Budgeting for preventative maintenance of your Kardex Remstar equipment is important, here’s a look at what to budget for ongoing maintenance.
As a general rule of thumb we recommend budgeting 10% - 20% of the original cost of the equipment for yearly maintenance. It’s a broad range, but with the vast spectrum of automated equipment and broad variety of installation applications, environmental circumstances and geographic locations—it’s hard to pin down an exact percentage.
For consistent budgeting with no surprises the best option is to get your solution on a service contract that matches the needs of your organization. Read more about our available service contract packages.
There are, however, several key considerations that will impact the cost of a preventive maintenance plan. Among them:
- The number of identical machines in your operation. Like anything that comes in bulk, the more you buy, the less you pay per item. It’s the same for service; owners of multiple identical pieces of automated equipment can expect to pay less per machine for ongoing maintenance than those who only own one.
- The frequency of machine use. Equipment running 24/7/365 will need to be serviced more often and should hold spare parts onsite, costing more overall. Those with infrequent use or low duty cycles will need service less often, requiring a smaller budget.
- The environment in which the equipment operates. Machinery used in an ambient, relatively clean operation needs less frequent service. Installations in dusty, dirty or extreme temperature environments (such as coolers, freezers or washdown applications)—or those located in geographic areas which are typically hot, humid, exposed to sea air —will have special and more frequent maintenance needs, and therefore cost more.
- Whether on-board software is present. Not every piece of equipment has its own control or operating software, but those that do often require routine updates. The time involved to update, test, validate and re-commission the equipment post-update will have costs associated with it, particularly if doing so requires special or additional technicians with software expertise.
- The geographic location of the facility. If the facility is in a remote location, service technician travel combined with holding spare parts onsite, might add additional costs.
- Time when maintenance can be performed. If your operations require equipment maintenance to be performed at off times - such as after 5pm or on weekends - there will be additional costs.
A good way to combat some of these above costs is through a service contact. Service contacts offer maintenance coverage for a period of time (2, 3 or 5 years) at a fixed cost. Read more about our available service contract packages.