What Can You Learn From Downtime

Manufacturing in 2019 moves extremely fast, and in this environment, downtime is generally considered a dirty word — and with good reason. Manufacturing downtime means lost productivity and potentially lost profits. But, are there any benefits of downtime? Can we at least learn something from the challenges downtime presents?

Working With Downtime

How can you work with downtime? By definition, downtime is any period when you are not able to work. What you can do, however, is analyze the situation that led to downtime so you can avoid it in the future. Some downtime may be inevitable, but some may not be. Here are four ways to use downtime to discover areas of improvement for the future.

1. Reevaluate Your Maintenance Schedule

If your machines are properly maintained, they shouldn’t be going down too often. If they are, the problem is with the quality of your machines or the effectiveness of your maintenance. There should be a maintenance schedule that lets everyone know who is responsible for the maintenance of each machine and when. That schedule should include a thorough checklist for how to make sure each machine is properly maintained. A downtime situation is a good opportunity to evaluate whether or not your maintenance checklist and schedule is adequate.

2. Improve Staff Communication

Sometimes, downtime happens because different employees get confused about what their responsibilities are. Downtime presents a perfect opportunity to address this. It’s a time to get everyone together to make sure everyone knows who goes with what, as well as that employees have a clear way to communicate with other staff members when they are unsure of something or sense a conflict brewing.

3. Upgrade Your Equipment

While you can’t replace every machine every time it goes down, and if the problem is just a worn-out part, for example, it would not even be cost-effective to do so. However, there are some occasions where it really is time to move on, even from a long-time reliable machine. This is not just because that machine may break down more often and end up costing more in repairs than it would to replace it, but also because it is possible that the machine is slowing down your process even when it’s not responsible for downtime.

If an upgraded machine would not only stay in service longer but allow you to complete projects faster, there is no question that it is worth the investment.

4. Refine Your Backup Plan

If downtime normally sends your team into a frenzy, let the next downtime period be an opportunity to design a more effective contingency for when machines do go down, so when it happens again, you’ll know exactly what to do.

While downtime can present an opportunity as well as a crisis, you still want to make sure your next period of downtime is as short as possible. Global Electronic Services has a proven repair method for electronics that will get your machine back to you in a matter of days, not weeks. For fast, reliable repair and less downtime, contact Global Electronic Services today.