Over the years, we’ve found that our customers share a common misconception about how their maintenance program ought to be run. They’re accustomed to fixing broken things or responding to situations after they arise. In the maintenance world, this is referred to as Demand Maintenance, and while it had been the norm for decades, we’re now at a point where technology can assist in our making faster and more informed maintenance decisions. Informed and predictive decision making is referred to as Preventative Maintenance.
To illustrate the difference between Demand and Preventative Maintenance, let us paint a picture for you. Imagine you are a maintenance manager for a mid-sized University. You manage a team of workers and specialists charged with maintaining the school’s entire campus – a dozen or so classroom, administrative and residential buildings spread across 30 acres. Over the summer, say you have classroom building that isn’t used as much due to the fact that there are less students around. Let’s imagine that you have a rogue HVAC unit atop that building that has been leaking water onto the roof steadily since classes let out in May. Now it’s the middle of June, and you discover the issue while doing your rounds, but the issue has spread and you now have to fix the HVAC system AND the water-damaged roof. Everything will be back to normal for classes in the fall, but you’re wasting time and resources fixing something that would have never broken had you implemented a CMMS solution and Preventative Maintenance Program in the first place.
With a CMMS solution like Eagle’s Proteus in place, these sorts of issues become a thing of the past. That’s because Preventative Maintenance scheduling allows our customers to schedule regular work orders to check on your facility’s most vital assets. This allows for a seamless maintenance environment where that HVAC unit mentioned above is checked every 30 days to ensure that everything is working as usual. It also means lights get replaced before they go out and cause safety issues and so much more.
Further, when implemented alongside a Building Automation System (BAS) you can set up alarms that detect issues and send emergency notifications to let you know maintenance is required. This is where things get very cool. In the scenario above, your BAS would be able to detect an heightened levels of moisture on around that rogue HVAC unit. It then communicates to your CMMS that there is an issue, and the CMMS automatically generates a work order, assigns it to the necessary specialist, and the issue is fixed immediately when it happens, leading to minimal downtime.
Things are going to break. It’s natural, and wear and tear is going to exist regardless of how thorough and well managed your Preventative Maintenance program is, but with help from these simple technology pieces, you’re putting your team in a position where it’s no longer playing from behind. For more information or to schedule a demo, call +1-262-241-3845 anytime.
