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The European Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) market is projected to soar, reaching USD 135.9 billion by 2028 (Mordor Intelligence, 2023). This surge reflects the growing recognition among manufacturers that a well-oiled, scheduled maintenance engine can be the secret sauce for profitability. As a result, the aftersales market, with its potential for a 150% higher operating margin than selling new equipment is no longer an afterthought (Deloitte, 2020).
Yet, this potential often gets buried beneath the noise of reactive maintenance.
Imagine this: Your customer, John, eagerly awaited the arrival of your team for a routine ECG machine maintenance check. However, the frustration built up as he tried to connect with your representative - a series of automated menus and precious time wasted. This is the pitfall of unplanned maintenance. It breeds a communication gap, erodes trust and ultimately, costs your revenue. But what if there was a way to transform your aftersales operations into a seamless customer-centric experience?
Makula Technology has prepared a guide to implement a scheduled maintenance plan that eliminates back-and-forth communication and manual hassles. Dive in to discover a roadmap to the future of delighted customers and high profits! In this article, you’ll learn about:
- The fundamentals of a Scheduled Maintenance Plan
- Pre-planned workflow with inspections, dynamic adjustments and regular servicing
- Centralising MRO data and automating processes to boost efficiency
- Employee training and development
- Data-driven decisions to optimise operations
What is a scheduled maintenance plan?
A scheduled maintenance plan is a pre-planned maintenance workflow that takes place at regular intervals. It refers to assigning repair and maintenance tasks to service engineers within a specific timeframe (Allied Systems Company, 2015). It involves inspection, adjustments, planned maintenance checks, and regular servicing.
For example, doing a performance check of an ECG machine at the start of every year or changing the bearing on the conveyor belt every 30 days to prevent it from snapping.
Here, you’re in full control, mapping out optimal hours based on available resources. Also, prioritisation is the key, with the most critical tasks at the top of the list.
The outcome? You minimise reliance on external resources, maximising your in-house efficiency, and Voila! costs drop, and tasks zoom by in record time.
Simply put, scheduled maintenance is strategic. You sneak into preventive maintenance jobs right on cue.
Downtime? Almost unheard of.
Efficiency? Through the roof.
10 Best Practices to Create A Scheduled Maintenance Plan
At Makula Technology, we recommend our clients to adopt the following best practices for achieving an effective maintenance plan:
1. Hire a Maintenance Planner
Ease the load on your maintenance technicians and fleet manager. Instead, open a maintenance planner role to allow your fleet manager to concentrate on achieving delivery goals. Planners can reduce downtime and ensure everything runs smoothly because unplanned downtime now costs Fortune Global 500 Companies 11% of the yearly turnover. It is equivalent to USD 1.5 trillion (Siemens, 2023).
Planners will ensure your engineers have the necessary tools and parts for seamless work order completion. Their key task is scheduling maintenance thoughtfully to minimise equipment downtime and its impact on production. Also, they form tight bonds with everyone, from machine operators to production supervisors.
2. Implement a CMMS
A well-engineered Centralised Maintenance Management Software will keep track of every work order request with preventative maintenance details, effortlessly tracking optional or last-minute fixes (IBM, 2023). No lost translations on those busy days. Sure, you could go old school with wipe boards or spreadsheets, but why not opt for maintenance software? It dives deep, tracking data by VIN number, boosting accuracy, and leaving a detailed trail after the maintenance curtain falls.
Has the transformer malfunctioned, leaving grumpy customers at the doorsteps of your energy & utility facility? A CMMS effortlessly manages all tickets, providing real-time updates to your customers and promptly assigning work orders to engineers. For example, Rubix Limited, a UK company that provides equipment like bearings, power transmission, fluid power and tools, uses CMMS to reduce waste and increase its profitability (Mordor Intelligence, 2023).
3. Prioritize Tasks based on SMCP
SMCP, or Scheduled Maintenance Critical Percent, serves as a crucial tool in the arsenal of maintenance managers for prioritising planned tasks. This metric calculates the delay of maintenance tasks relative to their scheduled frequency, prioritising those with a higher percentage.
SMCP = (# of Days Late + # of Days in PM Cycle) / (# of Days in PM Cycle) * 100
Also, it must be duly noted that…
In the world of priorities, everything else takes a back seat, with emergencies being the sole exception.
4. Tailor Work Order on Skills Level
When planning maintenance work orders, it is crucial to match the nature of the job with the skillsets of your engineers (McKinsey & Company, 2012). You’ve got a choice between drafting extensively detailed plans for less skilled technicians or simpler plans for professionals. Choose wisely, yeah?
This decision determines whether you want to remain in control or empower your team by trusting them with more responsibility.
Also, outline what needs fixing and how it should be done while drafting a plan. Keep it simple using standard plan templates, and make sure your team understands what the person who flagged the issue really wants. And before sending out alerts, add any necessary engineering details. Whether it’s a fix-up or swap-out, trust your team in determining the most effective approach for the repair or replacement. Draw on their expertise.
5. Invest in Employee Training And Development
About 48% of the maintenance teams struggle with the challenge of onboarding, training and retaining employees (Plant Engineering, 2020). Why, you ask?
In the modern world, employees are looking for more than a ‘transactional relationship’ with their work. They want to land a job that offers longevity and room for growth. More than three-quarters of employees (76%) are more likely to stay in a company that provides continuous training (SHRM, 2022). Therefore, employee learning and development is a high selling point for ambitious and motivated people. Committing yourself to your workforce’s growth not only attracts your new talent but also serves as a pivotal strategy for retaining high-performers. They will produce better-quality work, deliver higher output and make fewer mistakes. It keeps their minds and perspectives fresh, making them a valuable asset in a dynamic preventive maintenance task.
6. Create an Inventory Checklist
Effectively maintaining Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) inventory is pivotal. It involves which spare parts are required and the frequency of ordering them. Efficient planning and scheduling MRO inventory can save you a lot of time and resources, considering that 44% of companies spend more than 40 hours per week on maintenance (Infraspeak, 2023). Also, the smart move in MRO inventory management is comprehending the rate of usage. Once you’ve got it, you can engage in strategic negotiations with key suppliers to secure purchase discounts. With this scheduled maintenance tip, you can ensure a smoother and cost-effective after-sales maintenance process in the future.
7. Dynamic Scheduling
Sticking to a perfect schedule can feel like chasing a moving target. There's always some unexpected emergency cropping up, demanding attention.
Thus, top-notch planners, aiming for the gold standard, aim to slot in around 80% of the workday for planned tasks.
The rest? Well, that's the dance floor for those unplanned maintenance jobs and long-overdue tasks.
It isn’t just a theory; it's already transforming operations in companies like Volvo Trucks. It is the manufacturer of buses and trucks that has introduced dynamic maintenance. Their connected vehicle maintenance service leverages vehicle telematics and data analytics to personalise maintenance plans and adjust service intervals based on real-time operating conditions, driving behaviour and the environment of the vehicle (Volvo Group, 2019). This is dynamic maintenance planning and scheduling with the availability of maintenance staff, equipment, tools, and parts playing the starring roles.
8. Integrate Customer Feedback
Customer feedback is a goldmine of insights, serving as a driving force for your company’s growth. You can use this information to refine and adapt your scheduled maintenance plan to better meet your customer expectations. When used well, you can improve:
- Product or service
- User Experience (UX) initiatives
- Customer engagement
Remember, about 56% of customers think that a company’s response to a review or a complaint can shift their entire perspective (LyfeMarketing, 2022). That’s the power you hold. So, embrace both positive and negative feedback. While positive feedback is always welcome, negative feedback can also be a valuable source of information and improvement. By actively addressing and resolving negative feedback, you can prevent it from tarnishing your brand reputation in the long run.
9. Monitor Performance
Companies armed with precise data on failure histories, parts consumption, contractor performance, and product quality hold the key to a more strategically mapped-out future. McKinsey & Company empowers manufacturers to unlock the full potential of this data, helping them understand their customer base, prioritise sales opportunities and focus on maintenance execution.
By delving into your operational past, you gain invaluable insights that serve as a compass for informed decision-making.
Accurate failure histories illuminate potential vulnerabilities, parts consumption data guides inventory management and insights into contractor performance foster stronger partnerships. Furthermore, a meticulous understanding of issues not only ensures customer satisfaction but also paves the way for swift solutions.
10. Compliance with Regulations
In the ever-evolving industrial landscape, adhering to established standards and regulations is not merely a compliance exercise (Your Europe, 2023). It is a cornerstone of operational excellence, environmental stewardship, and sustainable growth. By aligning operations with these guidelines, you demonstrate your commitment to responsible practices, safety, and stakeholder well-being.
That’s a wrap!
The journey to streamline after-sales operations begins with careful planning, and we've just provided you with a comprehensive guide. Take these 10 best practices and craft a tailored maintenance plan that aligns seamlessly with your strategic objectives.
