Why wouldn’t you have your forklift checked regularly?

Why wouldn’t you have your forklift checked regularly? Every business has their own strategy and plans when it comes to functionality, cleaning, maintenance, etc. But not all strategies are best for every company. Even when it comes to maintenance for your material handling equipment. There are 2 types of maintenance strategies: reactive maintenance and proactive maintenance. Which strategy will work best with your company?

Reactive Maintenance

Reactive maintenance, can save money in the short term, but could cost you more in the long term. With reactive maintenance you only have maintenance done when the forklift breaks down. So, you’d only be paying for repair service and repair parts after the costly damage has been created.

Proactive Maintenance

Now, proactive maintenance will save you money in the long term, but how? It is designed to catch any issue before becoming a serious problem. Proactive maintenance is having a schedule when the planned maintenance (PM) will occur. Establishing when the planned maintenance should be done is determined by how frequently the forklift is used and how old the forklift is. Typically, the PM should be done every 3-6 months. The planned maintenance ensures your assets are working properly and efficiently, improving the life of your forklift. So, why wouldn’t you have your forklift checked regularly?

Major benefits of being proactive with a PM

1. Planned equipment shut down
   • Scheduling when the forklift will be maintenance will minimize production disruption.
2. Budget for planned maintenance
   • With us there are no hidden fees, our set price for the maintenance doesn’t change per visit.
3. Budget for replacement parts
   • During the maintenance if our techs find anything wrong, they will tell you and give you the option of immediate fix or if you want it quoted before fixing.
4. Lower your maintenance costs
   • The minor issues will be caught before turning into major costly issue, saving your company time and money in the long term.
5. Reduction of repair costs
   • Increase the chance of an issue being caught sooner, will greatly decrease repair costs.
6. Improve useful equipment life
   • You won’t have to keep replacing the forklifts as frequently, lowering your overall equipment cost over time and maximizing the forklifts usability.
7. Increase trade-in value
   • Typically, a forklift that has been well maintained has a higher trade-in value or you can sell it for a higher profit.
8. Increased productivity
   • You won’t miss a delivery due to a broken-down forklift, and the forklift will have less downtime overall.
9. Greater employee efficiency
   • Decrease the chance for the employee to be slowed down by a forklift that is running slow.
10. Enhanced facility safety
    • Decreases the risk of equipment failure and increase safety for employees on and around the forklift.

Recommendations

We recommend getting all of your material handling equipment on a PM program. That’s right a planned maintenance isn’t only for forklifts, any material handling equipment can have a PM. Keep in mind not every company has the same strategy in mind, but most companies are all for saving money. So, why wouldn’t you have your forklift checked regularly?

Stay tuned for our next article next month. If you are interested in planned maintenance for a forklift contact us. Do you have a topic for an article? Comment down below.