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Your fleet is the lifeline of your business. Proper maintenance is essential to
keeping your costs low and getting the best return on your investment. Here are
six simple best practices for managing your fleet to maximize productivity.
1. Be proactive with equipment maintenance
Don’t wait for your machine to break down. Perform routine maintenance, and fix anything that
needs adjustment. This approach will help minimize operating costs, improve uptime, and boost
the resale value of your equipment.
One easy way to stay even more proactive is to register machines in a preventive maintenance
program that notifies you when it’s time for your next inspection.
Whatever route you take, always document all maintenance and repairs, so you’ll have
complete records when it’s time to sell your equipment.
2. Repeat Offenders (The 80-20 Rule)
The old adage is that 80% of all maintenance costs are spent on 20% of machine problems. The
same issues continue to drain resources. To break this habit, identify repeat problems,
and take action to fix them before they grow, which can be expensive.
3. Use KOMTRAX
KOMTRAX is Komatsu’s machine monitoring technology that comes standard with all models.
This system collects and processes data about your equipment’s health and efficiency, alerting
you if any irregularities occur, so you can have them repaired as soon as possible.
KOMTRAX both keeps you informed about what’s going on below the hood and maintains
automatic, accurate records that will help you calculate ownership costs to manage your fleet in
the most effective way possible. For more information, click here.
4. Perform Regular Fluid Analysis
By periodically analyzing fluids for contaminant levels, you have predictions of when
components need replacements, to help you plan downtime.
5. On the Record
Records are essential in forecasting how well machines perform. With proper records for each
machine, including all repair work, you can check fuel consumption, maintenance expenses,
and operation costs, all of which are useful when it’s time to decide whether to repair or replace
equipment.
6. 30% and Done
The age of a machine can directly impact the cost effectiveness of continuing to own it or
deciding to sell it. Operating costs will increase over time as repairs and other adjustments
become necessary. It’s best to replace equipment once maintenance and/or repair costs exceed
30% of the machine’s resale value.
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