Total Cost of Equipment Ownership: How Preventative Maintenance Can Extend The Life of Equipment
When looking at the true cost of equipment ownership there are many factors to take into consideration. Throughout this series of articles, we are taking a look at these factors and how they pertain to equipment such as scales and weighing systems. With over 75 years of experience in calibration and repair, at Cross, we’ve seen it all. In this article, we’ll break down the preventative maintenance, and equipment upkeep and why it matters in the long term.
Preventative maintenance – Why it’s so important
So, you’ve narrowed down the exact piece of equipment that is perfect for your application. Even with the correct equipment in place, things can still go wrong over time, so preventative maintenance is extremely important. Preventative maintenance includes anything to promote healthy operation of the equipment such as calibration service and adjustments, cleaning dirty components, and in some cases checking things such as hydraulic fluid.
Frequency of equipment usage and quality procedures are both something to consider when thinking about preventative maintenance and longevity of equipment life. Back to our example of scales, (more specifically let’s say a platform scale in a production environment) if working with messy materials, it might be a good idea to include a step in your procedure to clean the platform and surrounding area. Material that can get lodged between components or even simply stuck to the platform can affect performance. An extra bit of gunk or sludge stuck to scale may not seem like a big deal but it can eventually cause components to malfunction and require repair.
Whether you have preventative maintenance in place with current procedures or need advice on the best way to move forward, J.A. King is here to help. We have a tremendous amount of experience with equipment calibration, and more specifically, have the technical expertise to ensure your equipment stays in top shape.
Contact a Cross representative to talk about preventative maintenance measures in your facility and see what we can do to improve the longevity of your equipment!
Want to share or download this article for later reading? Here’s a downloadable PDF copy: The Total Cost of Equipment Ownership: Preventative Maintenance and How to Extend the Life of Your Equipment
Also, check out our other articles in this series:
The Total Cost of Equipment Ownership: Initial Expense and Why it Matters in the Long Term
The Total Cost of Equipment Ownership: Equipment Repair – When Enough is Enough