Page 6 - Automated Issue 11

ISSUE 11

Predictive maintenance

across the globe

How developments in logistics have improved the speed of part delivery.

Each team competing in the FIA Formula One to land at the customer’s door efficiently.
World Championship travels around 160,000
kilometres a year between races. Transporting If the supplier and manufacturer are both based in the
the cars and several tonnes of equipment UK, a part can be delivered in the same day.
around the world is a logistically challenging Internationally, the manufacturer is likely to receive
the part the day after ordering. Newer services, such
feat.
as UPS Proactive Response, help prevent delivery
delays to speed up the process further. It is best for
Each Formula One team transports two cars and manufacturers to call their suppliers as early as
around 50 tonnes of additional equipment, all of possible so that courier delivery time can be met. If
which must be at the next track with enough time to the part needs to be delivered internationally in a
reassemble the cars and prepare for the race. This short time frame, a manufacturer could opt for a more
puts pressure on the teams to transport the cars expensive flash flight service.
thousands of miles to a tight deadline. Similarly, there
is pressure on manufacturers to obtain replacement Part shipping is not without its challenges. Once the
parts before equipment breaks. part has arrived, it needs to reach the maintenance
team, who may not be immediately available.
Predictive maintenance Companies can avoid unnecessary downtime with
Many manufacturing plants use predictive good communication, ensuring that whoever receives
maintenance to establish how well equipment is the package knows where and who to deliver it to
functioning. This means that replacement parts can internally.
be ordered and delivered before equipment failure.
For operations to keep running smoothly, couriers
For manufacturers that don’t use predictive must be cyber-secure. In a recent ransomware
maintenance, it is imperative that they order parts cyber-attack, international courier, TNT’s services
with fast delivery, as every second the manufacturing were disrupted, which affected the delivery of its
line is down will be at a cost to the company. orders. In future, drones could be used to prevent
infrastructure and peak times from causing delays.
Faster delivery, better result
Whether the plant schedules preventative Improved visibility and transit times have already sped
maintenance or not, quick part delivery is of the up part delivery. Even so, it’s important for
utmost importance. Manufacturers should partner manufacturers to stay up to date with maintenance
with a reliable supplier of spare industrial parts, that schedules so they don’t have to suffer expensive
offers speedy delivery to avoid prolonged downtime. downtime when waiting for delivery. This means that
Once a manufacturer orders a part, if it is not in stock, parts can be delivered to the right place, at the right
it must be sourced as quickly as possible and time, which is as important in manufacturing as it is in
delivered to the supplier’s warehouse. From there, it Formula One racing.
must be shipped by air or land using a courier service,

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