At 7:30 AM, the SMT line powers on, and station screens display today's work order and SOP. However, the inspection sheet next to the equipment remains clipped in a folder, with the previous shift's signature column empty and today's date unfilled. The team leader walks around asking, "Has inspection been done?" and the operator replies, "Yes," yet the records do not match. This scenario plays out daily in many factories. Simply put, inspection and maintenance methods are not complex; the issues usually lie in how to record, how to check, and how to remind.
1. Clarify What Inspection and Maintenance Methods Manage
Inspection (Dianjian) and patrol inspection (Xunjian) are not the same. Inspection focuses on confirming the daily status of equipment, such as whether air pressure is sufficient, if there are abnormal noises from rails, or if safety doors function correctly. Patrol inspection involves scheduled checks of areas and processes. First-article inspection confirms product quality after line changeovers or shifts start. All three share a common logic: clearly list items to be checked, execute them according to a cycle, keep records, and ensure abnormalities can be traced.
The traditional approach uses paper forms and signatures. Its drawbacks include missing inspections that go unnoticed, unsigned entries that cannot be verified, and abnormality statistics relying on manual review. Electronic inspection and maintenance methods standardize inspection items into defined entries, bind them to specific equipment and shifts, automatically push reminders when due, and allow execution directly via mobile devices.
2. How Beginners Get Started: A Three-Step Approach
Step one: Break down inspection items. Avoid vague entries like "equipment normal." Instead, create actionable items such as "spindle oil level between scale marks" or "protective cover screws are not loose." Each item should correspond to a judgment method, and where possible, include a photo capture field.
Step two: Bind cycles and responsible persons. Separate daily, weekly, and monthly inspections. The system automatically pushes tasks to the assigned person's mobile phone when due. This step is critical for preventing missed inspections—humans may forget, but systems should not.
Step three: Execute and leave traces. Operators check off items one by one on the mobile device. Abnormal items are reported immediately, and key processes are archived using photos or videos taken with the phone. An electronic Kanban allows clicking on equipment information to view history logs or clicking on maintenance records to see repair details and abnormality statistics. Team leaders no longer need to flip through paper books.
3. Common Issues: Why Inspections Still Miss Items
One issue is that inspection items are too general. Checking "normal" without actually looking amounts to no inspection at all. Another issue is that reminders do not reach specific individuals. Posting a message in a group chat saying "remember to inspect" often results in everyone assuming it is someone else's responsibility. A third issue is the disconnect between records and maintenance. If an abnormality is found during inspection but reported verbally, there is no way to trace the closed-loop resolution later.
Suppose a hypothetical electronics factory conducts a scenario analysis: An SMT line undergoes frequent changeovers. Previously, inspections relied on paper forms per shift, leading to frequent omissions in first-article inspections after changeovers. By breaking inspection items into twenty specific entries bound to the work order, the system automatically pushes first-article inspection tasks to tablet devices after changeovers. Key processes are archived via photos, and abnormalities are directly entered into maintenance records. Under this solution, the rate of missed items during changeover inspections would significantly decrease, and the training cycle would shorten—new employees can follow the checklist directly without requiring veteran staff to supervise closely.
4. What to Look for When Selecting Tools
Evaluate whether the mobile interface is user-friendly. Whether operators are willing to use it determines whether these inspection and maintenance methods can be successfully implemented.
Once the right tool is selected, the remaining task is consistent execution.