How much does downtime cost your organization each year? A recent report by Plant Engineering found that manufacturing businesses can lose up to $100,000 per hour of downtime, making IT issues far more than an inconvenience.
Preventative maintenance and planned hardware replacement can help prevent unexpected and costly downtime and ensure your organization is not wasting time and money. Any unplanned event that interrupts production can lead to lost time and disruption. A proactive approach to hardware life cycle management can dramatically reduce the risk of downtime and potential revenue loss for your manufacturing organization.
3 Ways Planned Hardware Replacement Benefits Manufacturers
Eliminate Outdated Equipment
Relying on out of date or obsolete equipment is one of the primary risks to your operation and a leading cause of downtime. Old and aging systems are often not updated or supported by the original manufacturer and parts become increasingly difficult and time consuming to find. From equipment availability to finding qualified repair help, outdated hardware can turn a minor problem into a major issue as you wait for assistance or parts.
A proactive replacement plan ensures that every piece of hardware your team uses is up to date and in good operating order. Having updated hardware also means that in the event of a problem, parts are readily available, and you will have full manufacturer support.
Empowered and Educated Employees
If your team is regularly training, learning and updating their skillsets, only to find that the new things they have learned are not supported by the aging equipment you have on site, you’re missing out. When your team can learn and work with the latest hardware, they are more productive and informed.
You’ll also find that keeping your team up to date helps with retention (as employees favor brands that offer education and enhanced training). Regular planned hardware replacement ensures that your team stays up to date and that they are working as efficiently and productively as possible.
Planned vs. Unplanned
There is a big difference between planned replacement and unplanned replacement of your hardware. Planned replacement can be managed around your production schedule and is designed to enhance both productivity and efficiency.
Unplanned replacement is an emergency – and triggers a drop in productivity, a slowdown or total stop of the production of goods and wasted man hours. You’ll also face unexpected repair costs, customer service issues (if orders are going unfulfilled) and disruption to your regular routine. By planning your replacements carefully, you can swiftly upgrade your systems without all the chaos associated with unplanned downtime and emergency repairs.
Learn more about the benefits of a proactive hardware replacement policy and how our innovative approach to lifecycle management can help your brand avoid downtime and losses. We’re committed to helping our clients avoid costly disruptions and to ensuring operations proceed as efficiently as possible.
Read our white paper, 3 Key Steps to Ensuring Business Continuity and Availability in Manufacturing to learn how to ensure your business continuity.
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