Reducing Machine Downtime by Using UpKeep CMMS and Lean Practices for Preventative Maintenance
Manufacturing precision parts requires keeping equipment in optimal condition to achieve tight tolerances and ensure smooth production with maximum uptime. This means we must know when a piece of equipment needs maintenance and what procedures to follow to service it properly. Without the right information and proper maintenance procedures in place, a machine could go down, costing us valuable production time—and worse, causing delays for our customers.
That’s why, at Athena Manufacturing, we use UpKeep, a computerized maintenance monitoring system (CMMS), to ensure our team knows when preventative maintenance needs to be performed and what materials are required. UpKeep is critical to providing us with the information we need to keep our machines in peak operational condition.
Before UpKeep: Inefficient and Ineffective Legacy Processes
Before rolling out UpKeep to streamline our preventative maintenance process, we relied on Excel spreadsheets at each work cell terminal to manage maintenance. This system was clunky and inconsistent, and made it difficult to keep up with routine tasks and track equipment maintenance needs effectively.
Though we had basic daily and weekly schedules, quarterly and annual maintenance often required manual reminders or had to be outsourced to third-party companies. Not only was this an inefficient process, but it was unreliable.
While we maintained contracts with OEMs to perform maintenance on our critical pieces of volume manufacturing equipment, finding a more effective method to ensure regular preventative maintenance on the rest of our machines quickly became a top priority.
That’s when we discovered UpKeep.
Using UpKeep to Reduce Machine Downtime by 25%
Now that we’ve implemented UpKeep, we've integrated every machine in our Texas contract manufacturing facility into the platform—110 pieces of equipment and counting. This required inputting information from every machine manual into the system and building out detailed maintenance schedules for each piece of equipment—upfront work that was well worth the effort.
Now, UpKeep automatically triggers scheduled maintenance tasks—like filter changes, oil checks, and lubrication—so nothing gets missed. Additionally, since UpKeep informs us of when all maintenance activities will occur, we can plan ahead and be certain we're always stocked with the right maintenance items to perform tasks when they should be done.
As a result, we've seen a 25% reduction in equipment downtime—a major improvement that keeps production on schedule so that our customers always receive their parts on time.
Our Equipment Maintenance Routine at Athena Manufacturing
Each of our 110 pieces of equipment—from CNC machines to precision fabrication equipment —has its own tailored maintenance plan. Our dedicated team of five technicians works daily to keep our machines running smoothly, ensuring maximum uptime across the shop floor.
To deliver reliable precision machining and manufacturing services, our technicians perform daily checks on hydraulic fluids, lube oils, way oils, and coolant concentrations, and clean the machines to remove all stray chips. Additionally, we change all of the oil filters on a weekly basis to ensure consistent performance.
Beyond this weekly preventative maintenance routine, we also have a full-time Maintenance Engineer with extensive training on three major equipment brands—Fanuc, Makino, and Okuma. This allows us to manage more complex repairs and overhauls in-house, minimizing downtime and keeping production on track, even when unexpected issues arise.
Leveraging Lean Practices for Correct and Consistent Preventative Maintenance
While UpKeep provides us with the information we need regarding when to perform maintenance and what materials are required, our Lean practices ensure it’s done correctly. We hold weekly meetings to create Kanban boards and operation and maintenance (OMS) procedures in GembaDocs, ensuring we’re aligned on daily, weekly, and quarterly tasks.
We've developed detailed SOPs and step-by-step how-to guides for each maintenance task, ensuring our team performs each job the right way, every time. To further standardize our processes, one of our maintenance technicians has created instructional videos demonstrating how to properly clean each machine, providing everyone with a clear understanding of the process and what “good” looks like in practice.
Using Kamishibai Boards for Streamlined Maintenance Oversight
Previously, maintenance management required time-consuming daily inspections of each machine, which took up a significant amount of time. However, since adopting Lean practices and implementing shop-facing Kamishibai boards, we've dramatically improved maintenance efficiency and visibility. As tasks are completed, cards on the boards flip from red to green, giving our maintenance supervisor a quick, at-a-glance view of which machines have been serviced.
This simple but powerful visual system not only saves hours of labor each week but also increases accountability and consistency, ensuring nothing gets overlooked and reinforcing a culture of ownership across our team.
Driving Down Lead Times With Greater Machine Uptime
At Athena Manufacturing, preventative maintenance isn’t just about keeping our machines in optimal condition; it’s about ensuring we can deliver high-quality parts on time, every time. With a preventative maintenance CMMS like UpKeep, combined with maintenance processes guided by Lean principles, we’ve reduced machine downtime and lead times to deliver even more reliable contract manufacturing services for our customers.
If you need a contract manufacturing partner who takes equipment reliability seriously and is committed to always getting you your parts on schedule, as promised, reach out and request a quote today.