While running a business or an industry, running into errors and failures is a common thing. Despite being common, errors and failures can cause a lot of financial as well as operational setbacks. I’ve seen many companies become victims of these errors and lose a fortune.
For me, the best way to deal with these types of errors the proper way is via preventive maintenance. It is an effective proactive approach where errors are dealt with before they can occur.
In this article, I am going to discuss preventive maintenance in detail. I’ll go over its examples, types and discuss how you can implement it.
What is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is a special approach that professionals use to make sure equipment as well as facilities keep working properly.
It is a proactive approach where the equipment and systems are monitored regularly in order to identify and deal with potential errors before they can occur.
In usual cases, people wait for the equipment or a system to show an error so that they can fix it. However, in preventive maintenance, instead of waiting for the system to break down, professionals keep on maintaining it regularly so that an error can be fixed timely manner or even before it occurs.
Major Preventive Maintenance Examples:
Reviewing examples of preventive maintenance is important in order to understand it fully. I’ve discussed some of the major ones below:
1. Equipment Cleaning To Avoid Unexpected Errors:
Equipment cleaning is one of the simplest and most common examples of preventive maintenance. Many equipment break down or stop functioning at their fullest potential because of the dust and dirt within them.
To prevent this from happening, regular equipment cleaning is performed. Professionals spend time cleaning the equipment properly in order to keep the dirt and dust away.
2. Updating Software To Keep It Secure:
Another simple example of this early maintenance is installing updates in software. It is pretty common in the IT and development industries. Besides that, it also applies to personal lives as well.
A software or an application requires installing new updates provided by the developers to stay safe from external security threats. Instead of waiting for the attack to happen and then fixing it, installing software updates regularly eradicates the threat in the first place.
3. Truck Preventive Maintenance With Proper Lubrication:
Trucks require regular lubrication, along with several other things, in order to keep working smoothly. If the main parts aren’t lubricated properly, the truck can break down at any moment.
To prevent this from happening, you have to keep on lubricating the parts regularly. When you do that, you actually prevent an error even before it occurs.
4. Air Conditioner Maintenance:
Air conditioners are widely used during the summer season, and they remain unused in winter. Many people maintain air conditioners right before they start using them in summer.
On the other hand, with preventive maintenance, air conditioners are checked and maintained a regular intervals (even during winter). It helps make sure that the machine is fine and does not break down unexpectedly when it’s time to use it.
5. Preventive Maintenance On a Hot Water Heater:
Preventive maintenance on a hot water heater involves using a proper maintenance procedure consisting of different techniques.
These techniques are applied to make sure that the water heater keeps working fine and the errors are dealt with before they occur. It involves cleaning the heater constantly and making sure that the key components, like the anode rod, keep working fine.
Major Types Of Preventive Maintenance:
One special thing about preventive maintenance is that it has multiple types. Each type is performed differently and focuses on different goals. I’ve discussed some of the key types below:
1. Time-Based Maintenance:
The first type of preventive maintenance that I am going to discuss here is Time-Based Maintenance (TBM). It is one of the simplest types and works in a straightforward way. In this type, equipment and facilities are maintained in a regular time period.
Professionals decide a time when they maintain the system. For example, they can run maintenance every week, month, or six months to make sure everything is working fine. The exact amount of decided time depends on the needs and requirements of the company as well as the type of equipment.
2. Usage-Based Maintenance:
Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM) is another major type of preventive maintenance. It is also an easy-to-perform type, but it works differently from TBM. In this type, people maintain the system or the equipment after using it for a certain period.
That’s why it is also known as the Meter-Based Maintenance. People use different tools and meters to record the usage of the machine. Once the meter hits a certain mark, the professionals start the maintenance process and fix any existing or potential errors.
3. Predictive Maintenance:
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is one of the most advanced and efficient types of preventive maintenance. It includes advanced monitoring tools that continuously monitor the performance of a machine.
When the machine starts showing any strange signs or certain thresholds are breached, the tool indicates it to the supervisors. As a result, supervisors start the maintenance process so that the machine or system can be saved from errors.
4. Risk-Based Management:
Companies that work with multiple machines and systems simultaneously usually use the Risk-Based Management (RBM) approach to handle future errors. It is an approach in which systems are prioritized based on the severity of consequences if a failure occurs.
In simple words, systems with more severe consequences are maintained first, and the systems with less severity are maintained after that. It’s a good approach for people who are on a budget since they can allocate resources to maintain the facilities that matter the most.
5. Prescriptive Maintenance:
Prescriptive Maintenance (RxM) is the most advanced form of preventive maintenance. It uses Artificial Intelligence, specifically Machine Learning, to predict errors.
Besides making predictions, it uses real-time data in order to provide the best solution to make sure these errors don’t occur. It explains to professionals what they need to do, how they need to do it, and where it needs to be done.
How To Implement Preventive Maintenance?
Implementing preventive maintenance can sound like a simple thing to do, but it’s really not. It requires a careful consideration of your equipment and system so that you can pick the right type of maintenance and deal with the errors.
However, if you follow a certain series of steps, you’ll be able to implement this strategy in your business easily. I’ve discussed the details of these steps below:
1. Establish Clear Goals:
The first and foremost thing that you need to do is sit down and establish clear goals. Each company has different types of goals that it would like to achieve with preventive maintenance.
It could be reducing downtime, cutting costs, or simply improving the lifespan of the machines or systems. So, decide what you want as the end goal for this maintenance first. It will help you out with dealing with the rest of the steps.
How To Do It?
- Understand the current maintenance challenges that you are facing.
- Identify how you would like your systems to work in an ideal situation.
- Use the SMART goals technique.
- Don’t forget to take the opinions of other team members.
2. Pick A Preventive Maintenance Type:
Once you have identified your goals, it’s time to pick a preventive maintenance type. The details of these types have been discussed already. You simply need to understand which type will be suitable to achieve the goals you’ve just created.
Keep in mind that each type is implemented in a different way and has different consequences. So, it is important that you deal with a professional business consultant in case you’re having trouble picking the right type.
Why Picking The Right Type Matters?
- It makes sure that you actually achieve your goals.
- It improves the way you maintain systems for better performance.
- It makes sure that you don’t run into trouble for not maintaining the systems the right way.
Pro Tip:
Consult with the maintenance team to understand the usage pattern of systems to pick a suitable maintenance approach.
3. Set KPIs For Performance Monitoring:
Now, it’s time to set some KPIs for performance monitoring, which I think is one of the most important steps in this series. When you start employing preventive maintenance, there’s no clear way to judge their efficiency since it deals with the errors even before they occur.
So, it’s important to understand how you’re going to know whether the applied approach is working or not. The best way to do it is by setting some Key Performance Indicators. These are benchmarks that will help measure the success of the maintenance approaches.
Top KPIs For Preventive Maintenance:
- Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
- Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
- Maintenance Cost per Unit of Production
4. Implement The Maintenance Protocols:
Finally, it’s time to implement the maintenance protocols within your business. This step is where all the action happens. Here, you actually apply all the rules and regulations related to the maintenance to the actual systems.
How To Do It?
- Create a proper preventive maintenance schedule and assign it to the teams.
- Share SOPs with the workforce to make sure all the maintenance tasks are carried out perfectly.
- Prevention maintenance software and tools are shared with the team for efficient working.
Pro Tip:
Make sure that all of your team has access to the latest maintenance schedule information to avoid any mishaps.
5. Monitor And Adapt:
This last step is equally important as the others discussed above. Applying the preventive maintenance protocols isn’t enough. You have to keep on monitoring them regularly to make sure they’re providing the right type of results.
Monitoring the process helps with understanding the system’s weak points. As a result, you can adapt to the situation and make improvements in the process to make sure its performance aligns with the company’s goals.
How to Do It?
- Regularly evaluate the KPIs and understand the received data.
- Create a proper preventive maintenance checklist and conduct audits routinely.
- Ask for performance and maintenance feedback from employees.
Final Verdict
Preventive maintenance is one of the most efficient ways to deal with errors in a system even before they occur. This takes safety measures using different maintenance approaches to make sure the company doesn’t face any downtime or financial loss.
There are multiple types of maintenance that companies are using to handle errors. Applying preventive maintenance in your company is easy if you follow the discussed series of steps with focus.
People Also Ask For:
1. What are the 4 types of preventive maintenance?
The 4 main types of preventive maintenance are Risk-Based, Usage-Based, Predictive, and Risk-Based maintenance.
2. What are the main objectives of preventive maintenance?
There are several objectives of preventive maintenance. However, making sure that the errors are fixed even before they occur is one of the main objectives.
3. What is the difference between preventive and routine maintenance?
The main focus of routine maintenance is to focus on the general method of inspection and fixing. On the other hand, preventive maintenance uses a proactive approach for maintenance.
4. How would you provide preventive maintenance to your system?
Providing this maintenance approach in your system is easy. First, you need to identify your end goals and pick a maintenance type.
