Comprehensive Preventative Maintenance

TWO YEARS AGO AIS BEGAN PRODUCING PREVENTATIVE Maintenance Manuals at the conclusion of every project. e decision to spend time and energy to produce these manuals came from years of post project frustration. What we were finding was that clients were not abiding by the verbal preventative maintenance (PM) recommendations we stressed nor were they following the manufacturer recommendations outlined in the equipment manuals. Equipment PM was being neglected, and after a few years the equipment was reminding our clients of their neglect at the busiest time of the year. Summertime breakdowns were costing some past project client’s valuable production time and creating untimely service calls and emergency parts shipments. In a seasonal manufacturing business like packaged ice, every hour of summertime production can be essential.
Our post project PM Manuals have been well received and have brought focus to the necessity of regular equipment PM and the stocking of essential spare parts. is change has been positive for both us and our clients. Our clients stay in production during busy times, and we are challenged with fewer service calls and fewer emergency parts shipments.
What about packaged ice producers that don’t have AIS PM and Spare Parts Manuals? Take the time this fall to make your own. Gather together all of your equipment manuals, request new ones, or go online and download new manuals. Isolate the PM sections and convert this information into a similar format for each individual equipment component. en assemble this information into a binder and organize it by product or time interval (daily, weekly, monthly, and annual, etc). For custom equipment without manuals, discuss recommended procedures and past problems with your maintenance staff and create a list. Once you have assembled your PM manual, follow it without fail. You will find that your manufacturing operation will run much smoother and with significantly less summertime headaches.