Is the socialization of factory equipment maintenance a trend?
Thread Content
Strengthening the management of equipment operation and maintenance, improving the productivity of equipment in the production process, and reducing maintenance costs are key priorities for chemical enterprises. In particular, periodic major overhauls of facilities are crucial for addressing equipment defects. However, for various reasons such as the overall environment, the level of corporate management, the basic conditions of the enterprise, and talent issues, it was found that reducing costs and increasing efficiency through equipment management and maintenance yielded little result; on the contrary, it created an even greater burden. What causes it?
(1) **There is now a greater emphasis on energy conservation and environmental protection, as well as on protecting employees’ rights. Yet labor costs, energy consumption costs, and equipment operation costs have not decreased at all; instead, they have risen significantly. (2) Modern industrial production methods are becoming increasingly automated and intelligent, featuring long-process one-stop production. Hengyi Group has proposed a turnkey production approach: crude oil is fed in, and fibers are produced as the output. Equipment is becoming increasingly advanced: its functions are more integrated, combining high speed, high pressure, and high temperature. The skills required of maintenance personnel, as well as the spare parts, maintenance equipment, and tools needed, are also becoming more sophisticated and specialized. Many companies are unable to afford maintenance staff, the necessary tools, or the spare parts; moreover, the time required for emergency purchases is too long, resulting in half or even more of the maintenance tasks not being carried out. This situation has become normal in many chemical manufacturing enterprises. Since it’s difficult to manage things well inside the factory and the costs are high, it’s better to find someone who can do the job well. As a result, the need for outsourcing services arose, and a large number of professional repair teams offering integrated services came into existence.
In this case, what is the purpose of factory equipment management? The following tasks are essential to carry out: 1. Routine inspections, 2. Emergency repairs, 3. Overall management of equipment status (including equipment records), 4. Management of repair budgets and costs, 5. Formulation of maintenance plans, 6. Equipment renovation and upgrading, 7. Procurement of spare parts and acquisition of equipment. In short, it is the social cooperation company (the maintenance company) that does the actual work, while those in charge of managing finances and operations are the equipment managers within the factory. This is also the difference between an equipment manager at home and a repair company outside.
Social division of labor and specialized development are trends, but there is a gradual process involved.
It’s actually a kind of inevitability as well; for example, major repairs are carried out every 2 years, and there are many types of specialized equipment that cannot be handled in-house, so outsourcing is necessary. If one does not want to outsource, purchasing the necessary maintenance equipment and acquiring the skills to carry out maintenance work makes it difficult to make full use of its value on a regular basis. This change also imposes new requirements on the plant’s operations and maintenance department: it must be able to manage these specialized subcontractors effectively, while also obtaining as much information as possible from them regarding the maintenance of its own equipment.
Factories have also started to make use of temporary workers