A Preventive Maintenance Plan Delivers Reliability
A preventive maintenance plan should deliver the results that are essential for good maintenance and reliability. Preventive maintenance is any maintenance we do to prevent further, more consequential maintenance. Unfortunately, many (if not most) production departments view almost all scheduled PMs as a nuisance and an interruption to productivity. It is crucial to consider the role of maintenance and how the proper execution of preventive maintenance activities can lead to greater productivity.
Efficient And Effective Preventive Maintenance Keeps Production Moving
Inefficient and ineffective preventive maintenance strategies and programs lead plant and facility managers to blame breakdowns on the person who last performed PM on the equipment. Consider this often repeated question, “Who PM this last?” This is problematic because the real issue is that components aren’t lasting until their next scheduled maintenance. This is a failure of the plan, not the crew.
An effective preventive maintenance program should assure production that a technician’s signature on a PM work order guarantees that the component they just performed maintenance on will last through the next PM, barring any catastrophic incident (like being hit by a fork truck).
OEM Recommendations Are Not A Preventive Maintenance Plan
Common sources for preventive and predictive maintenance tasks and requirements include:
- Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) recommendations
- Corporate or company policy
- Regulatory (Federal, State, or Municipality)
- Engineering directive
- Tasks applicable to similar equipment or components
- Tribal knowledge
- Good Maintenance Practices (e.g. ASME, NFPA, etc.)
In a perfect world, a preventive maintenance program following guidelines set down by manufacturers’ standards should ensure that maintenance is primarily predictive rather than reactive after a component has already begun to fail. It is becoming less and less likely that the OEM can serve as a reasonable source for PM mandates, however. All too frequently their suggested protocols are absurdly inadequate. PM protocols advised by the OEM should be considered a starting point, not a plan. Basically, the OEM of the component doesn’t know your context of operation.
Elements Of An Effective Planned Maintenance Program
An effective planned maintenance program has four categories:
- Planned periodic inspection
Inspections by qualified and trained personnel are designed to detect trouble before it happens and to schedule required repairs quickly, without unnecessary disruption of production.
- Adequate and correct lubrication programs
The correct lubrication of every piece of machinery or system component is the most important work that maintenance does in terms of preventive efforts.
- Corrective adjustments and repairs
Inspectors should work from a planned checklist that covers all points of wear on the components, and have a column indicating each task is ‘OK’ or that the component required additional maintenance like repair or adjustment.
- Complete and accurate records for historical and trending purposes
Good record keeping allows us to determine when repairs and replacements should be scheduled to prevent problems from developing, the type and quantity of spare parts that should be kept on hand, and to avoid overstocking parts that are not needed.
A preventive maintenance program tailored to the needs of your specific plant and following these guidelines will keep your plant running more cost-effectively in the long run.
Maintenance Innovators Will Create Your Preventive Maintenance Plan
Maintenance Innovators, Inc. has over thirty-six years of experience building and executing highly effective and efficient preventive maintenance programs. We will work with you as a valued partner to build a Preventive Maintenance Plan and practice that successfully guards your asset’s inherent reliability. The results of your preventive maintenance should be the number one driver of your planning and scheduling. Call (913) 633-4009 or click here to get started today!