How do you lengthen or prolong the service life of a machine or piece of equipment?
To help business owners extend the lifespan of their equipment, we asked business professionals and CEOs this question for their best insights. From extending the warranty to hiring a quality mechanic, there are several strategies that may help you take care of your equipment and extend the life of it for the continued success of your business.
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Here are eight equipment maintenance tips to extend your equipment’s life:
- Consider Repair Over Replacement
- Review Usage for Maintenance Frequency
- Assign Monitoring Duties
- Hire a Quality Mechanic
- Put Maintenance Systems in Place
- Extend the Warranty
- Invest in Maintenance
- Verify Signs of Wear and Tear
Consider Repair Over Replacement
Find technology that can repair a machine or equipment with the least amount of environmental impact. At SEKISUI, our Spiral Wound trenchless piping does just that. Our SPR™EX system has been used to repair the City of San Diego’s sewers for two decades. This solution provides cost savings as well as assisted in providing a 90% reduction in the sewer spills the city previously experienced in 2001.
Ryan Shallenberger, SEKISUI
Review Usage for Maintenance Frequency
The cost of equipment can be quite high and trust, here at Charter Capital, we understand the importance of having the financial freedom to buy and maintain your equipment. So you want to ensure the longevity of any machinery by considering its frequency of usage and the environment you’ll be using it in. Those factors may cause you to adjust the maintenance schedule you’re on. The manual provided to you by the company is a great baseline for when you should be conducting your maintenance but how often you use the equipment and in what environment are key elements in whether or not you’ll have to adjust that schedule. It will also determine the amount of replacements needed, such as hose wraps, adaptors, seals, and gaskets, ensuring your equipment remains in optimal working condition.
Carey Wilbur, Charter Capital
Assign Monitoring Duties
While the obvious answer is maintenance, to prolong the life of business equipment, do your best not to overuse it. This especially applies to machines like copiers, which can also help reduce your company’s carbon footprint. However, do keep a maintenance schedule, and assign the task of keeping on top of things to someone within your company so you don’t get behind. They can monitor things like performance, cleaning, and other types of maintenance.
Dylan Fox, AssemblyAI
Hire a Quality Mechanic
One of the best ways that we prolong the service life of a machine or piece of equipment in our factory is by hiring the best quality mechanics for the job. If you hire the right people to perform maintenance on your machines, you will extend the life of your machines to the maximum. If you cheap out and hire a low-quality mechanic, you risk not maintaining the equipment the right way and losing thousands of dollars in the long run.
Craig Carter, Jack Mason
Put Maintenance Systems in Place
In the Army, every week starts with Motor Pool Monday. All personnel report to the Motor Pool for a mass formation, and we start the week performing preventative maintenance checks and services. These checks and services ensure that our equipment is ready to go at a moment’s notice. The takeaway here is to have a system in place to conduct maintenance and then to regularly allot time to that system.
Wesley Jacobs, Apollo Medical Travel
Extend the Warranty
In our factory, one way that we prolong the service life of a machine or piece of equipment is by extending the warranty. Extending the warranty ensures that if anything happens to the piece of equipment, the parts are covered under that warranty. It is very useful to have all of your equipment under warranty and is worth the upfront costs.
Jordan Nathan, Caraway
Invest in Maintenance
When it comes to your equipment, maintenance costs are something you don’t want to cut corners with. This means not skipping regular maintenance and ensuring that your technicians are properly equipped with the skills and resources to take care of your equipment. By using trusted personnel, you can avoid any future issues caused by botched maintenance.
Tom Mumford, Undergrads
Verify Signs of Wear and Tear
One of the best tips for lengthening or prolonging the service life of equipment is checking for the signs of wear and tear. Elevated temperatures, shock, and friction can contribute to the machine breakdown in the case of heavy machinery. Shock can be generated from poor operator handling and accidents. High temperatures may originate from prolonged use and inadequate lubrication. When you identify wear and tear on any moving part of the heavy equipment, make sure to quickly operate scheduled maintenance for replacing the worn part.
Caroline Lee, CocoSign
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