Rising complexity of machine maintenance

It used to be that a machine maintenance program meant little more than regular lubrication or replacing components when they started acting up—hopefully, before taking the machine out of service.

Not anymore. The stakes are much higher today. Shops must be more proactive in their maintenance duties, and they should aim to optimize every operational aspect of their CNC equipment.

Fortunately, an excellent tool is available that helps do exactly that.

Essential Assets

This wonder wrench is called a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). Paul Lachance, senior manufacturing adviser at Dude Solutions Inc., Cary, N.C., describes it as a tool that enables manufacturers to initiate, assign and track the progress of all maintenance activities, with “in-depth reporting and analytics capabilities that empower manufacturers to increase productivity and streamline operations more effectively and easier than ever before.”

That all sounds great, but what exactly does a CMMS do, and why can’t people keep managing their maintenance activities in Microsoft Excel? According to Lachance, it’s difficult to compare CMMS with spreadsheets or homegrown software.

“Here’s a simple example,” he said. “Excel can’t provide automated reminders and notifications like a CMMS can. So you never hear about a problem on a machine until it’s too late, and now you’re facing unplanned downtime. Between expedited parts and labor costs—never mind falling behind on your production schedule—it can get very expensive.”

CMMSes bring important information to the production floor, front office and people on the go. Image courtesy of Eagle Technology.

Other CMMS functions include asset tracking; maintenance work order creation and scheduling; management of spare parts inventory; and safety monitoring, reporting and analysis. These capabilities are available at an office desk, on the production floor, at home or on the golf course.

CMMS is often fully integrated with a company’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) software and in continuous communication with any machine tools and production equipment that are part of the industrial internet of things. Try that with Excel.

Own It

Before ditching a manual system for a CMMS, though, it would be wise to heed the advice of eMaint Enterprises LLC’s Greg Perry: Get buy-in first.