While core maintenance philosophies may differ around the world, most manufacturing operations are left to establish their strategies based on two premier maintenance approaches: preventive and predictive maintenance. The goal of both of these approaches is the same: maintaining the health and stability of any machinery used in production processes. The way in which this is accomplished is very different between the two approaches, though.
In order to understand the benefits and challenges each of these approaches present to organizations, it’s important to understand the differences between them. Beginning with the approach that has served as a foundation for the industry, preventive maintenance. This is a sweeping approach in that it includes regular maintenance on all pieces of an organization’s equipment throughout the year. Meaning even pieces of equipment that might not require anything more than one of these maintenance appointments, they’ll continue to be reviewed. These intervals are determined by key aspects of the machinery. Age, run time and the like determine how much time is between each maintenance session.
The more effective alternative to preventive maintenance comes in the form of predictive maintenance. Much more dynamic in nature, this approach disregards regularly scheduled maintenance and instead develops a maintenance schedule based on information fed straight from the machine. With systems that connect to the equipment and collect data, organizations are able to more effectively utilize their maintenance resources based on analysis predicated on this collected data. Unfortunately, administering these systems is much more expensive than a preventive maintenance approach.
While they may not be getting any cheaper, these systems are certainly becoming easier and easier to implement. Largely as a result of becoming so common in the industry, these systems have opened up the Internet of Things capabilities offered to the equipment commonly used by organizations. The more machines that become connected to this network, the more accurate the data that is being reported back to owners and managers become. The more accurate the data, the more likely the maintenance that is being conducted is the correct maintenance and should prolong the equipment’s life.
While the advantages for these systems certainly outweigh the costs, organizations are often left without a choice but to default to preventive maintenance. The barriers to entry for these systems are just too high for the average organization in the industry. Not only do they require an enormous amount of initial capital to be invested, they also require a retraining of existing employees. New systems means new and existing employees alike will have to be retrained to work alongside these new systems, which can present an even larger challenge than investment. Without the capital and correct staff, integrating these systems can be impossible. If your organization is ready to take the leap, however, you could greatly benefit!
For additional information on how to get the most out of your organization’s maintenance strategy, be sure to review the infographic coupled alongside this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.
