November 2021
We recently caught up with George Galouzis of MP Commercial Refrigeration (Sydney) to discuss the case for preventative maintenance.
At FPG we believe that there is significant value in investing in preventative maintenance, one of the main benefits being to extend the life of equipment – whether refrigerated display cabinets or heated. After all, these cabinets are used every day in the process to generate revenue.
George, when you are discussing preventative maintenance with customers, what are the main reasons why organisations make this investment?
When discussing preventative maintenance with customers, I always reframe it as an investment in business continuity, optimal asset performance and longer-term cost avoidance. I emphasise the strategic use of preventative maintenance as a critical business tool, which can extend the life of assets, maintain productivity, and reduce the total cost of ownership of assets. Preventative maintenance also contributes to the quality of a customer’s store as it keeps assets looking vibrant, fresh and fully stocked, which in turn increases sales and customer confidence in produce quality.
I also focus on the environmental benefits offered by preventative maintenance and the role it plays in reducing direct and indirect emissions. Poorly maintained assets are both inefficient and produce higher emissions.
Is there any way to quantify savings made by doing preventative maintenance?
Data on similar unmaintained assets has been overlaid against data for maintained assets over the same period of time and the results are clear on the advantages, especially on the TCO (total cost of life) of the Asset. A comprehensive maintenance programme clearly reduces the number and severity of critical breakdowns. The only factor we cannot input is the loss of productivity and what impact this has on the individual business. Above the clear financial benefits, it is hard to quantify the cost of the loss of consumer confidence.
George, what are the most common issues that are addressed during preventative maintenance?
The most common issue addressed during preventative maintenance is keeping heat exchangers clean. The frequency of cleaning is really dependent on the environment in which the asset or system is located, which needs to be assessed when initially reviewing the site.
Something as small as a blocked condenser adds stress on all componentry including pipework and compressor/s and will lead to premature failure or inefficient operation.
Cleaning and flushing drainage and boil off trays and checking and cleaning grilles and air diffusion are also issues commonly addressed during preventative maintenance. This maintenance minimises the risk of water leakage on the floor of your busy café, which would obviously pose a safety risk. Water leaks can cause componentry failure and increase down time of assets.
The cleaning and lubrication of sliding door tracks is also commonly address during preventative maintenance. This ensures that the level of force required to operate a door is minimal, which reduces the stress on the handle and prevents premature failure and increased effort to operate.
It is also important that preventative maintenance focuses on system calibration to ensure product temperatures are compliant with all food safety guidelines. Along with a controls review, the electrical systems need to be reviewed and assessed.
Finally, preventative maintenance also includes an overall asset inspection by a professional technician to ensure minor issues are address before they turn into major issues. It is important to periodically review all assets in regards to their end of economic/serviceable life. You want to avoid the situation of overcapitalising on your assets and proactive measures should be in place to ensure clients are aware of what’s ahead.
We’re sure you have come across great examples of organisations maintaining their equipment well.
What are these companies doing right?
Yes, there are many examples of organisations maintaining their equipment well.
A great example is one of our major clients who is a large provider in the convenience sector. This client shares our philosophy on the importance of maintenance and they always take and consider technical advice in relation to preventative maintenance. They are also familiar with manufacturer and industry guidelines, which means they are well informed and proactive.
This client has always worked in collaboration with us to develop a program of maintenance that best meets their needs, and this ensures they derive the best performance from their assets.
This client invests in preventative maintenance to ensure their store assets are inviting to customers, provide the best representation of their quality product offerings, and enhance the customer experience by ensuring ease of use and quality appearance. In partnership with this client, we have proven that a comprehensive system of maintenance reduces the total cost of ownership, limits asset downtime, thereby keeping the asset productive and available to the franchisee.
Conversely some companies may under-maintain their equipment.
What are the consequences you have seen?
It can be tempting for companies to under-maintain assets in order to lower operating costs. However, this is really false saving and only delays expenditure because doing less now invariably means you’ll pay more later. Poorly maintained assets are more likely to break down and require costly emergency repairs. They also operate less efficiently, which increases the running costs.
The consequences of under-maintaining assets and equipment that I have seen include:
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INCREASE IN REPAIRS, WHICH COST MORE.
I have seen companies wait until something breaks down and then have to make a service call for repair, which costs more than a maintenance visit and requires a technician to spend longer at their site. When asset parts fail during normal operation, they usually damage other parts, which further increases the repair bill.
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INCREASE IN LARGER SCALE REPAIRS.
In my experience with companies that don’t maintain their assets, they often require more large-scale repairs. This is because regular preventative maintenance program ensures parts are replaced as needed, resulting in fewer large-scale repairs.
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INCREASE IN RUNNING COSTS OVER TIME.
One of the biggest consequences for companies that don’t maintain their equipment is the increase in operating costs. Poorly maintained assets don’t operate as efficiently, which results in increased power consumption and increased stress on auxiliary components. Companies may not notice this increased cost as a line item on a profit and loss account, but a 5% increase in energy consumption definitely takes its toll on your operating costs.
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REDUCTION IN EQUIPMENT LIFE.
Companies will get a lot more years of useful, productive running life from well-maintained equipment than you will from equipment that only gets serviced when it stops working.
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LOSS OF REVENUE.
Planned preventative maintenance programs are designed to avoid unplanned servicing. When equipment breaks, companies are not able to sell any of your refrigerated or frozen goods until the equipment is fixed.
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INCREASED EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
Preventative maintenance programs minimise the need for 24-hour emergency call outs. If equipment suddenly stops working, you know it will be fixed fast.
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PRODUCT SPOILAGE – It’s Murphy’s Law that equipment always breaks at the most inconvenient time.
If this happens to you at 5:00pm on Friday, a company needs to consider how long they will need to wait until it can be repaired, and how much food will need to be discarded because it hasn’t been stored at the right temperature.
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ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT.
In this environmentally aware time, we all need to do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint. Poorly maintained equipment can and does leak refrigerant, which is a CO2 emitting substance that has a serious and depleting effect on the environment.
George, thank you for sharing your experience with us on preventative maintenance. We would like to leave the last word to you. Is there anything else you would like to add?
I appreciate you giving me a platform to share my views on the importance of preventative maintenance and hope it has been useful in understanding the many benefits of maintaining assets.
Want to continue the discussion?
Please contact George Galouzis, MP Commercial Refrigeration Pty Ltd, Sydney:
P: (+61) 02 9604 9577
M: (+61) 0420 945 376
E: George [at] mpcommercial.com.au
W: www.mpcommercial.com.au