Impact Evaluation – How Maintenance Is Extending Equipment Longevity
Every industry creates and bases their maintenance efforts differently. Any business directing their maintenance investments incorrectly is inevitably going to fail as a result of long term equipment failure. In hopes to avoid this, every business must develop a strategy fit for their needs. This is typically done through a preventive maintenance approach or the predictive maintenance approach.
As the former implies, preventive maintenance, is a strategy that organizations look to in hopes of preventing unexpected downtime through regular maintenance intervals for all pieces of equipment. With these intervals scattered throughout the year, they’re often determined based on a number of key characteristics of each piece of equipment. Age and run being the two most important aspects. Meaning the oldest equipment and the equipment with the highest run time will require more maintenance throughout the year than those newer machines with far less run time.
Predictive maintenance is a strategy that utilizes real time data collection in order to determine a piece of equipment’s maintenance schedule. Rather than performing maintenance on a set schedule for all pieces of equipment, this method suggests maintenance to be done on the equipment as needed. Much different from its preventive counterpart. This approach does have some cons, though, as predictive maintenance systems are much more expensive for organizations to implement.
While the costs to implement these systems are high, the actual implementation has never been easier. As more and more pieces of equipment find their way into the Internet of Things, the easier it becomes to more accurately track all pieces of equipment connected. The information that is able to be collected in real time as a result of these systems are what make it easier to predict the optimal maintenance period for a certain piece of equipment. For example, the performance data, surrounding temperature, or any other indicator of a machine may give managers a better idea of when this piece of equipment will require maintenance. This, in turn, leads to an increase in efficiency and less down time for organizations most important pieces of equipment.
Despite their advantages, as mentioned previously, cost will often keep organizations from benefiting from predictive maintenance systems. For some organizations, this inaccessibility is actually a benefit. Disregarding the cost for a moment, organizations would have to adapt in other means when utilizing a predictive maintenance system. For example, integrating these systems into existing organizational processes can be difficult. What’s even more challenging, though, is retraining employees regarding these systems. For some tenure employees, this could mean asking them to completely reconsider everything they’ve known about maintenance to the day. Certainly not an easy task for any employee. With that being said, if you believe your organization is capable of investing the capital and have enough trust in your employees to make the transition smooth, predictive maintenance is the route to take.
Interested in learning more about the various advantages and challenges associated with maintenance and these two approaches in particular? Take a moment to check out the infographic coupled alongside this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.
