Industrial Operations: How to Cut Costs and Increase Operational Efficiency

Industrial operations are the set of processes, activities and resources used to move, transform or produce goods within an industry. They involve managing mobile assets, heavy equipment, fleet maintenance, internal logistics and the control of indicators such as operational availability, MTBF and OEE. Operational efficiency, the ability to produce more with fewer stoppages and at a lower cost, directly determines the competitiveness of an industrial business.

To increase industrial operational efficiency, it is essential to: (1) implement preventive maintenance scheduled by mileage or by calendar to reduce unexpected stoppages; (2) control the life cycle of tires and heavy equipment; (3) digitize inspections with an electronic checklist; (4) monitor indicators such as availability, MTBF and MTTR; (5) centralize data in a management system for decision-making based on real operational data.

The main ways to reduce costs in industrial operations are: moving from corrective to preventive maintenance (a significant reduction in spending), controlling tire wear to avoid early disposal and reduce fuel consumption by up to 10%, managing the spare parts inventory to avoid emergency purchases, and monitoring the cost per kilometer or per hour worked of each asset. Data-driven management identifies the biggest cost drivers and directs precise savings actions.

Operational availability is the percentage of time that a piece of equipment, asset or vehicle is fit to operate without being under maintenance or out of service due to a failure. It is calculated as: (Total time − Downtime) ÷ Total time × 100. Availability above 85% is considered a benchmark in high-performance industrial operations. Prolog centralizes maintenance data to calculate and monitor this indicator automatically, with dashboards updated with every inspection.

To reduce unscheduled stoppages, you need to: (1) replace the corrective culture with a preventive one, with schedules and automatic work orders by mileage; (2) carry out periodic inspections with an electronic checklist to detect failures before they cause stoppages; (3) monitor the maintenance history of each asset to anticipate interventions; (4) keep an adequate inventory of critical parts to reduce the mean time to repair (MTTR).

Industrial productivity improves when assets and equipment are available, reliable and operating under ideal conditions. This requires proactive maintenance management, control of tires and the fleet, digitized inspection processes and continuous analysis of operational indicators. Companies that adopt fleet and asset management platforms report significant productivity gains by eliminating unexpected stoppages and rework in the operation.

Industrial preventive maintenance is the set of planned and scheduled interventions carried out before a failure occurs, based on mileage, hours worked or a fixed schedule. It significantly reduces corrective maintenance costs, increases the availability of equipment and mobile assets, extends the useful life of the industrial fleet and lowers the risk of unexpected stoppages that directly impact production.

The main KPIs for industrial operations with fleets and mobile assets are: operational availability, MTBF (mean time between failures), MTTR (mean time to repair), the ratio of preventive to corrective maintenance, cost per kilometer driven or per hour worked, total cost of maintenance, tire disposal rate, the rate of non-conformities in inspection checklists and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Industrial asset management is the discipline that controls the entire life cycle of the equipment, vehicles and machines of an industrial operation, from acquisition to disposal, with the goal of maximizing availability, reducing costs and ensuring reliability. It involves preventive and corrective maintenance, tire control, periodic inspections with an electronic checklist and the analysis of performance indicators such as MTBF, MTTR and operational availability.

Digitizing industrial operations starts with replacing manual processes and spreadsheets with digital systems. The first steps are: (1) implement an electronic checklist for inspections of vehicles and heavy equipment; (2) digitize work orders and maintenance history; (3) automate spare parts inventory control; (4) centralize data in dashboards with operational indicators updated with every inspection. This path is the foundation of digital transformation in industry and of the principles of Industry 4.0.

Tires are one of the largest cost centers in industrial operations with heavy fleets and off-road equipment. A lack of wear control can increase fuel consumption by up to 25% and lead to early repurchases. Tire management controls the complete cycle of wear, calibration, retreading and disposal to maximize useful life, reduce the cost per kilometer (CPK) and ensure that industrial equipment operates under ideal conditions.

Prolog serves industrial operations that depend on mobile assets and heavy equipment, including the pulp and paper industry (such as Klabin), steel, agribusiness, heavy construction, cement plants, ports, energy, mining and internal logistics operations. In all of these segments, the platform offers integrated tire management, preventive maintenance and an electronic checklist, with dashboards updated with every inspection and access from a mobile phone.