What is Planned Maintenance for Commercial Kitchen Equipment?
Everything from daily upkeep and routine checkups to parts replacement and full-scale cleanings of commercial kitchen equipment requires some form of planning. Adopting a planned maintenance strategy allows you to concentrate on both short- and long-term care. This approach helps you and your staff focus on consistent cleaning and maintenance tasks while also allocate time and budget for repairs that could spring up throughout the year.
Below is a quick breakdown of what planned maintenance is and how a commercial kitchen can look to implement this strategy to reduce downtime and increase operational efficiency.
What is Planned Maintenance?
In a commercial kitchen, planned maintenance is what you budget for, document and schedule ahead of time. A business implements this strategy not only to diminish downtime but also to ensure it has the necessary money and resources to tackle an issue. This includes both planned preventative and unscheduled maintenance.
Planned Preventative Maintenance
Planned preventative maintenance consists of regular cleanings and replacing small parts and components. This requires staff to schedule routine procedures, budget for materials or labor and store extra parts and accessories in their stockroom. The following are some examples of preventative maintenance tasks that fall under a planned strategy.
- Daily cleanings
- Weekly cleanings
- Changing filters every 3 months
- Replacing gaskets or O-rings every 6 months
- Replacing ice thickness probes every 6 months
- Cleaning or replacing water curtains every 3-6 months
While daily and weekly cleanings are often done in house, the rest of those tasks can be included in a planned preventative maintenance program with your authorized service company.
Planned Unscheduled Maintenance
Planned unscheduled maintenance is accounting for any repairs and major part replacement that could pop up throughout the year. By having a dedicated budget or strategy for tackling unforeseen issues with your kitchen equipment, you can limit the amount of downtime and lost revenue. The examples below would be considered unscheduled maintenance:
- Repairing or replacing a controller
- Repairing or replacing a compressor or motor
- Replacing worn bearings or fans
One way you can plan for an unscheduled task is by setting up routine checkups with your authorized service company. When a technician checks your equipment, he or she is looking for signs of wear and tear and can either replace the part on the spot or assess how long the part has left before it needs to be replaced.
Planned Maintenance Tips
Whether it's routine preventative tasks or surprises along the way, having a planned maintenance strategy can help your business stay prepared. If you're looking to get started, here are some quick tips to help execute a planned maintenance strategy for your commercial kitchen:
- Create a PM checklist – By making a preventative maintenance checklist with all the timelines for cleanings, checkups and minor component replacement on each piece of equipment, your kitchen can continue running at full strength throughout the year.
- Schedule maintenance program with a service company – Some tasks are best left to the pros. Hire your authorized service company to perform large-scale cleanings and to check parts at least once a quarter.
- Budget for and purchase select parts – Make sure to keep commonly replaced parts in your stockroom. This includes, but isn't limited to, items like gaskets, water and air filters, O-rings, ice thickness probes.
- Budget for unscheduled repairs or replacements – You should have a dedicated budgeted for any unexpected repairs or replacing critical parts. If your authorized service company has a repair plan for equipment out of warranty, you should consider it to avoid long periods of downtime.