Determining The Right Maintenance Match For Your Organization’s Equipment
Though it may seem like a business is only as good as its employees, the truth is a manufacturing operation is always at the mercy of the equipment that supports it. This equipment will need some maintenance along the way to make sure it remains operating at its highest potential. The true challenge for the businesses supporting this machinery is determining which maintenance option is best. This post will serve as a deep dive into the two leading maintenance options: predictive and preventive maintenance.
Preventive maintenance has reigned over the manufacturing industry for some time now. This strategy is founded on a calendar driven maintenance approach, meaning performing maintenance on all pieces of equipment in a fleet at set intervals throughout the year. In most cases, these intervals are based on age and overall run time of any piece of equipment. The older and more time spent running, the more frequent the maintenance intervals for example. The opposite could be said of a younger, less ran machine.
The alternative to this strategy, known as predictive maintenance, is much more sophisticated than its counterpart. The philosophy is much different as well. Where preventive maintenance applies a blanket approach to maintaining equipment, predictive maintenance schedules are determined based on actual data from an organization’s equipment. This is made possible through integrated systems in each piece of equipment that detail the necessary data for businesses to assess the optimal maintenance schedule for any piece of equipment. While this strategy is clearly more efficient than its preventive counterpart, it is much more expensive to implement.
The upside to the predictive maintenance systems is that they’re becoming more and more simple to implement them into an organization’s operations. Largely in part due to the ever-growing branches of the Internet of Things. As more and more technologies are integrated into the IoT, the easier it becomes to more accurately track and assess equipment. The information that is collected as a result of these connections, is what gives organizations the ability to predict the maintenance required for any piece of their equipment. This efficiency is certainly unmatched by the preventive maintenance approach.
For any organization considering a change in maintenance approaches, it’s important to note that, despite its benefits, predictive maintenance might not always be the best fit for your business. Even with the best maintenance strategy, you will still encounter some form of unplanned downtime. Despite most organizations believing predictive maintenance is the better choice, the barriers to entry can likely keep a number of businesses from utilizing this strategy. Not only can cost become an issue, but the highly advanced technological systems required to operate these systems can also prove to be a challenge for staff.
If you believe your business could benefit from learning more about either of these strategies, perhaps serving as a conduit for major changes in your maintenance philosophies, take a minute to review the information found alongside the infographic shared with this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.
