The Economy Is Rebounding - Is Your Manufacturing Facility Ready?

By Author: Brandan Bogan
Total Articles: 279
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Encouraging US economic reports coupled with a decline in the unemployment rate have stock market bulls barreling through fears of oil at $100 a barrel. The economy appears to be improving and key economic indicators bode well for manufacturing, in fact, mutual funds specializing in industrial stocks such as manufacturers and chemical companies have been the second strongest stock category, with an average 162 percent gain. Is your manufacturing facility or plant ready to ramp up and meet the challenge?

In lean economic times, it's standard operating procedure to conserve cash and reduce expenses - actions which can sometimes be costly in the long run. Boom times or bad times, in manufacturing it's critical to maintain your assets. Professionals know facility maintenance software is an essential tool to help navigate economic ups and downs. For manufacturing concerns of all sizes, an investment in enterprise asset management software will pay dividends in any economy. Whether you are restarting an existing manufacturing plant to capitalize on the economic upturn, increasing capacity or building a new facility, it's critical ...
... to install and utilize the proper facility maintenance software to sustain efficient operations over the long term.

Facility maintenance software can help manage labor costs, inventory, asset care and preventive maintenance. Benefits of facility maintenance software include improved inventory and asset management and the related opportunities for cost reduction along with better metrics which can be employed to better manage the entire asset lifecycle from planning to replacement including budgeting and vendor management. Manufacturers such as Cleveland Tubing utilize facility maintenance software as their maintenance decision support system, informing them of daily tasks that need to be performed based on elapsed time, equipment utilization and condition-based indicators. Their inventory and labor cost allocation and tracking has enabled them to know their performance against budget as well as measuring ROI on their production equipment. By utilizing facility maintenance software, Cleveland Tubing is ready for whatever the new economy delivers.

Regardless of industry sector, as a plant manager or maintenance professional, implementation of facility maintenance software will improve performance and provide measurable results. Creating a database of assets with all relevant information including purchase date, cost, description, location, inspection and repair history, vendor information, part use, repair history, etc. allows you to plan and prepare for economic upturns and downturns. The standardization of data with enterprise asset management software enables automation of work management from work requests, work orders and scheduled inspections to preventative and predictive maintenance, along with improving document management. Maintenance professionals use tools to keep equipment ready for peak performance - isn't it time you learned more about facility maintenance software as another tool to ensure your plant or manufacturing facility is not only operating efficiently and effectively, but poised to take on any challenge the new economy brings?

Brandon Bogan is a manufacturing professional and the author of this article on enterprise asset management software and facility maintenance software. Visit http://www.emaint.com/ .