Over the years, it has been normal for our brains not to remember all the information we have experienced or witnessed until then. Perhaps you will still be able to describe an event that occurred last month in detail. However, there is no guarantee that you will remember it in the same detail in 5 years.
In a normal situation, this happens because memory is selective and will most likely not recall all experiences in the same way. For this reason, there is ‘History,’ which, according to the dictionary, is the science that studies past events concerning specific people, countries, periods, or individuals.
The historical record is nothing more than the knowledge related to the past of humanity and its evolution, according to the place, the time, and the chosen point of view.
Using this knowledge in our maintenance landscape, we know that it is crucial to maintain an asset maintenance history, which brings numerous benefits to management. Read on to better understand why your company needs these maintenance histories.
- What is maintenance history?
- What should be in the maintenance history?
- Why is maintenance history important?
- What are the advantages of maintaining maintenance histories?
- Benefits of keeping an up-to-date maintenance history
- What is equipment history?
- How to manage maintenance history in Engeman®
- Conclusion
What is maintenance history?
A maintenance history is a document that stores all the information and evolution of the activities performed on your machines.
The proper maintenance department operation is related to the way the manager conducts the work, for this reason, keeping a history of the entire evolution of the machines allows assertive maintenance control.
In general, every strategy applied within the corporate context must be preceded by good planning. We can conclude that the maintenance history analysis performed in the company is essential for the continuity of good work in this department.
What should be in the maintenance history?
In these maintenance histories, some data are very relevant for management.
We can mention:
- the interventions that the machinery has already suffered;
- the types of maintenance were done;
- how many times such maintenance occurred;
- those responsible for the executions;
- the time spent on activities;
- the materials were used;
- the maintenance costs.
The lack of history can make it difficult to prepare an efficient maintenance plan. Therefore, the maintenance manager must rely on indicators linked to strategic goals such as MTBF and MTTR of his machinery, or even its reliability, to ensure a good maintenance journey.
Why is maintenance history important?
Data can be stored from various memories and historical events so that there are records over the years. Of course, nowadays, with technology, information is increasingly accessible and easy to record. However, it was not always like this.
Therefore, how do you know when equipment has been purchased or when maintenance interventions have been performed? Think about this answer and extend it to a company with hundreds or even thousands of assets. To give a detailed answer about each asset, it is practically impossible to keep all this “memory” in a huge warehouse file.
Information about assets, maintenance dates, and costs is information that is part of the managers’ routine so that they can make well-founded decisions. Therefore, keeping a complete history at hand makes the difference for quick and accurate decision-making.
What are the advantages of maintaining maintenance histories?
In addition to not having to simply rely on the good memory or goodwill of a performer to inform you what actions were performed on machinery ‘X’. Keeping its records will make it easier for the manager to make decisions based on the information obtained. For example:
If different machines of model ‘X’ always have the same failure, causing unscheduled corrective maintenance, it is necessary that the managers present identify the reason and the frequency of these recurrences. But without records, it is impossible to have parameters to discover the root of the problem.
On the other hand, it does not mean that all machines of the same model will behave in the same way.
Maybe machine 01 needed a specific part change after a breakdown due to an accident due to poor equipment installation. Machine 02, on the other hand, has 3 exchange registers of this same specific part, due to natural wear and tear. Or there is still machine 03 that was purchased at the same time as the others and that never had any defects.
You will only have this information from the registered data.
Therefore, when the company does not maintain a maintenance history, small details will go unnoticed, which can result in catastrophes of various magnitudes.
Benefits of keeping an up-to-date maintenance history
The maintenance history contains the entire history of the equipment. Imagine it as a medical record, which shows all the time that some medication was needed for health to be restored. Therefore, keeping everything written makes it easier for the doctor to know how to treat that patient if he has any allergies and thus prescribe the correct treatment.
This way it works with the equipment. Keeping everything recorded allows the manager to have the entire life of his assets at hand. With this, he will enjoy benefits such as:
- assistance in decision-making;
- cost reduction;
- integration between departments;
- help in setting up the preventive maintenance calendar;
- assistance to provide for the need to change equipment;
- avoids cuts and interruptions in production;
- provides an accurate assessment of equipment quality;
- contributes to the visualization of recurring failures;
- exposes the need for investments in employee training.
What is equipment history?
Given this information, the result will be to obtain data such as the equipment history.
Equipment history is nothing more than knowing its entire life, from its acquisition to its last breath, that is, its disposal.
In the meantime, you have information on how much maintenance was done, what types of maintenance, their reasons, what materials were spent, etc.
And for this, the ideal is to have a tool that will store all this information.
How to manage maintenance history in Engeman®
As we mentioned in the last topic, a tool is essential for the correct management of maintenance history. Our solution can help with this task. Count on Engeman® to record the entire history of your equipment.
Some functions that are available in Engeman® maintenance history:
- work orders history:
- scheduled data;
- performing department;
- maintenance plan;
- type of maintenance;
- branch;
- supplier;
- customer;
- product;
- Equipment location history, where a history of changes made to the location and physical and interference groupings of the equipment is displayed.
- Equipment movement history where it is allowed to record asset movements in a faster and simpler way, ensuring a more efficient movement history. The asset movements influence the change of grouping, the change of cumulative measuring points, and the cumulative collections of both assets.
Conclusion
Maintaining an up-to-date maintenance history can be challenging. As we have seen in this article, it is not possible to keep such important data from your company only in memory or in piles of paper that will easily be forgotten in warehouses. This undermines management decisions, in addition to compromising the reliability of the equipment.
Your company can benefit from the use of technology with the help of specialized software that facilitates tasks and centralizes all the information generated during maintenance interventions. Thus, their records are detailed with the possibility of photographic records for better monitoring of the actions.
Not to mention the range of reports and indicators that a specialist solution has for you, as a manager, to optimize your time and avoid unnecessary wear and tear looking for reliable histories.
To learn more about our solution, schedule a demo with our team and see everything Engeman® can bring to your company! We are waiting for you.
