Forklifts and other powered industrial trucks are the backbone of warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing operations, making preventative maintenance crucial to avoid costly downtime and ensure smooth operations. But what is preventative maintenance and what are some actual strategies companies can use to make forklifts, forklift batteries, and other material handling and manufacturing equipment last longer?
Continue reading to learn what preventative maintenance is and why it’s such an important focus area for companies running their own distribution centers, fulfillment centers, and/or manufacturing facilities.
What is Preventative Maintenance?
Preventative maintenance refers to regular, proactive maintenance of equipment and machinery, including forklifts, to prevent unexpected breakdowns and extend their lifespan. It’s the opposite of corrective maintenance, or CM, which is when maintenance technicians must fix equipment once it’s stopped working properly, or when it’s failed completely. Preventative maintenance involves regular inspections, servicing, and repairs based on usage patterns, manufacturer recommendations, and data-driven insights. The goal of preventative maintenance is to identify and address potential issues before they lead to costly failures or downtime.
Why is Preventative Maintenance Important?
There are several benefits of preventive maintenance. Preventative maintenance:
1. Reduces Downtime: Equipment downtime can be costly. According to a study by the Aberdeen Group, unplanned downtime can cost companies as much as $260,000 per hour. Preventative maintenance helps minimize these occurrences by addressing issues before they escalate.
2. Increases Equipment Lifespan: Regular maintenance can extend the life of machinery. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that preventative maintenance can increase equipment lifespan by 20-30%. This means with preventative maintenance, forklifts, forklift batteries, and other warehouse equipment can operate efficiently for longer periods, reducing the need for costly replacements.
3. Improves Safety: Forklifts are involved in approximately 85 fatal accidents each year in the U.S. alone, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), not including less serious accidents that cost employees and companies time and money. Preventative maintenance ensures that forklifts, forklift batteries, forklift chargers, and other equipment are functioning correctly, reducing the risk of accidents due to mechanical failures.
4. Drives Cost Savings: According to a study by Plant Engineering, for every dollar spent on preventative maintenance, companies can save an average of $5 on future repair costs. While preventative maintenance involves upfront costs, it ultimately saves money by avoiding expensive emergency repairs.
5. Optimizes Efficiency: Well-maintained equipment operates more efficiently, leading to increased productivity. The same Aberdeen Group study found that companies with a robust preventative maintenance program experienced a 30-40% reduction in downtime, significantly boosting overall operational efficiency.
6. Reduces Energy Consumption and Increases Sustainability: Well-maintained equipment is also more energy efficient, key for companies of all types of and sizes. For companies with cold storage facilities, any improvement to optimize energy costs can save millions of dollars. For all companies, preventative maintenance increases sustainability by reducing scope 3 emissions. When equipment longevity increases, companies buy less new equipment which reduces scope 3 emissions. In addition, with preventative maintenance any decreases in efficiency seen in forklifts, forklift batteries, and forklift chargers can be acted on right away so equipment stays performing at the highest possible level.
By investing in preventative maintenance, companies can protect their assets, improve safety, enhance operational efficiency, and increase sustainability, making it a critical aspect of modern logistics and warehouse management.
Top 5 Preventative Maintenance Trends
Preventative maintenance isn’t new. In fact, like wireless charging it’s been used for more than a hundred years to help businesses run as efficiently as possible. However, there are some newer advancements and technologies affecting how companies maintain equipment, enabling more insight into potential issues and faster response times when they’re identified. Five of these preventative maintenance trends are:
1. Predictive Maintenance with IoT and AI
- Trend: The continued use and evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, are helping companies to anticipate issues before they cause operational disruptions. Both hardware features like sensors and software capabilities are now highly effective at identifying potential issues with equipment, as well as helping companies optimize workflows for the greatest operational impact.
- Companies like Toyota Material Handling and Hyster-Yale offer advanced solutions for forklift fleets. For instance, Toyota's T-Matics platform collects real-time data from forklifts, allowing managers to predict when critical components, such as hydraulic systems or batteries, might fail, and implement changes or fixes before complete failures occur and disrupt operations. Another example is Hyster-Yale’s telemetry system that has helped companies like PepsiCo monitor their forklift fleets more effectively, reducing unexpected breakdowns by analyzing real-time performance data.
- Similarly, Resonant Link’s automated wireless forklift chargers monitor forklift battery and charger health in real-time, detecting potential issues right away and flagging them for maintenance technicians to look into. Another capability that’s proven essential to forklift fleets is remote diagnostics. Resonant Link can identify and diagnose many potential issues remotely, before companies need to call technicians or costly specialists on site to investigate them. This is another way preventative maintenance technology can reduce costs.
2. Telematics Integration
- Trend: Telematics systems have increasingly been integrated into forklift operations, providing insights into usage patterns, operator behavior, and equipment health.
- Crown Equipment Corporation and Raymond Corporation offer telematics solutions that allow warehouse managers to monitor key metrics like lift usage and battery health. Crown's InfoLink system, for example, tracks forklift usage and maintenance needs, helping to optimize service intervals. Raymond's iWAREHOUSE telematics solution, which has been adopted by Walmart, enables better tracking of forklift performance and more effective maintenance scheduling across Walmart’s distribution centers. This way, resources can be effectively deployed and potential issues can be identified and resolved right away.
3. Sustainability and Green Maintenance Practices
- Trend: Over the past decade, sustainability has become a major focus in forklift maintenance, with most companies transitioning largely or fully to electric forklifts and adopting eco-friendly maintenance practices. Because companies like Jungheinrich and Mitsubishi Logisnext provide electric forklifts that require specialized maintenance for battery management and electric drive systems, they offer increased services to customers like the use of eco-friendly lubricants and parts as part of their service offerings.
- As one example, when Nestlé and Jungheinrich partnered together to electrify their forklift fleet, they also implemented green maintenance practices to reduce their carbon footprint and improve operational efficiency.
4. Data-Driven Maintenance Scheduling
- Trend: Logistics leaders are now leveraging data to optimize forklift maintenance schedules; to know what equipment needs to be maintained and when, based on several factors.
- Companies like MaintainX analyze equipment data to predict the best times for maintenance, and identify potential issues, minimizing disruptions to operations. Companies like ABInBev and DHL use MaintainX to plan and schedule maintenance to keep equipment running in the best condition possible and resolve issues before they result in unplanned downtime.
5. Mobile Management and Maintenance Solutions
- Trend: Mobile forklift fleet management and maintenance services are becoming more common, allowing companies to do everything from controlling who can operate certain equipment to sending technicians to perform maintenance and repairs directly on-site.
- Companies like ELOKON provide mobile services tailored to forklifts, ensuring that facility and warehouse managers can build capabilities they, and their operators need, directly into their equipment and operations. For preventative maintenance needs, this means repairs can be done quickly and without the need for the equipment to leave the warehouse. These services often include on-the-spot diagnostics, repairs, and routine maintenance. Another example of mobile fleet management is Amazon’s partnership with Amerit Fleet Solutions to ensure their electric vehicle fleets are always operational, significantly reducing downtime in and outside of their warehouses.
These trends highlight the importance of staying ahead in forklift maintenance through the use of advanced technology, sustainability practices, and efficient service models. By adopting these strategies, companies can improve their warehouse, manufacturing, and logistics operations, reducing costs and maintaining a competitive edge.
To build preventative maintenance into your forklift charging workflows, use Resonant Link's real-time power and energy management software. It'll tell you when there's something you need to be aware of, like a battery that's taking longer than expected to charge. Get peace of mind knowing your equipment health is being monitored. Contact us today to learn more.
