Mastering your installed base

Many manufacturers still follow a simple maintenance strategy: keep machines running until something breaks, then replace the failed part. While understandable in high pressure production environments, this reactive approach often leads to unplanned downtime and expensive emergency repairs. According to John Joe McGonagle, sales manager at JC-Electronics, companies can avoid these problems by managing their installed equipment base more strategically. “The journey begins with a basic but often overlooked question: what do you actually have?” he explains. “Many manufacturers simply don’t know the full scope of their installed spare parts.” 

The first step toward better lifecycle management is creating a complete inventory of equipment and spare parts. This includes tracking specifications, installation dates and lifecycle status. John Joe McGonagle compares the process to managing a fleet of vehicles. Companies routinely service company cars according to maintenance schedules, yet often neglect the same level of planning for critical industrial components. To close this gap, organisations can conduct an obsolescence audit. During such an audit, specialists inspect equipment, identify installed components and assess whether parts are approaching the end of their lifecycle. This insight allows companies to determine which spare parts are truly critical and how many replacements they actually need to keep in stock. 

Once companies have a clear inventory of their installed equipment, the next step is monitoring the condition of critical components. Modern monitoring systems use sensor data such as temperature, vibration or energy consumption to detect early signs of wear. However, collecting data alone is not enough. Dan Jones, buyer at JC-Electronics, highlights the importance of acting on this information. “Data gathered from sensors can capture valuable insights, but identifying and solving the issue is where the real value lies.” For example, monitoring temperature changes in a motor can reveal overheating risks before they cause a breakdown. In industries where downtime costs thousands of euros per minute, such early warnings can make a significant difference. 

Another major challenge for manufacturers is the gradual obsolescence of electronic components. As equipment ages, manufacturers may discontinue parts or stop providing support. Without preparation, buyers often find themselves searching urgently for rare components on the secondary market. “To mitigate this risk, companies need to understand the lifecycle status of their critical assets,” says McGonagle. By identifying vulnerable components early, organisations can purchase spare parts in advance, plan upgrades or explore refurbishment options before shortages occur. Software management is another important factor. Many industrial systems rely on software linked to specific hardware components. Keeping backups ensures systems can be restored quickly if hardware fails. 

Implementing installed base management requires more than tools and data. It also demands organisational change. According to John Joe McGonagle, gaining internal support is often one of the biggest challenges. Companies must understand that downtime has a real cost, affecting production, supplier relationships and company reputation. When organisations move from reactive maintenance to proactive lifecycle management, the benefits extend beyond reliability. Maintenance teams gain more time to focus on optimisation instead of emergency repairs, while companies can develop stronger partnerships with suppliers that help protect uptime and control costs.