How to Reduce the Cost of Equipment Maintenance

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By Jacob Maslow

Business owners understand how regular critical maintenance is to their equipment, whether at your office or on location. Maintenance can help your equipment and machinery last longer, reducing the risk of accidents. Still, regular maintenance can add up quickly, and you may find it takes up a significant amount of your budget. There are some ways to reduce the amount you are spending.

Upgrade Your Fleet to Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles do not require as much maintenance as traditional combustion engines, and they have a limited number of fluids. You only must worry about brake fluid, coolant, and windshield washer fluid. This means electric vehicles do not need oil changes or other costly maintenance. The larger your fleet, the higher the rate of savings you will realize. If you are interested in upgrading to more efficient vehicles, take some time to learn about other expenses around them, such as charging. You’ll want to know about charger costs, installation, and networks before you decide.

Follow the Manufacturer’s Guidelines

Take some time to learn about the guidelines from your equipment manufacturer. This reduces how much reactive maintenance you need to invest in. Train your employees to recognize when it is time to perform maintenance and ensure they know how to use items correctly. If they use it for something besides its intended purpose, it might be more likely to malfunction or break down. Being proactive is all about taking initiative, and it can reduce costs significantly. It also reduces unplanned downtime because it reduces the chance of a breakdown.

Stay Organized

It’s essential to stay organized about your maintenance. Keeping a checklist of what you need to do can help confirm that everything is on schedule. Following a regular checklist prevents you from forgetting about anything. Your checklist should help you tell at a glance when it is time to perform critical tasks, and there should be room for any notes about the maintenance performed. Documentation can help you reduce costs, so consider creating a custom report whenever you have any services performed. You can use the report to provide detailed information on what was done and any issues you encountered. Comprehensive reporting can help you find any equipment costing you more to take care of. Then you can decide whether to keep it or get a new piece of equipment to replace it.

Train Your Employees

If your employees know how to use a particular machinery, they are less likely to break it or have an accident. If you want to improve employee retention making sure they are comfortable using your equipment and trained thoroughly is a great start. Proper worker training ensures they know how to use the equipment correctly and will notice any malfunctions as soon as they happen. If you have not had training for a while, you may want to schedule some soon. Training does not cost a lot if you do it correctly, but it can save you money as time goes on. Training employees means more people will be watching the status of your equipment.

 

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