![\"In](\"https:\/\/fiixsoftware.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/managing-maintenance-budget-cuts-blog@2x.png\")
<\/figure>\n#1 – Find it in your storeroom<\/h3>\n
Pay close attention to your inventory minimums when restocking parts and supplies, says Joe McVay, an Implementation Consultant at Fiix with experience in facility maintenance. <\/p>\n
\u201cMany organizations don\u2019t realize how much cash flow is tied up in inventory in the warehouse that could be bought just-in-time from multiple vendors without interrupting the business,\u201d says Joe. <\/p>\n
Look for parts in your storeroom that are either not immediately critical or can be easily sourced from vendors with short lead-times. Adjust your purchasing schedule accordingly so you\u2019re not spending money on unnecessary inventory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many vendors also offer \u2018keep stock\u2019 programs, says Joe. These programs guarantee the availability of parts without adding them to your books until you need them. This gives you short-term flexibility in your budget without the risk.<\/p>\n Learn all about building and organizing a world-class storeroom here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Preventive maintenance is great, but too much will cost you. You can reduce the cost of labor and parts without sacrificing asset health by cutting unnecessary PMs, says Charles Rogers, Fiix\u2019s Senior Implementation Consultant with over 33 years of experience in maintenance. <\/p>\n \u201cIf your regular inspections aren\u2019t finding something wrong with an asset, you can probably do them less often,\u201d says Charles.<\/p>\n Learn all about optimizing your PMs and maintenance schedule here<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n He recommends looking first at scheduled maintenance based on OEM guidelines. These PMs are more likely to have room for improvement because they weren\u2019t created with your specific use case in mind. Monitor any PMs you change to make sure failure rates don\u2019t increase.<\/p>\n Increasing wrench time helps you stretch your maintenance budget further, says Rob Kalwarowsky<\/a>, a Reliability Engineer and Asset Manager.<\/p>\n Rob suggests calculating wrench time for all work, starting with jobs that have higher labor costs. Flag areas where wrench time is low. The average wrench time is 20% and 40% is world-class, says Rob.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you have this baseline you can trace the cause of low wrench time to a root cause and tweak your schedules and processes to bridge that gap,\u201d says Rob.<\/p>\n Increasing wrench time by a few percentage points across hundreds of repairs and PMs can save you thousands of dollars in labor and make up for some of your lost budget. And when maintenance is quicker, production gets more uptime. It\u2019s a win-win for everyone.<\/p>\n See all the ways you can use work order data to your advantage<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Your budget gets a little tighter every time a highly skilled technician stops what they\u2019re doing to complete a routine task. That\u2019s why Jason Afara, a Solutions Engineer at Fiix and former maintenance manager, suggests training operators to do routine maintenance<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOperators know their machines best,\u201d says Jason, \u201cGive them the power to inspect machines…and do light maintenance that would otherwise take up your time.\u201d <\/p>\n There are a few key ingredients that make operator enablement successful. The first is communication. Work with the operations or production manager and ensure operators understand why this project is happening (and more importantly, what\u2019s in it for them). Clarity is also important. Training and support materials (like task lists and manuals) need to be easy to follow. The last piece is confidence. Operators need to feel equiped and safe doing the job. <\/p>\n#2: Find it in your schedule<\/h3>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/fiixsoftware.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/PDCA-model.png\")
<\/figure>\n#3: Find it in your work orders<\/h3>\n
#4: Find it in your processes<\/h3>\n