The Repair Association

Repair is typically the quickest way to get a piece of equipment back online. If you replace a machine, you’ll need to wait for it to be procured, shipped and delivered before you can get back to fiscal year definition full productivity. A full replacement will typically be the last option you consider, due to its cost. But because repairs and rebuilds aren’t always practical, you should always keep it in mind.

When technicians work on complex equipment that requires complex maintenance tasks, the risks increase exponentially. The benefits of preventive maintenance outweigh these increased risks, but only when the preventive maintenance is necessary. It is commenced when an issue is detected while working on some other work order. For example, during a regular maintenance inspection or when servicing another fault, a service expert may discover that a conduit in a heat pump is not functioning properly. The fault is then rectified or replaced later during corrective maintenance.

Heavy equipment: When to rebuild, repair, or replace capital assets

In fact, many departments are currently running a lot of “key person” risk, where many of their processes and best practices live only in the heads of their senior technicians. Every time the department loses a tech to job transfer or retirement, a lot of knowledge walks right out the door. Without a plan in place, your only concern will https://online-accounting.net/ be getting your production back online as quickly as possible. The reactive decision you’re forced to make may work out, but you may also end up making a hasty decision that solves the problem in the short-term but isn’t the best solution in the long run. Leaving your decisions to guesswork can be a costly and dangerous approach.

• In this article, we’ll guide you through the most important points you need to consider for the maintenance of heavy equipment.
• There are two kinds of key performance indicators which companies can track for monitoring the effectiveness of their equipment maintenance strategy.
• In a few rare cases, a repair will prolong the useful life of factory equipment.
• Rebuilding, on the other hand, involves changing out the fundamental parts of a piece of machinery, so you have an updated version of your equipment.

Have the technician or operator who completes a specific task sign and date their task. Such traceability allows you to speak to the individual if something occurs in weeks or months ahead. It also allows for an easy follow-up if they were the ones who found defects during visual inspection or other maintenance work. A log allows the operator to note any concerns, leaks or deterioration, or breakages.

When to replace heavy equipment

The upkeep on an older piece of equipment will be more expensive than that of a newer model, so you need to figure out how much your construction equipment maintenance costs. You need to compare the cost of repairing machinery or rebuilding your equipment with the cost of replacing it. Over the work-life of a given piece of equipment, repairs will increase in cost from minor fixes to major issues leading to inefficiency and even safety concerns. Recognizing the 50% threshold in repair costs as compared to the cost of replacement can help you identify the best time to replace the equipment. When debating a repair or rebuild, you need to consider what will cost the least amount of money and net the best results. If the cost of repairing machinery or rebuilding is low or covered in your warranty, then you probably don’t need to pursue an equipment replacement.

• Add asset information like make/model, manufacturer ID, asset specification, and location.
• These days, such machinery uses sophisticated hydraulics, pneumatics, and electronics to operate.
• The term is less about weight than the specialized role for which the equipment is used.
• The finished product is a newly revamped version of your machine that will run and perform like new.
• Depending on how costly downtime will be, a quick repair may be the right decision, but you should be aware this may be a temporary fix.

If new equipment could improve day-to-day operations, it may be worth looking into equipment replacement more carefully. In a few rare cases, a repair will prolong the useful life of factory equipment. If so, capitalize the cost of the repair and depreciate it over the life of the equipment. However, only capitalize the repair cost if the expenditure amount is equal to or greater than the company’s capitalization limit. The capitalization limit is imposed to keep paltry expenditures from being tracked over a long period of time.

Should you outsource heavy equipment maintenance to a vendor?

When factory equipment is repaired, there are two ways to account for the repair, which are based upon its effect on the equipment. If the repair merely returns the equipment to its normal operating condition (which is the case most of the time), charge the cost of the repair to factory overhead, which is a cost pool. Then, at the end of the accounting period, all of the factory overhead costs are allocated to the units produced in that period.

Competence, capability, compliance, and compatibility are all factors you should consider. The price of that more expensive contractor may pay back tenfold in increased uptime, reduced inventory, and extended machine life. Outsourcing maintenance to a contractor does not absolve you of all responsibility, as you cannot delegate regulatory compliance issues. If your equipment is found to be in breach of regulations, the law will hold you to account.

Record your equipment

However, like any electronic device, Behringer equipment may require repair or replacement parts over time. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore everything you need to know about Behringer repair parts. The right information is critical when it comes to dealing with equipment failure. Promoting a culture of thorough documentation and transparency is the best way to minimize maintenance turnaround time and keep equipment running in optimum condition. The easiest, most accurate way to determine which causes are the most likely is having good data on your equipment. The easier it is to track this information, and the more accessible it is throughout your maintenance operations, the more useful it is when you need it most.

It’s important that maintenance personnel have a solid understanding of the machinery that they’re working on if you want them to troubleshoot issues effectively. The Marshall Institute has established six key elements of maintenance troubleshooting that provide a good start. Here are some tips on how to implement them with a modern work order management system. But you can’t stop every breakdown, so you also need a systematic approach to troubleshooting to minimize unscheduled equipment downtime. ManagerPlus provides a comprehensive and easy to use EAM for streamlining your asset management.

On top of the cost of lost productivity, you also have the costs of the repairs themselves. That might mean everything from scheduling extra delivery runs to bringing in a team of operators to run additional production shifts. This maintenance activity is to detect and correct issues before they occur. It is most commonly conducted in the form of routine inspections, which happen many times a year. When inspecting a machine or device, check for all symptoms of wear, tear, or impending failure.

If it is still meeting safety standards, it’s worth comparing costs of a replacement versus repair. As you continue to repair, the machine will give you less and less for your investment of repair. You may want to consider replacing an old malfunctioning piece of equipment for a newer, technologically advanced model that will give you better efficiency and longevity. When your equipment is new, it makes more sense, in many cases, to repair it once it malfunctions. For example, a government entity might have a policy that mandates equipment replacement at certain intervals. Whether you have one piece of heavy equipment or a huge fleet at your disposal, this question arises as the machines reach the end of their practical lives.

Is the repair covered?

A maintenance strategy should be well defined and reviewed on a regular basis. To ensure the correct implementation of the program, it helps to have service events listed down. When setting up a maintenance plan, companies are likely to focus on major breakdown issues whilst ignoring smaller problems. Even the least harmful problem areas can eventually lead to production errors, asset damage and injuries at work if not resolved in time. We have successfully restored equipment exposed to every conceivable type of contamination with outstanding results. Whether it’s floodwater (including total submersion), corrosive contamination from fires, dust from construction and explosions, acid vapors, mold, or environmental and toxic contamination.