Industry Guide7 min read
Plant Equipment Maintenance Basics for Small Businesses
You don't need enterprise CMMS to maintain plant equipment properly. Here's a practical guide for small manufacturers.
Why Maintenance Matters in Manufacturing
In a plant environment, equipment downtime directly impacts production. A broken machine means:
- •Lost production time
- •Missed customer deadlines
- •Expensive emergency repairs
- •Idle workers
- •Potential safety hazards
Preventive maintenance reduces unplanned downtime by catching problems before they cause failures.
Getting Started: The Simple Approach
- 1
List your critical equipment
What machines, if they stopped, would halt production?
- 2
Identify maintenance requirements
Check manuals, talk to operators, note what fails
- 3
Set up schedules
Time-based (monthly, quarterly) or hours-based
- 4
Assign responsibility
Who checks what? When?
- 5
Track and adjust
Record completions, adjust intervals based on results
Common Plant Equipment Maintenance Tasks
| Equipment | Common PM Tasks |
|---|---|
| Compressors | Oil changes, filter replacement, belt inspection |
| Conveyors | Belt tension, roller lubrication, alignment |
| Pumps | Seal inspection, impeller check, bearing lubrication |
| HVAC | Filter changes, coil cleaning, refrigerant check |
| Forklifts | Oil, filters, brake inspection, mast lubrication |
| CNC machines | Coolant, way lubrication, spindle maintenance |
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Plant Maintenance Software
Simple alternative to enterprise CMMS.