COVID-19 hit us at an unexpected time and how long this impact is going to last is still unknown to many. The US economy is undergoing a recession and this is going to impact the Apparel Manufacturers all over the world including Sri Lanka. Other than a few, most Sri Lankan manufacturers cannot expect an immediate recovery of orders from their customers in US and UK. Everyone now has to face the situation at hand and adjust budgets by reducing spending and cutting costs wherever possible.

Organizations are now reviewing the entire infrastructure and looking for corners to cut. Regardless of the machines current running capacity, many may take decisions to bypass some scheduled maintenance activities to compromise on costs.

Why equipment maintenance cost should not be compromised when looking at possible savings?

The main reason for investing in expensive machinery is to increase the quality and reliability of the end product. Also such an investment is aligned with achieving KPIs such as near-zero unplanned downtime, increase in productivity, efficiency and quality. In order to maintain the same standard of quality in the end product, while achieving the KPIs, the machinery have to undergo regular maintenance activities.

Regular maintenance activities include; undergoing the recommended services of machinery in a timely manner, replacement of wearable and consumable parts after the set number of hours or based on usage and etc. Before COVID-19, most machinery were running at their maximum capacity. Hence the regular services may have been missed or . Therefore this is the ideal time for you to refocus and have your machinery serviced so that they are in prime operating condition when the new orders are received.

Similar to how there are regular service activities, there are also wearable parts in machinery which needs to be replaced from time to time. With the current crisis manufacturers tend to look for the low cost items when it comes to wearable parts. However using low quality wearable parts may result in much costlier outcomes. It’s a matter of cost effective parts vs the cheapest option. The short term gains vs the repercussions on the long term (or the near future).

Original parts manufactured by the machinery manufacturers are tested for quality and durability. Also these parts are made to maintain the quality and guarantee given by the machinery manufacturers along with the ability to operate at optimum capacity. Using counterfeit products may result in;

  • Under-performance
  • Wear and tear resulting in failures of valuable parts
  • Output quality issues

Though it might provide you with a short term gain, at the end you may lose more money in production and quality issues which could tarnish your brand name as well.

The best way to make sure that you are receiving the optimum results from the investment you have made is to make sure you do regular maintenance activities. Only purchase original spares and wearable parts, made from the machinery suppliers.  Regardless of the ongoing situation, your most prized assets needs to be properly cared for, in order to ensure that you receive the maximum returns for your investment.