Stuff happens. Downtime will occur at some point or another. But downtime doesn’t have to bring business to a screeching halt. Not if you’re prepared.
As the person who is supposed to ensure everything runs smoothly, the onus is on you to get everything back up quickly. You don’t want that intense tap on your shoulder and that look of unhappiness on a superior’s face because business has stopped. If you’ve got a plan in place for these times, you’ll be the hero of the day, facing the pressures of downtime with ease and efficiency because you were prepared well in advance.
Get going now on preventative measures to take control during downtime and reduce the loss of productivity.
START WITH REVIEWING YOUR ASSESSMENT
Your assessment should have included key things such as:
- Identifying your processes
- Reading SOPs
- Checking equipment and software
- Identifying risks
- Inventorying your assets
All the information you collected in assessing these various parts and pieces of your equipment and processes act as the framework for your plan.
CREATE THE PLAN
For each process or equipment, develop your plan for what you need to do when that machine goes down or that process stops working (for one reason or another). This checklist of actionable steps is what you’ll do before calling a service provider. Have your checklist cover the main Ws: who, what, when, where.
- What will I do first? What will I do next? Etc.
- Where else should I check? Where are the other parts or backups?
- When will I determine I need to call out for service? When do I notify my superiors?
- Who will I tag to assist? Who is the best service provider to reach out to for this problem?
Remember that all these questions and answers build towards the ‘how.’ HOW will I get this machine or process back up and running as quickly as possible? After you’ve created the plan, get someone to give it a second eye to make sure it’s comprehensive and understandable no matter who is reading it. Next, decide where you’ll keep the plan. Then determine how you want to communicate to your team where this plan lives and its purpose.
CROSS REFERENCE YOUR MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS
While you are creating you plan, refer to your equipment’s maintenance agreements, and highlight them for key items that may be relevant to include. For example, there may be some parts that are not covered in your maintenance agreement, so do you have additional parts in stock? If not, now is the time to get them.
Again, being prepared for any possibility. You don’t want to be amid downtime, trying to get a provider on the phone to cover a part that your maintenance agreement doesn’t cover and only knowing about it in that moment. So, take the time to review your agreements now and incorporate those items you discover into your checklist. Then, depending on what they are, get prepared. Using the same example from above, if you need spare parts on hand because the maintenance agreement isn’t going to cover them in a pinch, get them before the pinch really happens. Refer to the provider themselves if you have a question about something in the maintenance agreement that could inform your action plan.
The biggest thing is not leaving anything to chance. Be proactive. When downtime occurs, you’ll be prepared to act quickly rather than wasting time determining what to do.
So, have that plan ready to go before something happens. Don’t wait until something breaks or goes offline. And if you are lacking confidence about doing this yourself, seek the assistance of a certified service provider. Some might even come on site to provide recommendations that will then inform your plan. We provide this very service. So, if you want to quick start your downtime management plan contact us. 
