Running a business is full of costs. There are many obvious costs you know you need to pay for — equipment, premises, stock, tech insurance, etc., but what no one ever tells you about is the unexpected costs that come from nowhere and eat into your margins.
Some of these costs are preventable, others not so much, and are a standard part of business — one such expense is maintenance costs, which should be expected and should be worked into any budget you put together to ensure everything stays up and running.
So, because downtime is expensive, while maintenance costs aren’t always cheap, there are ways you can reduce unexpected maintenance costs sneaking up on you.
Stop Letting the Small Stuff Slide
Minor faults don’t stay minor for long. Those small issues will continue to grow until they become something that is going to cost not only money but time, too.
You need to keep a log of all the small niggles you notice or are reported to you and get them attention right away. And anything that gets reported more than twice despite repairs needs more attention — a bit of time and attention addressing problems now could save a five-figure sum and extensive downtime in a few weeks or months.
Build In Routine Checks
If inspections only happen when something goes wrong, this needs to be rectified ASAP. If you’re only reacting once something has broken down, it’s too late. Daily eyes-on checks are quicker than you think — listen, look, test, move. A checklist at the start and end of each shift makes it automatic, not optional.
Rotate responsibility; when everyone feels a part of keeping equipment alive, they treat it that way. The goal isn’t to blame its awareness. One loose bolt spotted on Monday means no emergency callout on Friday.
Schedule Maintenance Like You Mean It
Skipping maintenance during busy periods feels like saving time… right up until everything stops. Planned care beats that panic.
Build maintenance around production cycles — never on guesswork. Plan ahead for peak seasons, and when specialist work is needed, bring in engineering support that knows industrial machinery inside and out. On-site fabricators and welders can overhaul a system faster than your team firefighting on the fly.
Track Failures, Break the Pattern
If the same part breaks every quarter, that’s not bad luck. That’s a design weakness that needs addressing or user failure. Upgrade a component, introduce staff training, etc., and prevent problems at the source. Tracking allows you to identify exactly what is going on, so you can put a stop to it, so you’re not repeating the same cycles over and over.
Train for the Unexpected
Machines don’t pause their breakdowns for you to find someone qualified to carry them out, or until you no longer need to rely on them so much. When staff now do basic troubleshooting — safe shutdowns, isolating faults, quick checks — every minute saved matters. The aim isn’t to turn operators into engineers; it’s to give them enough confidence to protect the kit until help arrives.
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