Heavy machinery, especially that which is used for agriculture, farming, or construction, is extremely expensive. Most owners usually make investments on the scale of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Obviously, this type of investment is not something that most businesses can make frequently. As it sits, many businesses will spend their first few years repaying the money that they have loaned or invested in purchasing the machinery that they need to get the job done. The absolute last thing that a business owner is going to want is to have their expensive machinery ruined because of poor maintenance.
In addition to ruining machinery, poor maintenance can actually lead to loss of money. If a machine is essential for the operation of a business and the machine breaks down or starts to perform poorly due to maintenance issues, it is going to affect the company’s ability to provide the service they provide or produce the product that they sell. As a result, they will lose clients and money.
The first line of defense in protecting industrial machinery is properly training the operator. The operator is the one who was going to go through a list of checks to make sure that the machine is working properly. The very first check should be done by the inspection team as soon as the item is purchased. During that initial inspection, the operator should be trained on the steps they need to take in order to keep the machine running well.
It is the responsibility of the management team to monitor their operators, provide new training, and make sure that the maintenance is actually getting done. When a piece of machinery is brand-new, most people are excited to keep up with the maintenance program. However, as the years pass and as the machine loses some of its luster, operators may lose some of their drive to keep the machine functioning well.
Operators should have a basic understanding of the inner workings of the machine. They should understand what parts the machine needs, and they should have a basic idea of the who supplies replacement parts, such as Donaldson Filters Dealers, for example.
Management can work with the manufacturers of large machines to help simplify instruction manuals to the point where even individuals who do not have the highest level of training can have a basic idea of what repair and maintenance items need to be addressed and when with the goal of keeping the machine operating smoothly for as long as possible.