With today’s smartphones, making a decent quality video is easy to do. You can use videos to improve maintenance functions in many ways. Here are six functions to consider:
- Training. In many companies, it’s very difficult to get the time needed for off-site training. The money is often a problem, too. And you might not need the full course. Contact a provider about creating custom content that is specific to your needs. For OJT, you can have your more seasoned techs video how they do things and have the less experienced ones watch the videos. With today’s large screen smart phones, movies look pretty good in full screen mode. A short clip is not a problem to watch.
- Warrantees. You can use video to document “as installed” on new equipment. What would happen if you sent this to the manufacturer for review and specifically asked them to note anything that might impair your warranty? If there’s a problem, they will want to tell you right away (among other reasons, to not have a warranty claim later). That means you don’t have the downtime, either. Of course, you can’t do that for everything you install and wouldn’t want to if you could. But if done in a smart way, it can pay big dividends.
- Fixing. A critical machine goes down and troubleshooting is beyond the abilities of your maintenance team due to the specific knowledge required. So, you call the manufacturer. They fly a tech out the next day. This old school process is costly, and there’s much delay built into it. Use a video app to put their tech in your plant. If background noise makes communicating with the tech difficult, a Bluetooth headset might be the answer. Or a second phone at each end for texting. Worst case, the tech still flies out the next day but in the meantime the top experts at the company can all watch that video.
- Inspecting. Your plant’s insurer requires certain kinds of inspections, for example fire suppression systems and even portable extinguishers must be checked at X intervals. Filling out the paper tag is fine, but why not make videos and keep them off site for easy retrieval after a fire? Making videos of other kinds of inspections is also good, especially if those involve using any kind of camera such as an endoscope. Create a monthly PM that has a qualified person inspecting a specific area for NEC violations (and documenting those on video while also saying what needs to be done). The material for a work order is right there,
- Establishing. Look at who signed off on your last few capital requests. Then make a video showing the wisdom of their decision. For example, “Here’s what we found using that power analyzer you approved. Notice the blackened areas here. We intervened in time to save $300,000 of downtime and about $11,000 in repairs. The analyzer cost $4,500.” You are establishing yourself as someone whose judgment they can trust. The next time you send each of those people a capital request and they see your name, what do you think they will be inclined to do? If you can’t text the video to them, use any of the free online filesharing apps and send them the link. Or mail a flash drive to them.
- Buying. Capital requests often fail because the person writing it lacks writing chops, and they can’t quite get the finance exec to picture in his mind the consequences of (for example) a failed feeder cable. In fact, he has to ask someone what a feeder cable is and then nod politely as if he understands the answer. You can use videos to show damaged equipment while having a operations supervisor comment on how much revenue was lost because of it. The finance guy does not have to ask anyone the meaning of lost revenue. The video bridges the gap between those undesired numbers and the physical problems that brought them about. A short video showing how you would use the power analyzer to prevent a recurrence should help seal the deal.
