Maintenance of dairy plant with CMMS
To run a dairy business smoothly it is very much important to take care of dairy equipment because the earlier dairy industry has now become advanced by using the latest machinery and milk equipment and it will not be wrong to say that it has become fully mechanical involving minimum physical labor.
It is obvious that no one wants to work on the machinery when it is broken, so it is always better to keep them in good shape all the time to reduce the chances of breakdown and occurrence of losses as milk is a perishable product. Hence, it is highly beneficial for the dairy business owners to remain fully aware of the maintenance of equipment at the right time which is made possible with regular inspection and updates. The laws related to the food industry have also become very rigid which leads to the need for specialized equipment related to refrigeration, heat and power that also require more control of processes.
How is milking equipment carried out?
It is obvious that when equipment is regularly serviced and kept in a good condition then its life extends greatly which saves losses not just in the short run but also in the long run. It can be checked on a daily basis that all types of rubber equipment are in good shape and are smooth. Also, check if there are no signs of tear-off or wear and tear which eventually leads to leaks or other types of quality issues. Furthermore, during the daily washing, it should also be checked that the water flows without any problem in the entire system. It is also possible that the gasket needs replacement or repairing otherwise it may affect the quality of the milk.
Regular inspection is the master key to avoiding equipment breakdown!
Maintenance is carried out on the basis of the equipment usage because that equipment that has heavy usage tends to be repaired regularly or needs to be replaced. For example hoses, claw liner vents, and pulsators are used heavily and need to be cleaned to avoid disruption in the daily operations.
Regular touch with an equipment dealer
Another important aspect of maintenance of milk equipment is the coordination with the dealer who has provided the equipment and tracking of maintenance service. Moreover, it should be ensured that the business owner has to continue follow-ups which is again a daunting task. Not to worry as there is a great solution to this problem and that is CMMS which keeps track of all types of maintenance activities it also helps to ensure that all checklists are properly followed by the maintenance manager and if required the dealer can also receive notifications and updates.
Real-time record-keeping
Record keeping is an essential part of any process involving any type of machinery but in the case of milk equipment, it again becomes of utmost importance to keep records readily available for everyone to quickly go through the information when the equipment was bought and when the last time it was serviced or maybe when the service is due. The records need to have all kinds of information for preventive maintenance and not to reach the level of breakdown of machinery.
What are the pain points for maintaining milk equipment?
The above points are three of the best ways to keep milk equipment in good shape to avoid a bigger loss in the future. These also involve lots of physical help which eventually leads to mistakes and skipping important points which should not be missed out. Here, CMMS can help a lot not just the dairy owner but also the dealer responsible for equipment maintenance as it can make everything automatic which further strengthens the relationship between the owner and the dealer. It becomes physically difficult to keep a track of all types of information related to the equipment and offline or online record maintenance itself is a big task and there are high chances that the maintenance staff forgets to keep a record of everything related to the equipment or is not aware when the next service is due.
Why is total productive maintenance important?
Total productive maintenance is a system that covers the entire life cycle of the equipment including the support of labor resources. Basically, it is a tried and tested method that helps to reduce the wastage of time, and energy by eliminating waste and saving money. The operators can now manage their machinery in a much more efficient way. It is not a short-term process in fact it is a long-term process that increases the efficiency to achieve zero losses. By using total productive maintenance a production manager will be able to uplift the quality of the product.
Total productive maintenance includes maintenance prevention, corrective maintenance, breakdown maintenance and also preventive maintenance including predictive maintenance and periodic maintenance. Additionally, total productive maintenance has a positive impact on any processes involving equipment and boosts the overall production by enhancing the quality, delivery, safety, multitasking and production effectiveness.
How CMMS can help in achieving disruption-free milk production?
For any process to run efficiently and without any lags it is very much important to take preventive, corrective measures. As we know that milk is a perishable food product and it needs to be pasteurized and then delivered in packages. All this process requires a clean environment and the business cannot afford breakdown which would lead to great loss and every minute and second matters during the breakdown. So, to avoid production stoppage CMMS can be of great help as it will help the maintenance manager to keep control of safety, quality and costs involved in maintenance.
Preventive and corrective action with CMMS support
Yes, CMMS is capable of carrying out preventive as well as corrective maintenance. CMMS is online software that keeps all kinds of information about the equipment which is accessible on multiple smart devices like smartphones, computers, laptops or other types of handheld devices which is of great help for the maintenance manager to keep a track of maintenance and smoothly carry out preventive maintenance as CMMS can be used to send notifications to the users about the next due service of the milking equipment which is a preventive action. There is no need to keep offline records or keep excel sheets because CMMS very well maintains all the records on cloud storage 24*7 availability. It also reduces the strain of manually keeping a track of processes and automatically sends notifications to the concerned person or department including the dealer who provides maintenance service.
CMMS not just helps in preventing maintenance but also is of great help in taking corrective measures which occur due to the age of the machinery. It can help in providing all information about the equipment but also helps the shift manager to manage the labor and use them efficiently in other processes or change the roster accordingly to save cost and reduce wastage of labor hours. With CMMS software the maintenance manager can know in advance about the root problem or the part which needs to be repaired or replaced by making the information accessible to the maintenance staff about the equipment to save time and take corrective measures to even avoid breakdowns in future
CMMS help in breakdown maintenance
In case a breakdown occurs in the factory then CMMS immediately sends notifications to the concerned team and makes the stored information available to them onsite, so that they do not have to depend on the physical copies related to the equipment or part. Breakdown occurs when the manager or maintenance staff does not take notice of the notifications and depends on manual processes which could have been avoided by using the CMMS. However, the breakdown loss can still be reduced by using CMMS. It will quickly identify the gaps and also helps in coordination between the dealer of the equipment and maintenance staff which leads to quick resolution of the problem. It can provide audit reports; service records and other records related to the quality of the parts and equipment to make better decisions in solving the breakdown problem and start the work immediately.
CMMS also provides support in planning along with preventive, corrective and breakdown maintenance by capturing administrative details including purchase details, commissioning services details, and warranty documents of machinery and equipment with technical specifications. It can provide a graphical representation of the records to the management and other staff.
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