Mr. Noel is the operations manager in a chocolate factory. In the run-up to Christmas, operations are in full swing: The machines are running non-stop to produce and package chocolate in all the popular Christmas shapes in time for Christmas. Imagine if the system were to fail right now. That would be disastrous!
Are you familiar with this situation? Production is in full swing, like here at the chocolate factory before Christmas. Or your product is so expensive that every minute the machine is down results in unplanned costs. What are you doing to reduce the risk of downtime?
Mr. Noel depends on reliable systems to ensure that his chocolates arrive in the stores in time for Christmas. But how can he increase his system availability? Every system has to be serviced at some point and is then unavailable for a short time. But that can be planned. The purpose of preventive maintenance is based on the idea that maintenance is planned and carried out regularly and ahead of time, before a system fails. This is the best way to reduce maintenance-related downtime. Machines that are properly maintained and cleaned are less likely to break down. Also read the blog post Cleaning the adhesive application system properly.
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth the effort for you, I can assure you that preventive maintenance is worthwhile – and not just for critical productions such as Christmas chocolate. The key question is: How much would downtime affect your processes?
If your adhesive application system fails, the entire production line may come to a standstill. How much this affects your procedures depends on a number of factors. How much do you depend on this line? Do you have replacement machinery available? What is the financial impact of downtime? How quickly can the problem be fixed? Will your customer relationship suffer if you are unable to deliver on time? The answers to all these questions determine the downtime risk that you as a company are prepared to bear.
At Robatech Germany, we use a test protocol for the maintenance work we carry out, in which we record this very risk. The following scale helps us to determine which spare parts or components make sense for a customer.
1 = low, tolerable risk to 10 = unacceptably high risk.
You can also use this scale yourself to determine your risk. Get a sense of how serious machine downtime would be for you. This is the first step to optimizing your system availability.
After you have determined your risk of downtime for the adhesive application system, you can now define measures that meet your needs. Your options for improving machine availability include the three areas of maintenance, spare parts storage, and training.
The information on preventive maintenance in your operating manual is a good starting point for your maintenance planning. But every production line is different – so it makes sense to adapt the intervals to your requirements. If a system is running a lot, there is less contamination in the adhesive because fresh adhesive is always flowing through the system. On the other hand, wear is more likely to occur. Check your system more often at the beginning. Over time, you can use your experience and set maintenance intervals as needed.
Would you like to delegate responsibility for the maintenance of your adhesive application system? At Robatech, we offer such maintenance services. One of the advantages of a maintenance contract with us is that you do not have to do anything yourself. We plan and coordinate the service activities, which gives you planning security in terms of time and money. A customer said to me the other day: “If Robatech is taking care of it, I don’t have to worry.” That’s exactly how it should be.
Your risk determines which spare parts make sense. The following overview shows how you can adapt your spare parts warehouse to the respective risk area:
| Green risk area (1-3) | Yellow risk area (4-7) | Red risk area (8-10) |
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A minimum spare parts package includes: |
A medium-sized spare parts package also includes replacement components such as: - Solenoid valves - Jetting elements - Pump(s) - Sensors and heaters |
A maximum spare parts package also includes entire assemblies such as: - Heated hoses and application heads - Circuit boards - Assemblies - Backup adhesive application system |
Here again: Robatech will be happy to advise you on appropriate spare parts storage for your situation.
The third way to prevent machine downtime is to train your operating personnel. After all, what good are all the spare parts if there’s no one there to install them? Training your employees means giving them the skills to carry out minor repairs themselves. This makes you more independent and, above all, enables you to significantly minimize the risk of downtime.
It is up to you to increase the availability of your adhesive application system. Even if there can never be absolute certainty, the probability that a system will fail can be significantly reduced by the maintenance measures mentioned above. What steps will you take next to increase your system availability?