Nine Ways to Better Maintain Your Machines.

Maintaining your equipment and building a machine that will limit your need for services calls is essential to protecting your investment and achieving production goals. Developing and following a service and maintenance program is important. 

Below, the VC999 equipment service team has outline 9 key steps to consider when building your next packaging machine.

1. Invest in a quality machine. Whether you choose a VC999 packaging machine or another brand, it is important to determine your long range plans to ensure your machine will have the flexibility to grow with you. Make sure the machine you purchase is easy to operate, clean and maintain. Often services calls are from employees trying to make a machine do something that it was not design to accomplish.
2. Request “off the shelf ” parts. As you are working with your equipment supplier to design and build your machine, make sure that you request they use “off the shelf ” parts. These are industry standard parts that are both easy to access and affordable. Unique parts may only be available by the manufacturer and can be very expensive.
3. Assign a maintenance manager to develop a regular service schedule. This manager should design a schedule that defines the maintenance needs and cleaning for each machines, a scheduled down-time for each machines based on production and be trained to conduct or oversee the servicing.
4. To comply with strict food safety regulations, machines must be sanitized in accordance to USDA requirements. Sanitizing of each machine must be done with the right cleaning and disinfection solutions and protocol. Washing down each machine after sanitizing also needs to be done with care. Too much water can damage a machine.
5. Maintain a basic parts inventory. Have your maintenance manager assemble a basic parts inventory for each machine. This does not have to be a big investment, nor does it require a large amount of space to house parts. Your VC999 Services Team can help you determine parts that should be in inventory.
6. In order for your internal service team to properly maintain your equipment it is important that they receive proper training. Both on-site and in-factory training is recommended to ensure your team has a complete understanding of how to maintain your investment.
7. Regular machine inspections allow for a visual monitoring of normal wear-and-tear. As a part of your daily maintenance schedule, your maintenance manager should conduct a visual inspection of key performance areas of your machines. The VC999 Service Team can help you develop a basic check list.
8. Do not cheat on parts. Making a part fit in a place it was not designed for can lead to machine failure and expensive down time. Contact your service team and order the original part and find out where the correct part can be purchased in your market area.
9. Follow the recommended maintenance schedule provided by the manufacturer. VC999 provide all customers with a carefully detailed service schedule that will help to ensure the health and longevity of your machines.