Maintaining the equipment you acquire through various finance and lease options is vital for getting a consistent return and keeping your business moving forward. Equipment that's out of commission can cost you a significant amount of money and time. Knowing when to schedule maintenance is therefore critical to making sure operations runs smoothly. Utilize this advice to help you develop a maintenance action plan and get the most out of your Cat^®  equipment.

Equipment maintenance efforts your company can handle itself 

Maintenance covers a lot of ground, from cosmetic considerations to the most mechanically complicated elements of the equipment’s powertrain and hydraulics. Cultivating the specialized knowledge, experience and parts necessary to maintain and repair equipment is often not practical for any but the largest businesses. That doesn't mean that you can't engage in plenty of preventative maintenance yourself, however. When you and your workers address the areas that are easier to service yourselves, you help extend the useful life of equipment and reduce repair costs.

A regular, monthly review of the state of various systems inside your equipment will help prevent major issues that could otherwise crop up. Checking fluids and windshield wipers and the various cables, belts and hoses - items that are prone to wearing out over time - and replacing them if necessary can help keep your equipment in the best shape possible. Even if you identify a more complicated problem, you can have it addressed before a critical failure happens while the equipment is actively working on a job.

You can also plan to conduct more thorough exams of equipment on a less-frequent basis, such as a yearly top-to-bottom inspection that carefully checks all components of the machine. Identifying a problem yourself makes it that much easier for a qualified service technician to know where to start when making repairs and also helps them direct resources as they engage in more general preventative maintenance efforts.

The power of an equipment protection plan

The equipment protection plans offered through Cat Financial are an effective way for business owners to address the more substantial and complicated elements of their heavy machinery. Enrolling in one of the three available plans can help you rest easy knowing that only qualified and properly trained technicians will work on your machine, using their specialized knowledge base to address any problems that may arise. You can use the technicians at more than 2,500 locations across the country, which means you can keep repairs local, too.

Effective risk management is a key skill for all business owners. By addressing repair needs through an equipment protection plan, you choose an efficient, proven and reliable method for keeping heavy equipment in good working order. The financial aspect of this approach is also an important consideration. Instead of having to budget for potentially major repairs and not have much insight into costs ahead of time, company leaders can instead opt for a more regimented approach that offers a higher level of predictability. Additionally, securing a protection plan through the same provider of both the equipment itself and the financing or lease tied to it makes it easier to manage the equipment by combining all major needs related to it.

Cat Financial offers a variety of service levels for businesses, adding additional flexibility into the equation and allowing for a prudent choice that best addresses individual needs. With plans ranging from protection of just the engine, powertrain and transmission to near-comprehensive coverage, there's an option that will meet your needs and keep your equipment running smoothly. To learn more, get in touch with Cat Financial today.