How to establish construction heavy equipment maintenance? When working on a construction site, heavy equipment operators and workers that do construction equipment maintenance have specific challenges. First off, repairs are expensive, making up between 2 and 3 percent of the annual cost of replacing an asset. Missed days result in a likely schedule slippage, which has its own issues, in addition to the high expense.
A cost-focused, painstakingly planned maintenance program for heavy machinery will lead to fewer equipment failures, less downtime, improved schedule compliance, and lower costs.
Here are six guidelines for establishing and maintaining a program for maintaining heavy machinery. You could set up and monitor the upkeep of construction equipment using these tips.
Develop an end-of-shift protocol and begin each shift with checklists as the first step in maintaining construction equipment.
Use daily, weekly, and monthly checklists to examine each piece of equipment for problems before each shift. These checklists cover maintenance, safety precautions, lubricants, and functional components.
When possible, store large machinery in outbuildings or sheds at the conclusion of a shift to protect it from the elements. As a result, this approach may eventually result in less maintenance being required.
You can find any nighttime concerns by using a final end-of-shift checklist and clean-up routine.
- OFFER AN IN-DEPTH OPERATOR TRAINING PROGRAM AND COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY PROCEDURES.
Ensure that all operators receive the proper training, and provide assistance to staff. They ought to be aware of the machinery, its requirements for maintenance, and be able to use it. For instance, in an ideal environment, they would work with maintenance experts to identify crucial components and promptly alert those that aren’t functioning.
One strategy is to confirm that maintenance procedures, such as the use of personal protective equipment, adhere to OSHA and Department of Labor regulations on the use of heavy machinery and the workplace.
- Establish an emergency response group.
It might be more cost-effective to build and maintain a rapid response repair team for big or long-term projects. Furthermore, depending on the situation, this team would have access to a heavy lift service vehicle and be present onsite with routinely used spare components (such filters, fluids, and belts).
Using information from preventative maintenance repair records and the identification of several key components, you can plan and construct this project. Additionally, working with suppliers of spare parts to maintain an on-site stock of essential spares, pinpoint essential spares, and “hot shot” out-of-stock products can be a successful strategy for maintaining equipment.
It is difficult to manage preventative maintenance tasks and spare parts inventories manually, thus anyone who wants to do so should seriously consider using a CMMS.
- SET UP FLUID ANALYSIS AND MONITORING IN ACCORDANCE WITH CONDITIONS
Finding out how efficiently a piece of heavy machinery operates can be done by analyzing its fluids. Fluid analysis can be carried out on its own or as a component of a condition-based monitoring program. Additionally, a laboratory study of the fluids from the equipment is utilized to assess the condition of the equipment inside and to decide when maintenance is necessary.
A range of techniques, including pollutant identification, viscosities, UV spectroscopy, pH analysis, and other tests, can be used to assess any fluid, including lubricating oil, hydraulic fluids, transmission, final drive trains, and coolants. These tests can be used to foretell equipment failure and notify you that a repair is necessary. As an illustration, you could include fluid sampling and analysis in your preventative maintenance plan.
Since purchasing heavy equipment is an expensive investment, it is beneficial to keep it operational.
While direct equipment costs are readily visible, it is more challenging to estimate costs related to failures, idle equipment, or operator errors.
It’s crucial to figure out the cost and return on investment for heavy machinery. With sound business procedures and a well-organized maintenance team for their construction equipment, contractors may manage their businesses successfully.
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