FDBusiness.com

Multivac UK has announced that Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programmes are now a focus for the company and at the centre of a major customer service initiative.

Under the system, owners of a Multivac machine pay an annual fee for an agreed programme of pre-planned maintenance. It is designed to keep machine breakdowns to a minimum but often, more importantly, to maximise the machine’s manufacturing efficiency. There a several different schedules, depending on the level of support purchased.

Multivac had noticed that in 2008, 68% of the Technical Department’s income was derived from emergency repairs – when a client is in a critical situation that requires immediate resolution. Technical Director John Lakin says: “We realised that it was going to be better for our customers to reduce their spend on emergency repairs and to invest it on programmes of planned maintenance. We were also aware that many see PPM as just a form of insurance, which is part of the story of course; but that they hadn’t realised that PPM can be used to actually improve machine efficiency, which on its own can more than pay back the cost of the programme. That’s where customers usually find the greatest savings.”

Multivac has calculated the theoretical output of a thermoformer packing 250gm packs of bacon in 9 packs per cycle at 10 cycles per minute, for two shifts per day, for a 6-day week. It could produce 5,400 packs per hour and therefore 130 tonnes each week. It means that every 1% of lost efficiency gives rise to a loss in production of 1.3 tonnes per week.

Multivac has found that many manufacturers are operating their machines at efficiencies of less than 80% which, in the above example, would lead to a loss of at least 104 tonnes of potential production each week. In many such cases, Multivac is confident that PPM can boost efficiency to the point that it recovers the entire cost of the programme.

“We find that over 90% of our PPM clients rebook for the following year – which I believe says it all. I’m happy that our income for emergency repairs is now just 34% of the department’s revenue, half the percentage it was just three years earlier. It means that fewer customers are needing an emergency service, which of course, is in their best interests but it’s the efficiency savings that make customers book in for another year. That’s what usually swings it in the end.

Small to medium-sized operations realise that PPM often means that they can put their maintenance manager to better use, while larger companies see it as a means of allowing them to focus on what they do best – creating and manufacturing products. We often used to see maintenance staff having to keep an eye on a machine pretty much all day. Now PPM frees them up to work more productively. After all, that’s what it’s there for.”

For information about Planned Preventative Maintenance with Multivac call 01793 425 800.