FEATURE
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE: GETTING THE BEST RESULTS
Maintenance can become a major cost centre for companies if it’s not managed effectively. Even a small component problem can spiral into complete equipment breakdown. To help your company run a productive, efficient operation, Elecosoft has put together a guide to preventative maintenance.
What is preventative maintenance? There are three types of maintenance strategy that companies commonly use to manage assets:
Reactive maintenance – technicians respond to performance issues and breakdowns when they are reported. It’s difficult to plan ahead with this run-to- failure strategy as downtime has usually already occurred when the problem is addressed.
Preventative maintenance – planning routine maintenance activities in advance to ensure assets remain in good working order. There are three triggers for scheduling preventative maintenance: time (planning machinery maintenance jobs at certain points during the year), usage (carrying out maintenance based on machinery’s operational hours) and conditions (conducting maintenance work when machinery components begin to show performance issues).
Predictive maintenance – using data analytics and AI software to forecast when maintenance needs to be performed based on predicted wear and tear. It’s a smart approach to asset management but relies on high-quality data and investment in predictive maintenance technology.
For many companies, a preventative maintenance program is an optimal approach as it keeps operations running better than a reactive maintenance model. However, it requires less time and financial investment than predictive maintenance.
How can planned preventative
maintenance enhance your business? Most industries, from manufacturing and oil & gas to aviation and transportation, are now reliant on technology to optimise operational performance. But while digital solutions enhance operational capabilities, unplanned downtime can be catastrophic to company productivity. Creating a preventative maintenance plan is an efficient way to make sure that key asset management tasks are completed on a regular basis, to minimise the risk of unpredicted downtime.
What are the benefits of a
preventative maintenance program? There are significant advantages to moving from a reactive to a preventative maintenance model. These include:
• Reliable production (with less equipment downtime) – regularly maintaining assets keeps them in good working condition, reducing the chance of sudden failures and unplanned downtime. Planning maintenance also allows technicians to either carry out work while the business is still operational. Or schedule work for quiet periods to avoid disrupting peak operations.
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• Lower maintenance costs – repairing a part before it shows significant wear and tear is cheaper than replacing it. Planned preventative maintenance can also prevent incipient failure; having to repair or replace a whole machine as a result of the damage inflicted by one failed component. Plus, regular maintenance helps to extend the lifetime of digital assets, increasing their ROI.
• Simpler scheduling – it’s very difficult to manage the workload of engineers and technicians if they are constantly reacting to urgent problems. Planned preventative maintenance allows your business to schedule tasks evenly across the team, while still allowing room in people’s workloads to respond to unplanned maintenance requests. Better-rostered technicians can potentially complete more tasks per day (with less need to work overtime; another cost benefit).
• Improved inventory management – a clear schedule of maintenance work makes it easier to manage component requirements and spare parts. Facilities management teams have time to order what they need in advance, rather than paying for express shipping to source components that are urgently needed to fix broken equipment. Plus, inventory information can be updated automatically if engineers are using barcode scanners to track stock levels, reducing the need for manual data entry and the human error associated with it.
• Safe working environment – preventing severe mechanical issues isn’t just an operational benefit. It also promotes high levels of health and safety for employees who are operating complex machinery on a daily basis.
• Lower energy consumption – optimising asset performance can enhance your company’s sustainability strategy and lower your overheads, as energy is no longer being drained by sub-par equipment. Also, work can be completed quicker when machinery is running at maximum levels.
• Digital compliance trail – a centralised record of all maintenance activities gives your company a lifetime history of every asset. In addition to helping you plan servicing and repair activities effectively, it helps your facilities management team to meet compliance requirements and provide a digital audit trail on every update made to operational equipment.
• Focus on the future – preventative maintenance plans naturally turn your business focus towards what’s coming up. You can use the time, expertise and budget generated by your improved asset management strategy to focus on getting more from your machinery and investing in new digital technology to prove quality, flexibility and output.
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