The role of software in ensuring sustainable manufacturing maintenance
The notion of sustainable development served as the premise for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
The summit was the first global attempt to establish action plans and strategies for migrating to a more sustainable development model.
Sustainability is the concept of doing things or using resources without degrading their quality or quantity over time.
The term “sustainability” is now widely used since every sector in every part of the world is attempting to adopt its fundamentals or principles in order to make the planet a better place for humanity.
This brings us to the concept of sustainable maintenance in manufacturing. The goal of maintenance is to maintain your equipment and assets in operation for as long as possible.
However, many maintenance operations include the use of energy and materials which might result in unwanted and toxic byproducts like emissions, which have a negative impact on the environment.
Therefore, in this article, we’ll discuss the following:
- What is sustainable maintenance in manufacturing?
- Benefits of sustainable maintenance
- How can software help to ensure sustainable maintenance?
What is sustainable maintenance in manufacturing?
Sustainable maintenance involves high-quality practices that promote better resource management, for improving assets and equipment life cycles while maintaining the proper environmental standards.
The aim is to prevent wastage and environmental pollution or degradation while improving assets’ health management and life cycles.
For instance, renewable materials or resources can be used for maintenance; perhaps for some tasks, it is possible to use human power in place of mechanical power that requires electricity, while efficiency is still maintained.
Or adopting clean energies like solar or wind instead of fossil fuel.
Benefits of sustainable maintenance
There are many benefits associated with sustainable maintenance, it has economic, environmental, and social benefits. Let’s take a look at them.
1. Economic benefits
Economically, it lowers the cost of repairs, which boosts the company’s profit. It improves the availability of industrial systems while also extending their life cycles.
2. Environmental benefits
In this era, environmental issues like global warming and climate change have been a great concern to the global community, and industrial processes, wastes, and emissions largely contribute to these problems.
Sustainable maintenance is critical to addressing these challenges.
3. Social benefits
Sustainable maintenance offers significant social benefits. It can improve your workers’ health and safety while also minimizing the impact of your operations (noise and pollution) on the local community.
How can software help to ensure sustainable maintenance?
With the help of technology, you can transition to more sustainable maintenance activities. Here are ways software can help:
Elimination of material waste.
At INTEC Digital Solutions, we offer CMMS software that can help you reduce material waste by improving purchase orders and inventory tracking.
Knowing precisely what you have on board keeps you from over-ordering or stockpiling unnecessary components or resources. This helps to avoid inventory waste, and also saves the energy required to move and keep excessive materials.
Reduced and efficient consumption of resources.
Your team can use CMMS to collect information on water and energy usage. By recording gauge observations over time, you can compare current to past consumption, noting spikes, patterns, or significant changes.
This is a condition-based monitoring (CBM) technique that creates corrective work orders automatically when assets become less efficient and allows maintenance to be carried out when it is actually needed.
Risk management
Organizations are always seeking strategies to mitigate accidents. Critical safety guidelines are stored in CMMS systems, and adherence to vital industrial standards is enforced, avoiding spillage and other mishaps that are hazardous to both people and the environment.
In conclusion, sustainable maintenance practices not only go a long way in taking your organization to the next level but also helps in saving our endangered planet.
