How much does simple manufacturing really cost your company?

Usually the machine breaks just when you need it the most

Imagine: your machines stop just when you need them most. It's a scenario we've all faced.

Many manufacturing companies rely on systems that have faithfully served them for many years. However, even a well-maintained system will wear out, primarily in its mechanical components.

Compounding the problem, especially for older systems, is the absence of many electrical and electronic components. In today's world, the development of electronics is extremely fast. Component manufacturers are constantly changing their product range and improving their characteristics. But when such components fail on your old machine, finding a replacement can be not only difficult, but sometimes downright impossible.

That is why it is very important when buying a machine to pay attention to the experience of its manufacturer in this field. New companies may not survive the competition and quickly disappear from the market, along with the typical spare parts for their machines. From this point of view, manufacturers with extensive experience and a stable model range can guarantee an easier search for spare parts and consumables to repair your equipment in a short time.

However, there is no doubt that even the best machine needs maintenance, which can be carried out by two methods: passive and proactive.

Do we know what losses the company bears in this case?

Of course, we can estimate and calculate the costs of urgently calling a service engineer, purchasing spare parts, and waiting for their delivery. If you have outdated equipment or your machines are from a manufacturer from another country that does not have a wide dealer network in Ukraine, then you need to add time to search for the necessary parts and their delivery from abroad.

However, these are only obvious costs that do not give a full picture of the true cost of production downtime.

Look at the graph. It clearly shows that you start to lose profit even at the stage of decline in machine productivity.

From the moment of the malfunction, the system begins to feel a decrease in performance, until it finally stops. The duration of machine downtime depends on many factors, including the nature of the problem, the availability of spare parts and the experience of the engineers involved. In more complex cases, it can take weeks or even months.

How much does a simple machine cost in terms of lost productivity?

When your system eventually comes back up, it will take time to reach normal performance levels, and then also make up for the losses from downtime. High orders, angry customers, tight production schedules and overworked departments all create a complex web of problems.

Take into account the hours spent by your operators, foremen, managers and salespeople on maintaining customer relations during this period and you will soon realize that a week of lost production can cost tens times more than the costs of the repair itself.

(Internal cost of machine downtime) = (Cost of lost production) + (hours spent by internal personnel on repairs and management) = (Total equipment efficiency * productivity * cost of sales) + (hours spent by internal staff on repairs and debugging)

Conclusion: Solving a problem when it has already happened is always untimely, long and expensive.

Fortunately, there is a more effective strategy: the proactive scheduled maintenance program.

Preventive maintenance programs involve scheduled inspections of equipment during periods of reduced production load or when the production line can afford a temporary pause.

Service engineers can comprehensively evaluate the mechanical, electrical, electronic and safety aspects of your system, identifying anomalies and components that require replacement during the evaluation phase. Once the assessment is complete and immediate repairs are made, a work plan is drawn up.

What are the advantages of proactive maintenance

The benefits are obvious: preventive maintenance minimizes the risk of a complete system shutdown. Potential failures are identified at the stage of performance degradation, and obsolete components are procured and adapted in advance.

In addition, repair works can be scheduled in convenient windows without requiring drastic changes in the production schedule.

Our customized preventive maintenance programs are a testament to this approach. These services are planned according to the type and number of ARAMIS machines in your production. Depending on whether you have one or several ARAMIS metalworking complexes, we plan the execution time, engineering resources and components accordingly.

Choosing proactive maintenance means you can always count on your systems to produce the highest quality parts, helping to significantly improve finished product quality and lower manufacturing costs.

The importance of geographical proximity to the manufacturer’s technical support service.

In conditions of geopolitical uncertainty, and especially in conditions of martial law, such as currently in Ukraine, the importance of reliable technical support cannot be overestimated.

This is connected not only with significant delays in the supply of spare parts and components, but, first of all, with the possibility and desire of technical personnel to go to customers’ enterprises.

Do not send their employees to Ukraine due to increased risks.

An alternative solution could be a national network of dealers who would also provide maintenance services. However, this option is also not an option, as dealer networks currently experience a significant lack of qualified personnel due to mobilization and the lack of systematic work on the transfer of existing knowledge from their own personnel (and foreign trainers, as mentioned above, no longer risk coming to Ukraine).

Quick response in critical moments

Another issue is the speed of response to unexpected work failures and breakdowns.

During emergencies, local technical support services can respond quickly, thereby significantly reducing business downtime.

That is why, in the current conditions, it is extremely important to choose a supplier that not only claims about some theoretical possible technical support or compliance with a conditional warranty, and can provide real confirmed information about the number of employees in its own service, technical support, about their qualification level and work experience. This is the guarantee of your reliable operation and the guarantee of stable operation of your equipment.

Conclusion:

In modern manufacturing, where speed and efficiency are key success factors, equipment reliability plays a vital role. Choosing quality equipment and the right approach to its maintenance can significantly reduce the risks of downtime and related financial losses.

A comparison of reactive and proactive maintenance approaches shows that proactive maintenance is significantly more profitable. It allows you to detect and eliminate potential faults before they lead to critical operational failures. This not only reduces the risk of a complete shutdown of the system, but also allows you to plan maintenance work, minimizing the impact on the production process.

Conditions of geopolitical uncertainty and martial law, particularly in Ukraine, emphasize the need to choose equipment with reliable local technical support. This allows for prompt response to unforeseen failures and breakdowns, reducing downtime of the enterprise.

When considering the costs associated with equipment downtime, including direct and indirect repair costs, staff retention and lost productivity, the economic the benefit of investing in quality equipment and proactive service. This approach allows you to ensure the stable operation of production systems, improve the quality of finished products and reduce overall production costs.