Emergency repairs cost 10 times more than planned repairs, yet reactive maintenance — “don’t fix it ‘til it breaks” — is still the mindset in many food plants. Proactive maintenance can dramatically cut costs and boost productivity.
Just about everybody agrees that effective maintenance can minimize the need for capital investment, boost plant capacity, extend equipment life, reduce repair costs and downtime, prevent lost profits and prevent the erosion of product quality. In short, good maintenance protects company assets.
But management commitment to maintenance is critical, and "this is where -- in my opinion -- more than half of preventive maintenance programs fail," observed Pete Carrino, chief engineer/manufacturing for Giant Food, Inc., at Food Engineering's PlantTech '99 Conference May 23 in Oak Brook, IL. Giant, based in Landover, MD, operates six plants manufacturing bakery, dairy, ice cream, ice and beverage products.