(636) 343-1211                                                                      September 2017
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The "Fast Fix"
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Benchmarks for Maintenance Budgeting


           
    
       
If you are on a calendar business year, as we are, the fourth quarter means it is Budgeting Season.  If you run a business or manage a facility, it's the time of year when the wish lists come out.  What investments do we have to make?  Which ones would be nice to make?  What can we defer into the future?  How will deferring impact our operations this coming year? All very good questions.
     The dominant factor in determining what your organization will spend on maintenance is not (despite what we planners would like to think) how much we have budgeted.  It is more defined by our behavior.

*      Is our behavior reactive or proactive?

*      Do we have an effective preventive           maintenance program in place?

*      Do we have a process to identify, plan, schedule and execute the program?  The greatest program in the world won't save you money if you never schedule the work.

*      Do we look at life cycle costs, not just first-time cost, in making our decisions?

*      Do we have good operating procedures?  Do our operations protect against unnecessary damage?

     A best-in-class maintenance program should run between 2-3% of your Replacement Asset Value.  In older facilities, that's what the asset would cost to replace today, not original installed cost.  Are you spending more or less than this?  If you spend too little, you are "planning" on an emergency breakdown in the future.  Significantly more than this?  It's time to ask whether equipment replacement or upgrade is a better investment than continued maintenance.
   Proactive behavior in relation to electrical maintenance and service can bring significant long term as well as short term cost savings. Rather than trying to force the maintenance to match the available dollars, your facility is better served by changing the behaviors that can lead to unscheduled outages and breakdowns.  Good proactive maintenance programs, routinely executed, save money both in this year's budget and for years to come

    
Thanks for reading!
  
Emily Martin
  
Ameren Exterior Lighting Incentive

 
 
For the first time in quite some time, Ameren is offering an incentive on dusk to dawn lighting. Now's the time to take advantage of the program and garner the savings. Contact Aschinger for more details and the availability of our construction teams on this opportunity.
Ameren Awards Aschinger