Field services rely on their equipment to get the job done. Whether you run a carpet cleaning business, install cable modems, perform landscaping, or repair HVAC systems; the assets packed into your fleet vehicles are an essential part of the services you provide. What happens when one of your truck-mounted cleaning systems goes on the blink? How much work do you lose if your fleet vehicles can’t make the rounds? Here, we will go through the introduction of reactive and planned asset maintenance in field services.
The Importance of Asset Maintenance in Field Services
Many field service businesses rely on their assets running practically 7 days a week and 360 days a year. From pre-booked appointments to your signature emergency services, your workload and revenue depend on keeping all of your business’ physical assets in working order to meet the ever-growing demand of the populace. With so many people at home putting stress on residential systems, that number will only continue to rise.
So, how do you prevent your assets from breaking and causing an accidental work stoppage? How do you prevent damage to your systems when one weak component breaks? This is not just a matter of budget and revenue, it’s also a matter of business continuity. When your assets break down and need repairs – some or even all of your business comes to a stop. Preventative and even predictive maintenance is the key to keeping your appointments, meaning happy customers and efficient weekly services.
Moving from Reactive to Planned Asset Maintenance
The traditional method of dealing with field service asset maintenance is the “break-fix” approach. This reactive method waits until there is a problem before enacting maintenance procedures. The old adage, “If it ain’t broken, Don’t fix it” has, unfortunately, ruled the day in most fleets. However, this policy isn’t doing you (or your customers) any favors. Waiting for machinery to break isn’t necessary if you know your machinery inside and out – and you do.
Reactive maintenance is only fixing things that break. It’s time for a move to planned, predictive, and preventative asset maintenance, instead. Predictive asset maintenance takes past performance, repairs, and the expected lifespan of each asset into account. Then a schedule can be created to provide inspections and parts replacement before the flaw causes the asset to cease functioning. This can help you to quickly catch maintenance problems on the horizon and enact solutions before the disaster (or delay) strikes.
Gruntify Introduces Technology-Driven Asset Maintenance
What most field services need is an asset management platform, capable of tracking the performance of each asset. Gruntify offers exactly this for the benefit of field service managers and business owners.
The first step that Gruntify takes is to absorb information about your company’s physical assets and service data. The program will record how often your assets are used and the heaviness of use. Data on previous maintenance repairs and equipment tune-ups will give the program an idea of the frequency that your equipment tends to need maintenance attention. Together, Gruntify can use internal analytics to study and learn the patterns of maintenance for each of your field service assets.
After some observations, the Gruntify platform will put together an easy-to-follow data pattern. The pattern will frame a schedule of predictive maintenance that your business can use to prevent any previously experienced asset breakdowns.
Preventing Common Field Services Asset Failures
It’s important to be prepared for any type of asset failure that might occur with your team’s collection of essential field service equipment. Here are some of the more common types of asset failure that can stop your service schedule in its tracks.
Machinery Breakdown
Your essential equipment experiences a breakdown either before service or during service in a client’s home. The machinery will not work and must be taken in for repairs before services can be complete.
Leaking or Flooding Equipment
Your fluid-moving equipment springs a leak on the job, flooding a client’s driveway at best and their living room carpet at worst.
Jammed or Sticky Assets
Often, machinery simply becomes sticky with time and use. Lingering soap scum on your gloves to simple exposure to outside air can cause your control panel keys, latches, and handles to stick – which can cause errors on the job. If you know you’re sending a team out with minimum-functioning equipment, it’s often better to keep the van in the garage and call for specialty cleaning services.
Failure to Respond to Controls
One of the most dangerous asset failures is when equipment stops responding to the controls entirely. Ideally, it will default to ‘off’, but this isn’t always the case. When your controls become unresponsive, all services must stop until your assets are back up and safely running.
Drain and Hose Clogs
Many types of cleaning service carry their own water and cleaning hose in the truck. However, field service assets are not immune to clogs. If a hose or drain becomes so tight as to be impassable, you’re going to have a hard time providing service to your local tenants.
Vehicle Engine Trouble
Last but certainly not least, watch out for any trouble with your fleet vehicles. If even one has a sputter or grinding sound that you don’t like, it’s better to keep it in for maintenance. But it’s even better than that to predict and take care of the maintenance as needed.
Moving from Reactive to Planned Asset Maintenance in One Simple Step
The Gruntify platform makes it easy to turn your reactive asset maintenance history into a predictive asset maintenance plan. Prevent known maintenance patterns from interrupting your services by scheduling maintenance before breaks have a chance to occur. Each new round of maintenance and the occasional reactive repair add to your Gruntify data, making the next predictive schedule even more accurate than the last. You’ll be providing your own business the same level of care and consideration that you have been giving your customers for years.
Ready to move your field service fleet from reactive to planned asset maintenance? So are we! Contact us today to get started with the Grunity management platform. We look forward to improving your workflow from beginning to end.
