By Pedro Furtado, Projects Director at Efacec

In today’s context, purchasing a brand new car can be a costly affair as newer cars are equipped with more capabilities, fuel-efficiency enhancements, and safety features that can meet international regulations. With the inclusion of taxes and insurance fees, the cost of ownership increases even more considerably, so any new car owner would be motivated to look after their vehicle so as to minimise incurring additional costs.

The same can also be said about warehouses. Warehouses today play a pivotal role within supply chains, and the importance of warehousing in this competitive trading environment cannot be ignored. The storage ability of the warehouse enables manufacturers to achieve time utility, facilitates continued production even during less favourable seasons, and ensures safe custody of inventory. For these reasons and many more, it is imperative that warehouses remain in tip-top condition at all times to operate efficiently.

Why Not Maintenance for Automated Warehouses?

In general, warehouses are either manually operated or automated, and some are additionally equipped with climate-control features. The exact type of warehouse to be implemented depends on the nature of the industry. Given external factors such as rising labour costs, rapid technological advancements, and increasing global market demand, manufacturers are now more open to adopting warehouse automation technologies to drive a company toward greater productivity and profitability.

However, with automated warehouses, there are also additional considerations such as operation delays, rising cost of production (e.g. breakdown of older equipment), and inaccurate data. Going back to the car analogy, what can an owner do to ensure that his car continues to deliver high driving performance in years to come? The unanimous answer that any experienced technician would give is regular maintenance. It is every driver’s best defence against mechanical failure, prolonging driving performance and keeping repair costs low overtime.

In the same vein, maintenance is also an important consideration that manufacturing companies tend to overlook. Automated warehouses can be heavy investments that account for a large percentage of expenditure. So why do some manufacturers then fail to consider maintenance – especially when it is in the company’s best interest to take care of its automated warehouses?

From the Side-lines and into the Spotlight

As more manufacturers choose to upgrade existing warehouse structures to automated warehouses, maintenance quickly becomes an integral part of the warehouse business. With automation, maintenance is moving from the side-lines to play a more important role within the overall warehouse environment. Proper maintenance of the warehouse and its equipment is not just for the sake of productivity and safety, but it also impacts warehouse optimisation. This practice ensures that the warehouse continues to operate at its best capacity, allowing manufacturers to focus on production, while anticipating mishaps and delays. So why are companies still not placing enough importance into maintenance?

Out of the many reasons that may have deterred manufacturers from investing in maintenance, here are three pertinent challenges that most can resonate with: time, cost, as well as the lack of maintenance and management support.

Challenge #1: Time

“We cannot afford the downtime! Maintenance takes too long, and we have no time to waste.” These are some common excuses given by manufacturers who evade the topic of maintenance. All too often, maintenance is ignored at the expense of equipment integrity and safety. This is understandably so as warehouse equipment has been designed to operate for hours on end, even when activated 24/7/365. Manufacturers have become so used to the idea of continuous warehouse movement and on-going production that they assume that their business cannot afford the downtime, without considering the alternatives.

In actual fact, there are a few ways in which manufacturers can tackle time-constrained challenges. Companies can start by developing a maintenance plan, then committing warehouse operations to work around the maintenance schedule. By blocking out time periods for maintenance, warehouse operators do not have to compromise business productivity, but can instead plan to complete other activities during the intermission. Flexible maintenance solution is also a favourite with time-strapped companies as maintenance can be carried out during idle periods.

The Aisle Switching Crane solution is also gaining popularity, where manufacturers can cater for redundancy by employing more than one crane to combat production delay and unanticipated emergencies. With several cranes servicing an entire ASRS warehouse, crane maintenance can be conducted in series by moving each crane to the end of a track. Via the WMS, a simple instruction transmitted to the remaining cranes will keep the warehouse in operation.

Manufacturers who adopt the Straight Crane solution can also carry out their maintenance in intervals, one aisle at a time, freeing the other aisles up for continuous operations. As an additional operative measure, the WMS can also direct equal storage of products across the aisles, ensuring the accessibility of all products even during maintenance. These options demonstrate that business operations can remain uninterrupted during maintenance, and manufacturers are not rendered helpless when faced with time constraints.

Challenge #2: Cost

The cost of warehouse maintenance is frequently pitted against costs associated with the day-to-day operations of a business such as labour, rent, and utilities. Some manufacturers ignore maintenance in favour of redirecting efforts to managing business operations. Often, they lament about the increasing cost of maintenance and seek ways to cut the maintenance budget. By reducing warehouse and equipment maintenance to the minimum, and delaying preventive maintenance actions, companies create perceived cost-savings but also expose themselves to a cascade of extra costs in the long run.

Undeniably, warehouse equipment depreciates over the years, and with prolonged use, warehouse solutions can become more expensive to maintain. This makes it more pressing for manufacturers to understand the importance of identifying cost efficiency factors, so as to avoid ineffective managerial practices aimed at cutting corners, which may only result in short term gains at the expense of substantial long term cost reduction.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is an old management adage still relevant today – generally speaking, what gets measured gets done. Without measuring the cost and result that maintenance can bring, it can be difficult to inspire companies to take action as it is not clear where the budget goes to, or how maintenance has enhanced equipment performance. By tracking maintenance costs and benchmarking results, a company’s management team can quantify the benefits of maintenance, monitor equipment performance, and also identify areas that require immediate attention (e.g. replacing equipment, retrofitting structure, etc.).

Flexible maintenance solutions and staff maintenance training are also alternatives that manufacturers can explore to keep maintenance cost low. By arming employees with maintenance knowledge, companies can rely on their staff to detect areas requiring servicing before problems become more complex. Even for companies that have an in-house maintenance team, it is advisable to conduct one thorough maintenance check annually. Regardless of the option that manufacturers choose to take on, it is vital that companies factor in maintenance costs up front and not leave it as an optional investment when incorporating an automated solution. In doing so, companies can moderate unplanned downtime to a greater extent, leading to improved warehouse operations.

Challenge #3: Lack of Maintenance and Management Support

Lack of maintenance and management support is a challenge that is also tied to cost. Warehouse operators must get top management’s buy-in to obtain approval for maintenance activities. Without their support, there will be no budget for maintenance. Preventive maintenance ought to be part of an effective warehouse management program. It is essential for the management team to understand that planned maintenance is more effective and cost-efficient than reactive (or run-to-failure) maintenance in the long term.

Top management might find it difficult to value maintenance because it is a preventive cost. Comparatively, direct business responsibilities such as labour wages, overheads, and production costs can easily overshadow maintenance costs. The ambiguity of maintenance cost also presents a further challenge because without knowing the immediate payback of a maintenance initiative, upper management cannot recognise the value that maintenance provides. The management team must be convinced that preventive maintenance reduces the uncertainty of unplanned downtime and avoids the high costs of major unexpected failures.

Some ways to garner top management’s support is through providing objective information for their evaluation. This may include maintenance plans, pre- and post-maintenance performance reports, and even assessments from professional one-stop material handling solutions providers who can monetise the value of maintenance. Partnerships with such providers are also useful as they have no lack of examples of good maintenance results, which can go a long way in convincing top management.

Form Follows Function

The car analogy used earlier presents learning points that companies can take home. The high cost of car ownership is a major push factor for motorists to invest in routine maintenance. In turn, they are rewarded with intangible benefits such as superior driving performance, reduced rate of breakdown, and uncompromised car safety. Just as it does in a car, maintenance plays a role in how automated warehouses can operate effectively. A functioning warehouse reflects good form, and speaks volumes about how often the warehouse is maintained. Maintenance should thus not be seen as a liability, but as additional assurance that the warehouse is safer and easier to operate.

Putting maintenance activities in place extends the operative period of an automated warehouse, reduces downtime, and prevents accidents in the warehouse environment. While the above discussion merely scratches the surface, the challenges raised are distinct considerations that companies reflect on every day. In essence, companies that incorporate maintenance as part of a warehouse management programme will save time, money, and create a safer working environment.

With the increasing popularity of automated warehouses, some material handling solutions providers have started to include maintenance as part of a total sales package. To accommodate long-term budgeting purposes, providers are also offering comprehensive maintenance in the form of five-year contracts these days, allowing manufacturers to lock in prices. Companies can also initiate incorporating a scheduled maintenance agreement into their warehouse solutions purchases, so as to keep their warehouses working in optimal conditions. Manufacturers who want to take it one step further can consider working with their warehouse providers to support maintenance activities as a long-term partner

EFACEC is the biggest electrical and electromechanical engineering group in Portugal, and has interests and activities in several fields of technology, namely Energy Transmission and Distribution, Transport, Logistics, Electronic Systems, Information Management and Telecommunication Systems.

Within the EFACEC Group of companies, Efacec Singapore (Part of Efacec Handling Solutions) is the leading supplier of Automated Material Handling Solutions. The company has more than 30 years experience in Automated Material Handling, with a special focus on Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Conveyor Solutions as well as Baggage & Cargo Handling Systems.