Whatever industry you’re if you are running machinery it’s essential that it’s maintained and serviced regularly. If this doesn’t happen you leave yourself open to mechanical failures, delayed deadlines and ultimately loss of income or lost customers.

Despite manufacturers knowing this a report at the end of last year from Bosch Rexroth in conjunction with the Institute of Engineering and Technology revealed that the maintenance budgets of more than 50% of the responding manufacturers had stagnated or even reduced over the last 5 years.

This is a worrying statistic when you consider that many manufacturers have not only increased the amount of machinery and equipment they use, but that machinery has also increased in complexity.

As machines get more complex, it is not only the skill levels of operators that need to increase, but also those of any maintenance or service staff. Of those staff asked 75% stated that they are now dealing with far more complex machinery than they were 5 years ago

Where companies have not invested in newer more complex machines, the issues around cost, time and resources for maintenance don’t go away, they are just different. As machines get older, they can be more susceptible to breakdown and need more time spent on them.

The way to look at maintenance is not as a cost, but as an investment and income driver. You need your machines to be working efficiently to be able to keep the business running. That’s the way we see it here at PRV Engineering. The upkeep, maintenance and servicing of our equipment is essential to the running of our business. If our machines aren’t working to their best capabilities, we can’t provide the excellent service and product we pride ourselves on.

The key to equipment working to its optimum capabilities is to have a good maintenance plan. One that doesn’t just come out when problems appear, but one that sees equipment being checked regularly, looking for any signs of deterioration before they become too serious. That plan also needs to ensure that your operators and maintenance staff are up to speed with the developments of the equipment you are using or thinking of purchasing. The operators are likely to be the ones that notice things first.

Not only do we keep our own machines in tip top condition but we also provide clients with installation and maintenance services. We install our own equipment as well as that of third parties, installing large plant for various companies.

As an Engineering and Fabrication company with a wide scope of services we are able to offer a higher level of efficiency than our competitors. Some companies fail when a problem is found as they have to wait for customer intervention to assist or correct the problem. We are invariably able to continue, solving and engineering the solution as we go relieving you of just another problem to worry about. This has proven to be an invaluable asset, and we have enjoyed excellent reviews regarding our efficiency in this area.

Site Instructions, Method Statements, Risk Assessments and other relevant qualifications are provided for all work undertaken in accordance with the CDM regulations of 1994, and this is foremost in our approach to the safe and efficient provision of our services.

You can download a full copy of the report ‘What you don’t repair you destroy – a report into maintenance practices in UK industry’ here