipment will help keep it in peak condition. Preventative maintenance should be your preferred strategy because in the construction industry, running equipment to the point of failure creates more problems than the minor inconvenience of scheduled maintenance.
WHAT COMES UNDER ROUTINE MAINTENANCE?
Reactive maintenance tasks occur when a problem begins to present itself. Reacting to the issue requires finding the cause and fixing it. Low or no grease, cleaning dust or cements often cause problems if left unchecked. If a problem arises, checking the rest of the equipment for growing concerns should become a part of involved chores.
The exact maintenance chores will depend on the equipment and the manufacturer’s recommendations. However, most pieces of construction equipment have gear motors, rack and pinion, slew rings, wire ropes, disc breaks that need similar checks performed on them. For regular maintenance of your construction machinery, check the:
Grease: Verify that the system has required grease and that the grease quality is acceptable.
Noise levels: Look at the hydraulic oil, wire rope, rack and pinion, slew ring etc to see if they’re in good condition. Frequent drops in oil or grease or noise from gear or any parts indicates that you must repair.
Functioning: Do all the parts move as smoothly as they should? Do the controls respond appropriately? Problems with these elements could indicate issues with the accessory operators on the equipment.
Appearance: During this visual inspection, looking for anything that appears out of place can make finding problems easier.
WHAT IS PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Preventative maintenance occurs on a schedule regardless of whether the equipment shows problems operating or not. By integrating a regular inspection into your company’s repair and maintenance schedule, you’ll ensure that the machinery will not have to stop working before it receives attention. The result will be an increase in uptime and productivity. With many factors that can cause lost time on construction projects being outside your control, such as inclement weather, maintaining your equipment is one valuable thing to remember if you want to prevent lost time.
Scheduling regular maintenance also includes performing frequent cleaning. In fact, the notion of “clean to inspect” is a critical idea in preventative maintenance. Any cleaning task of construction equipment should also include a visual inspection to check for potential problems that could be in development.
While preventative servicing equipment will not stop all breakdowns from occurring, it can reduce their number, which is one part of the importance of preventative maintenance. To take this type of service to the next level, you may consider predictive maintenance. Though related, both have distinct factors that will make one better for your fleet’s needs.
PREVENTIVE VS PREDECTIVE MAINTENANCE
Preventative service occurs on a set schedule regardless of the immediate needs of the machinery. It serves to look for factors that could indicate deterioration in the equipment while checking serviceable or replaceable items on the equipment.
Predictive maintenance happens when monitoring equipment shows the need for maintenance to occur. Depending on the age of your fleet, you may need predictive maintenance less often than preventative services. As your equipment ages though, services likely increase in frequency since older machinery will require more regular repairs. You’ll need to keep accurate records of your service schedule which can be maintained by some automatic monitoring device or regular log book maintenance.
Using information from monitoring devices / log book, you’ll decide the best times to service your fleet based on each machine’s functioning. Instead of conducting regular inspections, the monitoring equipment will do the job for you. This method of repairing a fleet is one way innovations in technology are making maintenance more efficient.
If you want a lower-tech approach, scheduling service for your fleet at regular intervals will suffice. However, be prepared to adjust the schedule, especially for older equipment, if you notice the machinery has greater wear at each ensuing service time. The more wear your heavy equipment shows, the more often it will need inspections and service.
Preventative maintenance may occur after a set number of usage hours. This schedule ties the service into the equipment’s use and requires records of how long your workers use the equipment, and it does not take into account conditions that could put more strain on the machine. For instance, running equipment in Hot, cold or rainy condition puts a strain on the different mechanical or electrical parts of the equipment, i.e hot temperatures can make motors more likely to overheat if they’re not properly cooled. After use in extreme conditions, your equipment may provide better service if you apply predictive maintenance.
REASON FOR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Yes, preventative maintenance can take time from operations. However, the reasons behind caring for your fleet’s will make the time investment worthwhile. Keeping up with the care of your fleet will help make the equipment safer, save money, reduce downtime and more. With so many benefits of preventative maintenance, this time investment is one that you cannot forego. Some of the benefits of preventative maintenance include that it:
Saves money: Maintenance can save up to 40% of cost overrun on construction projects by improving operations and productivity of machinery.
Improves safety: With regular maintenance, workers retain the operation of safety mechanisms on the equipment, protecting them from harm on the job. A machine that suddenly stops working with an operator on board could put the employee at risk of injury from the sudden change.
Ensures efficiency: Stopping work to make repairs uses precious working hours, increasing the total time to complete the job and reducing efficiency. Well-maintained construction equipment will work throughout the project, reducing downtime.
Preserves warranty effectiveness: For some warranties, neglecting basic service tasks could void the protection of the policy.
Protects insurance coverage: Depending on the details of your fleet’s insurance, damage caused by neglecting maintenance may not have coverage.
Prevents breakdowns: Breakdowns waste your workers’ time. Regular maintenance prevents such events from occurring by keeping up with the care of your heavy equipment.
WHY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE IS IMPORTANT
Whether you choose preventative or predictive maintenance, you must allow for regular servicing of your construction equipment. Without it, you’ll find the usage life of your machinery dropping, efficiency declining, productivity falling and projects passing their due dates. Maintaining your equipment ensures your workers have the tools and machinery they need to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Instead of losing productivity by reacting to issues, prevent them with scheduled maintenance. Maintaining your equipment is critical for avoiding downtime, especially because breakdowns are so unpredictable. Yes, you’ll expect to see failures as you break in a new machine as well as when it reaches the end of its usefulness. However, 80% of failures occur randomly, outside of the end-of-life and new-equipment portions of the machine’s time. Incorporating preventative service chores into your fleet’s operations can minimise the impacts of these breakdowns.
Checklists will help your workers to know what to evaluate and when. By following a checklist, workers will be less likely to forget to evaluate the important components of the system. Regardless of their experience, all maintenance personnel should use checklists to ensure they follow the correct procedures for inspecting, cleaning and fixing your heavy equipment.
BEGIN A HABIT OF PROPERLY MAINTAINING YOUR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
Don’t wait until a breakdown disrupts your job site. Schedule construction equipment preventative maintenance with us at True value.
We also understand that no matter how well you care for your equipment, you’ll eventually need to make repairs. Turn to our highly experienced team of technicians to make the repair or refurbish your construction equipment. Should you need parts, we have those too.
Your fleet should reflect your investment in your company. Don’t let the equipment your employees operate become less efficient through neglect. You can’t afford to forego maintaining the fleet if you want the equipment to last a long time and work well when you need them. For more information about service, maintenance or parts, contact us at True value.
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All the best!
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