The Benefits of Outsourcing Maintenance Work

Industrial plant maintenance is among one of the most critical considerations to ensure smooth production. But, should plant maintenance be carried out by an in-house team or be outsourced?

Plant Maintenance is at the top of the agenda for production and manufacturing managers, whether that be in the chemical, food and beverage, agriculture or other industries. As you know, a big decision facing management is whether to deal with all maintenance in house or to outsource it to a subcontractor.

Naturally, since it is a vital part of running a plant, it makes sense to want to keep maintenance in-house, so that you have full control over it and can keep a close eye on progress. However, by choosing a subcontractor you are also reaping the benefits of having a skillful and experienced team for a fraction of the cost of what it would to employ that team.

Cost Saving
There are many benefits for cost control of outsourcing. Usually, lots of staff training would be required to keep the maintenance team up to date with accreditation and to increase capabilities to cater for the changing maintenance requirements of the site. Outsourcing, allows all of that to be managed by the contractor lessening the strain on your HR department.

Flexibility
In today’s cost sensitive environment, outsourcing maintenance work is becoming the obvious choice due to cost saving benefits. Not having to employ an entire department of experienced and qualified engineers saves a massive amount of money in the long run. It also means that the actual maintenance work can be carried out to reduce the interruptions to production further reducing inconvenience and costs.

Expertise
An outsourced team will have greater expertise and with that the quality of the work being carried out will be superior. With this increased expertise, it means the job can be completed faster. However, you may argue that sub-contractors will not know the nitty-gritty details of your site as well as an in-house team has worked their for years. That’s why it is crucial that you chose a contractor who has experience in worked in your sector and has worked on similar sites before, that way they can transfer their knowledge and capabilities.

Project Management
By outsourcing you also release the stress from directors and managers since it is then one less thing to worry about since the time scales of projects, potential issues and challenges are all being manged by your outsourced company. To retain control over maintenance on your site it is crucial that you communicate with your contractor on a regular basis to ensure a good working relationship which will result in maximum efficiencies.

To sum up, outsourcing maintenance has many benefits, but it is crucial that you chose the option which is right for your site.

Feel free to get in touch with us, and we can give give you advice on what we think the best route forward would be for you. 

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