Rohit Prakash is co-founder and CEO of Coast, a leading CMMS software designed to help businesses manage maintenance their way.
The challenges facing the manufacturing industry have only continued to grow since the U.S. administration announced 10% tariffs on all imports to the U.S. This announcement forced many manufacturers to consider new suppliers, only adding to the industry’s supply chain issues, which also include things like labor shortages and operational costs.
For an industry that accounts for about 10% of the U.S. GDP, to the tune of $2.3 trillion, it’s safe to say that streamlining operational workflows will be paramount in the coming months and years. While maintenance software isn’t necessarily a cure-all, it’s an extremely useful tool that can help make manufacturing operations more efficient overall.
Let’s take a look at how maintenance software addresses the five biggest challenges currently facing the industry.
1. Inventory Management
Even before the announcement of tariffs, nearly 40% of manufacturers reported supply chain issues as a top concern in a 2023 survey from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Of course, manufacturers depend on suppliers for everything from raw materials used to create goods to the spare parts needed to keep production running.
So, just because a manufacturer gets raw materials from an American brand doesn’t mean their spare parts inventory isn’t dependent on foreign suppliers. And let’s not forget that supply delivery times never recovered after the pandemic. As of October 2024, the average delivery time is 81 days, which represents a 2% year-over-year decline.
Needless to say, maintaining optimal inventory levels will become more crucial to avoid overstocking or understocking supplies. Maintenance software can help by allowing users to set minimum quantity thresholds for any supply needed and then by sending automated alerts when that threshold is reached. Another key benefit of maintenance software is its ability to create unique barcodes that can be applied to parts and assets for easy access to information.
2. Operational Costs
Of course, inflation has made supplies more expensive for manufacturers, but operational costs also continue to increase. These expenses include rent, utilities, labor and, of course, asset and facility maintenance. In fact, equipment maintenance alone accounts for about 10% of a manufacturer’s annual operating budget.
Using maintenance software to effectively plan and track maintenance management strategies can help reduce these costs by decreasing equipment downtime, extending equipment lifespans and making equipment and facilities more energy-efficient. For instance, reports show that preventive maintenance strategies have a 12% to 18% cost savings over reactive maintenance (letting equipment run until it fails).
According to the same course, predictive maintenance strategies provide an additional 8% to 12% cost savings over preventive maintenance. While upfront costs of the IoT sensors required for predictive maintenance tend to deter people, the savings on maintenance costs over time typically far outweigh them.
3. Labor Shortages
A 2024 report from Deloitte highlighted that about half (1.9 million) of manufacturing jobs could be vacant by 2033. When it comes to maintenance professionals specifically, a 2023 Plant Engineering survey showed the average age to be 54, with only 16% younger than 40.
As older generations retire, fewer young people are lining up to take their place. This means that not only will there be less people willing to take on manufacturing and maintenance roles, but there will also be fewer workers with the necessary skills to maintain industrial machinery. So, it’s no surprise that a whopping 72% of respondents of the same 2023 NAM survey reported that retaining a quality workforce was their top challenge.
Integrating maintenance software into your workflow can not only make you competitive amongst other manufacturers, but also help you attract top talent in the field. It shows you’re serious about the future and will provide young employees with the skills they’ll need as the industry evolves.
Beyond attracting top talent, upskilling the current workforce through training and detailed manuals can also help ease the labor-shortage burden. Maintenance software can provide a central location for you to store procedural documents and other training materials that employees can access from a mobile device to get up to speed on how your plant operations work.
4. Implementing New Systems
While the Industry 4.0 shift is certainly top of mind for manufacturers, the reality of successfully implementing new technologies is oftentimes easier said than done. That’s because some require manufacturers to make upfront costs, conduct extensive training and even completely change its company-wide culture. Introducing new systems to a team that’s reluctant to adopt these technologies will never work.
Luckily for manufacturers, most maintenance software is easy to use and highly mobile. That means even the least tech-savvy team member can access work orders on their mobile device in the same way they’d pull up an app on their phone. Plus, the more adaptable the software, the more you can set up your system to match your internal processes.
5. Ability To Grow
Scaling a manufacturing business can be difficult, especially given all the challenges already mentioned. But without growth, you also face the risk of missed opportunities or, even worse, market oversaturation.
So, when and how do you scale your business? Data will be the ultimate indicator, which is why setting and tracking significant key performance indicators for your manufacturing operations is key. Let’s say you realize that unplanned equipment downtime costs your company $20,000 a month. That’s $240,000 a year that could be used toward investing in your business. A maintenance software gives clear reporting related to equipment downtime, so you can get a better idea of which pieces of equipment fail the most, the time it takes to fix them and how much this is costing your bottom line.
Yes, the manufacturing industry will always have its challenges, but future-proofing your company with the latest advancements in maintenance software and other technologies is your best bet in not only surviving but thriving in this ever-changing business environment.
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