Earlier, machines were repaired only when they hindered productivity. However, it is not the same today. Companies now take proactive steps to ensure all physical assets work optimally at all times.
Furthermore, these maintenance steps are crucial to make sure your organization never faces downtime. There are several types of preventive maintenance, all equally significant for a firm that is looking to get rid of unexpected roadblocks in its regular operations.
So what are these types? And how do they actually assist organizations in saving money? Let’s take a look.
Key Takeaways
- Preventive maintenance is a proactive approach that prevents disruptions in productivity by reducing the chances of downtime
- The reactive approach deals with fixing machinery only when it encounters a problem, leading to stoppages in production and valuable time being lost
- The proactive method has three types: Time-based, Usage-based, and Condition-based maintenance.
- Why every firm should adopt this new approach and benefit from it
Preventive maintenance is a nifty tool that helps your organization run without interruptions at all times. It is a proactive approach that essentially prevents disruptions, helping your company avoid extra expenses related to reactive repairs.
The approach includes monitoring the operations of your equipment and scheduling inspections and servicing to protect the facility from operational risks.
Unlike reactive repairing, preventive maintenance seeks to prevent machinery failure from even occurring. So, a problem related to your machines is addressed appropriately even before it becomes a reason for unexpected downtime.
An unplanned breakdown of machinery is the last thing a company wants when you are running on strict deadlines and a tight budget.
It disrupts the entire production line and also hampers your reputation. Although preventive maintenance requires some time and effort, the benefits it offers are well worth it.
Let us look at how preventive maintenance helps an organization:
If you are relying on performing maintenance only when something stops functioning, then machine downtime is inevitable. When you opt for preventive maintenance, you decrease the likelihood of downtime occurring significantly.
When you conduct reactive maintenance, the machine downtime may further extend due to several uncertainties.
However, you can conduct preventive maintenance at a convenient time when the facility is closed. This enables you to prevent downtime and lets the facility operate at its normal pace.
Routine maintenance, even when your machine is running in good condition, further improves its efficiency. Overall equipment effectiveness, or OEE, is a commonly used KPI that determines the efficiency of your equipment.
It measures efficiency under three categories: availability, performance, and quality. When you conduct preventive maintenance, you reduce machine downtime. This improves the availability of the equipment.
Preventive maintenance also enhances the overall performance of the tool and the quality of work.
Better efficiency and decreased downtime ultimately lead to money saved for the firm, as unplanned maintenance and urgent repairs cost you a lot.
There are extra costs associated with rushed shipping and with calling specialized technicians for unforeseen emergencies.
Rushed repairs also lead to a loss of productivity, which means a loss of revenue. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to take proactive measures so that machines and other equipment can run optimally at all times.
Did You Know?
Older machinery requires much more frequent maintenance, but consistent care can sometimes extend its life by years, making it as efficient as a new machine.
Now the question is, what are the types of preventive maintenance that you can conduct for your facility or factory? In the section below, we will look at the three major types of preventive maintenance:
In time-based maintenance, you conduct maintenance operations at fixed intervals.
The maintenance and inspections are carried out at a fixed point in time, no matter how much the equipment has been used or how optimally it works.
You can schedule the inspections weekly, biweekly, or monthly to monitor their performance.
Now, this approach has some drawbacks. One of which is that it leads to over-maintenance and unnecessary costs associated with preventive maintenance.
The next type of preventive maintenance involves scheduling maintenance operations based on how much the equipment has been used. The maintenance operations are triggered based on KPIs such as operating hours or productive cycles.
This strategy is much better than time-based maintenance as it prevents over-maintenance of machinery and reflects the wear and tear of the equipment effectively.
The more a machine is used, the more it is going to experience wear and tear. Hence, scheduling maintenance based on usage is a better choice.
This approach relies on real-time monitoring of the equipment using various monitoring and diagnostic tools as well as sensors.
Maintenance operations are performed only when the sensors show that the equipment is likely to fail or is performing below its capabilities.
Of the three mentioned on the list, this approach is the most effective. However, it requires significant investment in installing sensors and diagnostic tools.
Preventive maintenance is one of the most vital steps that maintains the health of your machine and reduces the chances of downtime. This proactive approach prevents the event of an unplanned failure and proves to be quite cost-effective in the long run.
But before you invest in preventive maintenance, it is important to clearly understand the major types and their pros and cons to determine which approach is suitable for your budget and needs.
Ans: It is a proactive maintenance approach that includes routine servicing of machinery to reduce the chances of equipment failure, thereby increasing efficiency and saving money for the company.
Ans: The various types of proactive maintenance are:
Ans: This method prevents an unexpected equipment failure from occurring in the middle of operations, which increases efficiency, reduces the chances of downtime, and saves money for the firm.
Ans: The reactive approach deals with the fixing of machinery only when it encounters an issue, leading to wastage of time and productivity lost during that unplanned phase of repair.
