A column of ticks and a seized way
Each machine has a laminated sheet on its side: check coolant level and concentration, way oil, air pressure, chip conveyor, guards and door interlocks, and wipe the windows. There is a box to tick each day. Most weeks it is full of ticks, sometimes all in the same pen, sometimes filled in on Friday for the whole week.
Then the way lube runs dry on a machine that was ticked every day, or the coolant goes off and the whole sump has to be changed, and the tick sheet turns out to have told you nothing.
Why ticks are not checks
A tick records that someone meant to check, not what they saw. Nobody reviews the sheets. Problems found during checks are mentioned to a setter, who might remember to tell maintenance. There is no history per machine that would show a coolant concentration drifting over weeks.
- Check sheets ask for ticks, not readings.
- Missed checks are only noticed if someone reads the sheet.
- Faults found are reported verbally and forgotten.
- Coolant concentration is measured occasionally, and not recorded.
- Each machine's needs differ, but the sheet is the same for all.
What skipped checks cost
Unplanned downtime on a machine that gave warning signs. Coolant replaced wholesale when regular top ups and concentration checks would have kept it. Surface finish and tool life suffering from poor coolant. Parts damaged by a chip conveyor jam. And no record to show your insurer or your customers that the machines are looked after.
The machine check lists we build
- Each machine gets its own check list, written from its manual and your maintenance plan, not a generic sheet.
- At the start of the shift, the operator scans the machine's label on a tablet and works through the list. Items ask for what was seen: a refractometer reading for coolant, a level for way oil, a pressure reading, or a pass or fail with a photo if it fails.
- Readings outside your limits are flagged straight away, with instructions you have written, such as how to top up coolant to the right mix.
- A failed item raises a maintenance job with the photo and the machine, so it is not left to memory.
- The supervisor sees which machines have not been checked by a set time.
- Trends per machine show coolant concentration, top ups and recurring faults over weeks and months.
| Check | What gets recorded |
|---|---|
| Coolant | Level, refractometer reading, top up added |
| Way and spindle lubrication | Level and any warning on the control |
| Air supply | Pressure reading |
| Chip conveyor and swarf | Pass or fail with photo |
| Guards and interlocks | Pass or fail, raises a maintenance job if failed |
What the checks include and the limits for each reading are for you and your maintenance provider to decide. We build the list you give us.
What you get from it
Checks that record what the operator actually saw, and a manager who knows by mid morning if any were missed. Faults go straight to whoever fixes them, with a photo. Over time the readings show which machines need attention before they break, and which coolant sumps are drifting. When a customer or insurer asks how the machines are maintained, you have a dated record.
Operators also get clearer instructions. A new starter on nights does not need to guess what the right coolant mix looks like or where the way oil goes on an unfamiliar machine, because the check list for that machine shows them, with photos, at the point they need it.
Are your daily checks just ticks?
- Check sheets are filled in at the end of the week.
- Coolant concentration is not recorded.
- Faults found during checks are passed on verbally.
- Nobody reviews the sheets.
- Machines have failed despite ticked checks.