Optimising the performances of your maintenance crews may not come easy. Maintenance managers have a great deal to oversee, and lining up all the logistics can be tricky.
Still, with some polished organisational techniques at your disposal, you may begin to make the lives of your maintenance crew simpler. It’s also a matter of following laws too, as looking after your equipment and providing an up-to-date maintenance log is a mandatory requirement of firms today.
Maintenance crews should have access to everything they need and encounter fewer delays and disturbances during their duties. From simple decisions to elaborate strategies, a reshuffling of your management approach could be just what they need to hit the ground running with every job.
So, where is there room for improvement here? How can you help your maintenance crews become more efficient in their own roles? You’ll find some suggestions below.
Gather Data
No one knows what a maintenance crew needs other than the professionals themselves. It could be a good idea to gauge their needs by making a few enquiries.
There are multiple ways to engage your staff here. For example, you could:
- Run a company-wide survey – An emailed survey could draw a variety of quick responses on the maintenance needs around the work premises.
- Nurture an open-door policy – The more approachable you are, the more likely it is that you’ll gather a broad range of responses from multiple workers. People may address anything from mild concerns to pressing suspicions as soon as they arise, which can help you get ahead in maintenance.
- Encourage listening skills – Regular employees who make casual comments about ‘computers being slow’ or ‘machines not working’ may do so absent-mindedly. However, if you and your maintenance teams are attentive, you can pick up on these mild complaints and investigate the issues before they develop into something worse.
- Create a teamworking environment – Maintenance issues can be stressful, especially during an emergency. However, if you and your team can band together, you can keep each other calm, coordinate effectively, and more effectively learn from one another. You could organise a huddle at the start of the day so that workers can motivate each other.
A robust approach in communication can create clarity between all parties. Employ your social skills and create a work environment where all concerns can be expressed freely at the earliest opportunity. After that, better maintenance objectives can be set from the data you gather, and solutions should come a good deal easier.
Provide Structure
Once you have a better sense of what your maintenance crews require, it’s time to act on their feedback. Hopefully, you’ll then have precision in addressing their concerns.
Try to create a reliable schedule so that all your worksite’s equipment and machinery can be sufficiently looked after. The time parameters you need to stick to will vary across a workplace inventory, so it’s best to consult the literature that came with your equipment for accurate instructions.
You may need to look beyond the manuals, depending on the situation. Sometimes, wear and tear may be accelerated when equipment and machinery undergo more usage. Consequently, you may need to adapt your maintenance needs and time management skills accordingly. Investing in more equipment may also help balance the workload and ensure maintenance needs do not become excessive or disruptive.
If the manuals are lost or unclear, instead, look to the legislation around certain types of equipment inspections to better define your procedures. Parts of your inventory could require pre-use, daily, weekly, or monthly and quarterly examinations. Try to gain some acute insights here, and you won’t underdo or overdo your maintenance procedures.
Utilise Computerised Maintenance Management Systems
All the data and insight you have gathered shouldn’t be filed away in a dusty filing cabinet. Instead, it should actively inform all your maintenance strategies.
Maintenance logistics can be overwhelming. However, technology can be used to streamline these processes. Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) can be a tremendous asset, as they can help you estimate downtimes of equipment, simplify backlog orders, and even lower outstanding maintenance costs.
If your maintenance team can access the CCMS technologies, they can also continuously keep track of everything that needs to be done. Users can also report any problems through these systems, store manual instructions, and review spare part inventory at their leisure.
Of course, if you’re still relying on paper and pen management methods, then numerous problems may arise. You may be slower to implement crucial measures, and you may even misplace critical documents that forecast maintenance needs, budgets, and other requirements. However, when it’s all computerised, you and your team can access all this vital information in one easily accessible location.
Designate Maintenance Tasks Effectively
The difficulty of maintenance tasks can differ depending on the task at hand. Some flexibility may be required in terms of who handles maintenance work and then.
Basic preventative maintenance tasks can often be performed by machinery and equipment users, provided they’ve received sufficient training on these matters. Doing this should save you a great deal of time and money, as everything can be done in-house with no additional expenses incurred.
However, corrective maintenance needs may need to be carried out by a specialist service. It can be more hazardous, sometimes involving repairs and part replacements that require a steadier hand and broader knowledge. Try to weigh the risks depending on your maintenance needs, and don’t shy away from using a specialist service should you or your team feel out of your depth. Safety should always be the priority, and risk factors should always be mitigated without exception.
You should try to develop your technical expertise to determine what jobs are too dangerous. If you’re dealing with overly ambitious team members, they may be able to convince you that they can carry out a job that should otherwise be reserved for a specialist. Do some independent research around your machinery’s requirements, and try to inform your judgements better here.
Acquire Great Workwear
If safety is the main priority of maintenance, your crews should be equipped with the latest and greatest workwear in the industry. While it might seem like a tall order, these goods are easier to find than ever before.
Fortunately, Snickers workwear is always an excellent addition to a maintenance worker’s inventory. Here you will find stock that’s been meticulously crafted to brave the roughest conditions that any tradesperson could face. Their garments are timeless too, which means you won’t need to arrange constant replacements. Ultimately, all their range has been made to fit the demands of professionals at work.
Quality gear has further advantages too, such as:
- Informing your workers that you care about them and nurturing professional relationships.
- Providing maintenance workers with better comfort throughout the working day, which may help them stay productive and increase job satisfaction.
- Heightening brand appeal through style.
- Improving your reputation as a considerate firm with the public.
The best workwear is made with both function and aesthetics in mind. Work with Snickers Direct, and you’ll never have to compromise on either.
Conclusion
There are many ways to help your maintenance crew become more efficient in their roles. You may need to be more persistent when implementing measures, gauging the crucial needs of your workers by consulting them directly. After that, a mixture of organisation, technological support, and quality equipment should improve things. You won’t be sacrificing safety and excellence for speed either, instead of improving all aspects of maintenance evenly.
