As few as 12 percent of commercial buildings use predictive maintenance, notes Nicole Kraweke of ACHR News. The reason behind this trend is the high cost of predictive maintenance, with systems costing upward of $20,000 or more. Meanwhile, Facilities Managers are not data analysts, so they do not understand what the information really means. However, the value of smart maintenance is far-reaching. It leverages repair and maintenance data and preventive maintenance (ex. HVAC systems) to derive value, and Facilities Managers need to understand what preventative maintenance is, its potential and how to take advantage of it.
Failing to Implement Smart Maintenance Ensures Higher Costs
The biggest problem with smart maintenance practices goes back to a lack of visibility. Repair and maintenance data, especially in the HVAC unit, can be among the highest maintenance costs for your organization. While HVAC systems may operate for decades before complete failure, their longevity may be extended through preventive maintenance. Essentially, Facilities Managers leverage smart maintenance practices, such as using data, to avoid malfunctions and issues. Avoiding the costs associated with a "run to fail" strategy means the most significant savings in smart maintenance derive from cost avoidance. Simply implementing a predictive maintenance program and using data increases uptime by 20 percent reduces overall maintenance costs by 10 percent, notes Deloitte. Therefore, companies following a “run to fail” model spend substantially more, and if assets do fail completely, actual costs will be far greater.
For example, a $200 repair turns into a $4,000 repair following the "squared repair cost" calculation from deferred maintenance. Basically, smart maintenance is the opposite of deferred maintenance.
Smart Maintenance Unlocks Critical Insights Within the Six Dimensions of Maintenance and Failure
Technologies are evolving to handle the stress of predictive maintenance for businesses, and managed services can even tackle the planning associated with it. In other words, smart maintenance-as-a-service is the new opportunity for companies, but what exactly does smart maintenance mean? To answer that question, consider the dimensions of maintenance. According to Deloitte, maintenance and failure are the results of six dimensions, including:
- Reachability.
- Cascaded damage.
- Quality.
- Equipment logistics.
- Interdependence.
- Safety.
A failure within any of these areas will lead to significant maintenance and far-reaching facility problems. However, smart maintenance looks to understand and gain real-time visibility into these six dimensions to reduce risks and maximize asset performance.
Smart Maintenance Best Practices to Increase Brand Value
As explained by Taylor Short of SoftwareAdvice.com, Facilities Managers should follow three common steps to implementing smart maintenance in their organizations. These include:
- Using smart sensors to gather valuable building data and understand asset condition. Types of sensors to utilize include electricity measurement, water presence, ultrasonic sensors that identify high-frequency sounds in machines, vibration detectors that identify unusual vibrations, temperature sensors (such as heat flows), and pressure sensors.
- Know what you need to track. Understanding which metrics to track is paramount in making informed decisions. Data in its raw form is meaningless, so the application of metrics makes understanding data and applying it easier.
- Use predictive analytics to make informed decisions that offer the highest ROI. Like knowing what to track, Facility Managers should also use predictive analytics to streamline the decision-making process and ensure all decisions made have a positive result.
Unlock the Cost Avoidance Savings Possible Through Smart Maintenance Now
Cost avoidance savings are the most prominent bargaining chip Facilities Managers have when building the business case for energy management and smart maintenance programs. Put the power of smart maintenance to work in your facility by contacting ENTOUCH online or calling 1-800-820-3511 now.