Equipment failure can lead to some significant costs for your business. When manufacturing
equipment fails, you experience downtime; this leads to lost revenue, lost customers, and lost opportunities. In fact, the true cost of downtime can be much more than you expect, as it involves a multitude of different factors.
The Costs Associated With Downtime
Downtime that occurs suddenly can lead to unfulfilled orders, gaps in inventory, and ultimately unsatisfied customers. Customers who aren’t able to rely upon your business aren’t likely to come back, and the costs associated with acquiring a customer are far greater than the costs of retaining customers from your existing customer base.
During downtime:
- You may need to source parts or labor on an emergency basis, which will lead to spending more than necessary on the repairs.
- You may not be able to fulfill orders, leading to a loss of opportunity. Without revenue during that time, you may find it difficult to recover.
- You may experience permanent damage to your reputation. If your customers cannot get what they need from you, they may look to you less often.
Luckily, there are many things that you can do to mitigate these damages — you just need to prepare ahead of time.
Preventing Equipment Failure
Scheduled maintenance and rigorous monitoring are essential for preventing
equipment failure. As long as the business processes allow for a maintenance schedule, it will be more likely that any real issue with equipment will be noticed before it becomes a problem.
Most items of
critical equipment will have a rough schedule regarding when elements need to be replaced. Though the machine may last decades, internal components could be rated for as little as months. These components need to be replaced on time as part of scheduled maintenance to avoid unanticipated issues.
Dealing With Unplanned Downtime
What happens when equipment breaks down? Even with scheduled maintenance in place, an unplanned breakdown can still happen. Sometimes parts will be faulty or there may just be an error with the equipment.
Equipment loans and equipment lines of credit can make it easier for you to
get the equipment you need quickly. This preserves your revenue source, allowing you to both pay back the loan itself quickly and continue to make money. Financing equipment means that you won’t have to reduce your company’s production, which could lead to a loss of customers and the need to rebuild your customer base.
Emergencies happen. Running a business is often about reducing your risk and making plans to mitigate your issues in advance. By maintaining your equipment properly and having a plan in place to deal with business emergencies as they arise, you can continue your operations. Contact us at
MY Company Funding for more information about getting the flexibility you need.
