For any industrial business, keeping mission-critical equipment running smoothly requires an efficient maintenance operation. The faster your technicians can complete their work, the more productive they’ll be at ensuring equipment stays in top condition.
Streamlined maintenance not only speeds up task completion but also prevents unnecessary repairs and reduces the risk of accidents—lowering costs, enhancing worker safety, and improving your bottom line.
One key way to achieve these benefits is by selecting the right industrial work stand. Customizing your work stand with features tailored to improve worker efficiency and safety can significantly enhance your maintenance operations.
The Value of a Custom-Manufactured Maintenance Stand
An industrial maintenance stand provides the safe, stable platform your crews need to access, inspect, service, and repair heavy equipment. But when you’re deciding on the right work stand, there is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. Every application has unique needs, requiring different work stand features—all of which can positively impact efficiency.
For example:
- Certain work stand features improve workflow and reduce the time it takes to complete critical tasks.
- Others eliminate the need to leave the equipment site to find the necessary tools or make it easier to adjust the stand to different equipment types or heights, accelerating the work.
- Some stands reduce the required labor hours—for example, by enabling a single technician to move the stand to another location quickly.
- The right work stand can help standardize maintenance tasks, improving efficiency and consistency.
- And of course, safety features minimize the risk of slips, falls, and other accidents—as well as physical strain—which keeps your technicians on the job and productive.
Eight Must-Have Work Stand Features for Better Efficiency
When you’re selecting the optimal work platform for your operation, you’ll have many features to choose from. If efficiency is one of your top objectives, consider features like the following.
1. Adjustability
Certain maintenance tasks, like engine inspections and hydraulic repairs, require technicians to work at various heights and angles. Without the right stand, they could find it more time-consuming to complete their work or experience more physical strain, reducing productivity and risking injury. That’s especially true when they need to use the same stand for different equipment types.
An adjustable work stand is easily lowered or raised to the ideal height, enabling crews to work efficiently. Some configurable maintenance stands also include sliders that allow them to extend the platform out, whether to gain better contact with equipment or allow more space to work. When maintenance teams can position the stand at the optimal height and location, it reduces fatigue, improves accuracy and productivity, and decreases injury risk.
2. Mobility & Maneuverability
In some industrial settings, a single work stand does double- or triple-duty across different equipment in various areas of the facility, particularly in environments where the floor layout changes periodically. Other times, a custom industrial work stand might need to be moved to an entirely different job site. The easier it is to maneuver or relocate the stand and set it up again, the less time your crews will spend on these unproductive tasks.
A mobile maintenance stand should be easy for one person (or two for a large platform) to move safely across the hangar or shop floor without a tow bar. Look for a stand made of lightweight aluminum, with swivel wheels and lockable casters that make rolling easy while providing stability once the stand is set in position. Most portable stands include handrails you can easily remove without tools, and you should be able to disassemble and reassemble the stand quickly for transport to another site—whether across town or halfway around the world.
3. Load Capacity
Sometimes multiple technicians need to work simultaneously on the same large piece of equipment, like a huge engine or compressor. That requires a work platform which is both large enough to accommodate several workers and sturdy enough to support their weight.
An experienced work stand provider will ask detailed questions about your intended use of the platform to determine the necessary load capacity and design an appropriate solution. For example, it’s not just the number of people working on the platform at once, but the types of tools they’ll carry that affects the required maintenance stand load capacity. Highly durable materials and reinforced construction give technicians the confidence to work efficiently and safely under any conditions.
4. Compatibility with Specific Equipment
A military base found it was spending a tremendous amount of time maintaining a particular model of aircraft simply because technicians didn’t have easy access to a certain portion of the vertical tail. They estimated they could save two to three days of labor, and the associated costs, with a work stand customized to this specific craft.
Customizing a work stand or platform to a particular type of machinery, aircraft, or component—such as an engine, turbine, or conveyor system—yields substantial benefits: A better fit, easier access to hard-to-reach areas, and no need for workarounds that inhibit efficiency and productivity.
5. Integrated Storage
When maintenance technicians need to leave their work site to gather the right tools or materials for the job, it wastes precious time, interrupts the workflow, and reduces productivity. But some off-the-shelf work stands don’t include a dedicated space for workers to store these items within easy reach.
To keep technicians highly efficient, look for a maintenance platform that provides integrated storage for tools, parts, and other materials. Storage can come in various forms, such as custom cabinetry, an integrated toolbox, hooks, or shelving strategically placed below the platform to maximize space. A custom-manufactured work stand can also integrate a laptop tray for technicians who need access to these devices.
6. Integrated Power
Often times your technicians need to work with power tools or pneumatics to get the job done. Or they might need additional lighting nearby, especially for better visibility of hard-to-see components.
An industrial work stand can be customized to include integrated power and LED lighting. Instead of searching for the right-length extension cord, your technicians can plug-and-go. Integrated power and lighting also eliminate the safety risks that come with using separate cords.
7. Safety
When your technicians feel protected on the job, they’re able to work more productively and confidently. So be sure to look for safety features that reduce their risk of injury. Your chosen work stand should comply with all relevant OSHA requirements and standards, for example. The most common work platform safety features include four-inch orange kickplates, 42-inch railings, durable guardrails, and non-skid surfaces.
8. Ergonomic Design
The right design makes it safer and more comfortable for maintenance crews to work, improving their efficiency and productivity. While the ability to adjust the platform’s height is one of the most essential ergonomic considerations, other features can further reduce strain and discomfort. Consider adding padded grips and height-adjustable rails to your industrial work platform to help technicians stay productive throughout long shifts.
Key Considerations When Choosing an Industrial Work Stand
When you’re evaluating different work stand options, many factors weigh in to the decision, including your operating environment, equipment types, and maintenance task types. When it comes to choosing specific stand features, the following questions can help you arrive at the optimal decision.
Where will our teams use this work stand?
If the workspace has narrow aisles or is located in a high-traffic area, consider a compact design that uses space efficiently. If the stand will be used in multiple areas within the same facility, portability and maneuverability are musts.
How will our teams use the work stand?
Can you employ a single, versatile maintenance platform for multiple equipment types? Or do you have specialized equipment that requires a highly customized stand for a single use?
What is the long-term cost/benefit?
Look beyond the initial purchase price of the stand and calculate the potential savings over the product’s expected lifespan. If you anticipate to use the work platform reliably for 10-15 years, you could save millions of dollars by avoiding frequent replacements. Or if the stand enables you to speed up certain tasks, you could significantly reduce your labor costs or generate more revenue.
Choosing the right industrial maintenance stand is more than just a purchasing decision. It’s critical to ensuring efficiency, safety, and longevity, especially in industries where precision and reliability are essential. Whether you’re maintaining aircraft, marine vessels, amusement parks, or heavy land vehicles like tanks, the right stand can mean ensure streamlined operation and high uptime.
Take the first step toward improving your maintenance efficiency and safety. Request a quote for a custom industrial work stand from JE Technology.