I have my own in-house warehouse automation maintenance staff. Why should I consider a third-party?

If you’ve made any recent investments into warehouse automation, be they traditional conveyance or more advanced robotic systems, chances are you’ve been challenged with keeping them running in top condition and delivering the expected metrics.

You have your own in-house staff, so why should you consider working with a third-party?

Enter the “automation uptime challenge”. Today’s warehousing and distribution environments demand more from maintenance teams than ever before: faster response times, deeper technical skills, and greater alignment with capital planning cycles. Yet, many operations face the same constraints: limited bandwidth and/or availability of skilled labor, rising complexity of automated systems, and pressure to avoid unplanned downtime.

Below are five ways that a third-party maintenance team can enhance your existing operations and create a foundation for operational excellence.

1. Field Service Reinforcement When You Need It Most

Even the most capable internal maintenance teams can face bandwidth constraints, whether during peak operational periods, when employees are out due to vacation or illness, or when specialized technical support is required. You need a partner who can stabilize coverage and maintain your service levels while reducing the need for costly emergency support.

Look for a third-party team that is trained to step in to maximize uptime with minimal disruption. Whether for short-term coverage or long-term integration, external technicians can act as an extension of your team. Ensure their skillset meets your needs. Many are equipped to handle mechanical, electrical, and controls tasks across a broad range of automated material handling systems, including conveyors, sorters, robotics, and other warehouse technologies.

2. Onsite Technician Training & Industry Certification

Your equipment is only as effective as the people maintaining it. Today’s robotic systems require specialized training and often certification. The best third-party maintenance teams will help you build internal capability.

Look for a team that provides hands-on mentorship, skills transfer, and coaching to your team, using a structured learning model that includes:

• CBL (Computer-Based Learning) modules for standardized knowledge-building
• OEM-specific instruction based on your installed equipment
• Nationally recognized certifications to formalize skills development

A skilled third-party maintenance team will work with you collaboratively to assess current skill levels and design custom upskilling paths tailored to your equipment mix, throughput requirements, and technical environment. The result? A more capable team with reduced reliance on external service calls.

3. Predictive Maintenance That Minimizes Downtime

Preventive maintenance is table stakes, but predictive maintenance is the new standard for forward-thinking operations.

A best-in-class maintenance organization will help you transition from reactive or calendar-based maintenance to predictive strategies powered by real-time data and operational insights. By tracking asset performance, identifying failure trends, and integrating predictive tools that anticipate issues before they lead to downtime, you can align operational cycles to avoid disruption while extending the usable life of your equipment.

This proactive approach leads to reduced maintenance costs, higher asset availability, and improved safety across your facility.

4. Asset Lifecycle Planning & Capital Alignment

Warehouse automation equipment is a significant, critical investment. A skilled third-party maintenance team can help you understand its long-term viability. Look for a team that can help you support capital planning by identifying and assessing aging equipment, measuring repair-versus-replace costs, and helping you prioritize reinvestment decisions.

This lifecycle-based approach allows you to:

• Build a multi-year capital roadmap
• Justify budgets based on real-world equipment condition and usage
• Avoid surprise failures that impact service levels or throughput

With the right third-party maintenance partner, your automation safeguarding strategy becomes a key input to strategic planning and budgeting, ensuring maintenance, operations, and finance are working from the same playbook.

5. CMMS Integration & Maintenance Workflow Optimization

Many operations underutilize their Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), leading to missed opportunities for efficiency and compliance.

A skilled partner helps you unlock the full potential of your CMMS by optimizing task flows, ensuring regulatory documentation is captured correctly, and aligning scheduling with production cycles. Some partners also assist with system integration, connecting your CMMS to enterprise platforms like ERP or WMS, creating a more connected, data-driven maintenance environment.

If you don’t yet use a CMMS, a skilled partner can assist with system selection, implementation, and adoption, ensuring a smooth transition that delivers measurable ROI.

A Strategic Extension of Your In-House Team

Today’s internal warehousing automation maintenance teams face ongoing challenges including limited bandwidth and/or availability of skilled labor, rising complexity of automated systems, and pressure to avoid unplanned downtime.

KPI Solutions can help. Our resident maintenance services are designed to scale with your needs and serve as a long-term, embedded partner, helping you extend your team’s reach, raise technical competency, and gain visibility into your equipment’s performance and future viability. It’s not a stopgap or a band-aid, but rather a strategic, embedded service built around your operation’s unique goals and challenges. We don’t take over, we team up, bringing deep technical expertise, best practices, and long-term thinking to every engagement.

Our goal is simple: keep your systems running, your team empowered, and your business growing.