If you have had the misfortune of having to take the car to the garage due to a significant breakdown at some point, you can attest to the fact that, over the long term, repairs always cost considerably more than maintenance. F. Aboulfath’s research paper titled: “Optimal Maintenance Schedules for a Fleet of Vehicles…” published by the University of Toronto’s Department of Engineering, expands on the optimal challenges of fleet vehicle maintenance and proves the benefits of Preventive Maintenance as an essential solution to cutting costs and extending the life cycle of your fleet.
This fact is crucial for fleets of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of vehicles and pieces of equipment. Not only is equipment longevity at stake, but also company operations and productivity, the safety of employees, and public safety in some cases. In 2016, Chalmers University of Technology published a research paper by Donmez & Zenmouri, definitively illustrating the higher cost of corrective maintenance can be exponentially increased when managing fleets.
When your company relies on the smooth, predictable, coordinated, and safe running of equipment, efficient maintenance management is more than best practice, it can mean the difference between profit and loss.
There are two types of maintenance: corrective and preventive.
Let’s start with a better understanding of the differences between corrective and preventive maintenance. Corrective Maintenance (CM) refers to repairs on faulty equipment. This usually only gets done after something is broken, and you are at the mercy of needing things done urgently: extra labor costs and rush shipping fees for needed parts are almost always part of this scenario. Preventive Maintenance (PM) is like a regularly scheduled doctor check-up. Sure, there are a few small costs for tests, but mostly lots of practical advice on staying healthy. The mechanic, like the doctor, knows through experience what time and wear does to a system, and they help extend health when you follow their advice. The industry is driven by effective maintenance. The question is, which side of the profit margin is your maintenance policy on?
When managing a fleet, equipment failures often appear; some can quickly escalate to an urgent equipment repair situation. An excellent corrective maintenance repair will restore the equipment's original function immediately. Hence, to minimize downtime. Unfortunately, it often involves urgent repairs or part replacements. It ignores any preventive measures. This significantly impacts the operations of any business using equipment or relying on vehicles for transport. The bottom line is that service reliability, customer satisfaction, and several other elements can be adversely affected when corrective maintenance is the only method used.
Corrective, reactive, or unscheduled maintenance deals with an issue after it has occurred. Having to replace a blown engine because you didn’t change the oil or having to do extensive bodywork after an accident from an old tire bursting is the expected CM outcome. It’s a labor-intensive post-action requiring identifying and repairing broken parts, component assemblies, or whole systems. Equipment failure is often a daily reality in fleet management, and urgent failures are quick reminders of the very high cost of repairs. CM will return the equipment to working order, but at what cost in time and money? Urgent repairs and parts replacements, when feasible, may minimize equipment downtime, and due to budget restrictions imposed by the client, usually take a surgical tactic for the repair but don’t actively seek other potential issues following the original damage.
The bottom line, performance reliability, customer satisfaction, and several other elements can be adversely affected when the only method used is corrective maintenance, which is:
Preventive maintenance is a set of systematic maintenance programs that aims to repair and service equipment before failures occur. They involve maintenance recalls triggered by trackable data, including odometer values, engine hours, date, consumption of one or several fluids, etc...
In many cases, the more complex the mechanical task addressed during preventive maintenance, the greater its offset cost is compared to having to effect a collateral repair post-incident. For example, systems regularly inspected for corrosion, fluid leaking, and other usage-related failures can take action before damage and accidents occur.
When considering the vast diversity of equipment and vehicles in any given fleet, the most effective way to implement proper maintenance schedules and programs is to start with the guidelines and instructions outlined in the manufacturer's owner manuals.
How To Get A Smooth Transition To Preventive Maintenance?
PM may represent a significant procedural shift in any organization. To achieve a smoother implementation and optimize the benefits, involving all personnel in the change process is imperative. A sound PM system will pay for itself over time and deliver an obvious ROI for the company faster than the continual and cumulative drain of corrective maintenance on any vehicle.
By planning, servicing, making regular checks, and replacing parts when recommended, a PM approach limits unexpected problems and reduces long-term expenses.
PM Strategy Vs. Corrective Maintenance
The purpose of PM is to keep your equipment in working order for as long as possible. Well-designed inspection programs help reveal whether or not the use that is made of a unit is rougher than average. During scheduled Inspections, minor maintenance tasks can be quickly performed. E.g., changing filters and fluids. When something more serious is detected (Eg, component recalls or failures) and needs immediate action, the inspection leads to a solution that rapidly returns the equipment to operational status. Management and control needs of many organizations evolve naturally from simple corrective maintenance to a scheduled inspection / PM type of maintenance management and get profitable results.
A Case For Preventive Maintenance Systems
In our article titled "Why Do You Need A Fuel Management System?" we established the benefits of automating data collection under an integrated platform. We believe the same applies to preventive maintenance. Imagine you are still collecting engine data reported by users and drivers; there remains a greater chance of human error. With a large quantity of data on paper, putting together valuable and insightful reports for in-depth analysis is very consuming and requires specialized labour.
Simply put, to have an effective maintenance program, preventive or otherwise, in place, you require the proper tool, namely preventive maintenance software. So what does an effective PM system provide?
Given how essential preventive maintenance is for fleets, combined with the vast number of companies operating an equally vast array of vehicles and other types of equipment, it comes as no surprise the PM software market has many trying to fill the need. Therefore, it is essential to plan correctly by asking the right questions:
Of course, each company has its own set of characteristics and features that makes it unique, but there are still some system benefits that are desirable regardless of organizational differences:
Such a system may seem expensive and involve quite a bit of time and resources to put into place, but consider this: adequately implemented and executed PM leads to 15%-20% greater productivity, 25%-50% fewer unplanned breakdowns and downtimes, 20%-40% less overtime, and 10%-25% lower costs associated with parts replacement.
Are you ready to make the switch to improve your bottom line? For more on this and other related topics, please contact us any time! We look forward to working with you on your solutions.