Unexpected production downtime can cause a ripple effect of problems through your business.

Whether it’s the result of machinery faults, staff absence or stock shortages, it’s disruptive and costly. UK manufacturers are battling 20 hours of downtime in an average week, costing £100,000. Not only does this lead to delays, missed deadlines and customer dissatisfaction, it also means your margins get even tighter because you’re still paying staff wages, energy and inventory costs.

Planned downtime, on the other hand, allows you to service and repair equipment without disrupting your production schedule. Too much unplanned downtime is normally a sign that your processes haven’t been optimised: if you’re relying on manual methods, like spreadsheets, it’s difficult to proactively maintain equipment because you’re always on the back foot.

That’s why growing numbers of manufacturers are implementing a cloud-based ERP to provide a complete oversight of production and maintenance. ECI’s Ridder iQ offers insights into equipment condition to help you schedule maintenance, and live data to help you investigate – and prevent – bottlenecks.

Five ways an ERP can cut downtime

Planning maintenance

By offering machine services, checks and repairs, you can cut out the risk of equipment suddenly breaking down and ensure it’s working to its full potential. Ridder iQ offers a service and maintenance module, so you can track and plan services outside of the production like repairs or diagnostics. Details of any machines you use sit in the module and can be maintained with contracts. Machine builders can also improve revenue by offering these additional services and deploying employees in the field.

Manufacturers can also capture the as-built BOM, so any parts/components and changes to production are recorded in the service module. This ensures traceability and can streamline any future repairs/replacements. Once the product has been delivered, it goes into the as-maintained BOM to help engineers track any services, repairs and upgrades. Your technicians are able to access a service app to help manage maintenance and bookings. The app can be used remotely with details like travel hours, service hours and materials easily recorded.

Another option is to use this module to service your own machines, and keep a record of where equipment was purchased and details like warranty, meter readings, maintenance technicians and more.

Real-time monitoring

ERP software helps with monitoring too. It allows you to maintain a record of dates and intervals of a service that a machine needs. This can help to prevent expensive and stressful emergency repairs.

Production oversight

An ERP centralises your production processes into a single system, so you’ll have a complete picture of it. Data can be analysed to identify bottlenecks and prevent them from causing downtime. You’ll also be able to plan maintenance around production to reduce disruptions and everything on track. With Ridder iQ, you’re able to set maintenance reminders and checks to be completed during these quieter periods.

Tracking maintenance records

A modern ERP makes it easy to keep a record of maintenance history, repair logs and performance data. From there, the relevant teams can access it when needed for warranty and services, as well as for reporting and audits. Ridder iQ enables you to review repairs and identity patterns/issues. For example, when you use the quality control module, you can look for patterns in your production data, including persistent problems, and see whether they’re caused by problems with the machinery. With document management, you can ensure any receipts or reports are held securely and because it’s cloud-based, there’s disaster recovery so they’ll never be lost. Any changes or additions are tracked to help you keep an audit trail and maintain accountability.

Integrated with industry 4.0 tech

While smaller manufacturers may not yet be ready to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) or (IoT) for predictive maintenance, an ERP is the first step to automating and digitising processes. Any machines that you manufacture and deliver can also be maintained remotely, including diagnostics, to ensure that your customers get a better service and improve trust in your company. In the near-future, any data collected from IoT sensors can be stored in it helping you make predictions or alerting you to any problems, while AI can be integrated to analyse data and make predictions.

ECI’s Ridder iQ is essential to reducing production downtime – both planned and unplanned. It helps manufacturers of all sizes manage and schedule maintenance to prevent costly and disruptive machine breakdowns, while providing crucial insights into equipment condition so that you’re always one step ahead.