Without a proper maintenance schedule, many manufacturing operations around the world would cease to exist. For most companies, the two most common maintenance strategies for manufacturing equipment are preventive and predictive maintenance. Despite their differences, both of these strategies possess the same goal: maintaining the health and integrity of any and all equipment.
To effectively choose the most suitable strategy for your business, it is crucial to grasp the distinctions between preventive and reactive maintenance, along with the benefits they offer. Among the two, preventive maintenance is undoubtedly the more commonly adopted approach. This strategy revolves around implementing a comprehensive maintenance schedule, where each piece of equipment utilized in a factory undergoes routine maintenance at predefined intervals, tailored to its unique characteristics. Such maintenance is generally provided by professionals available at sites like handsforhirecommercial.com and others similar providing services for a variety of regions. They will typically offer customized maintenance plans designed to fit a property or business’s needs efficiently. They generally anticipate the issues and provide emergency round-the-clock service, potentially reducing the cost of maintenance and avoiding disruptions to the business flow.
For instance, for newer and less frequently used machinery like a CNC router, the maintenance intervals may be set every 6 months, ensuring its optimal performance and longevity. On the other hand, heavy-duty machines like an elevator may necessitate more frequent repairs and part replacements (to learn about common parts, see more here), prompting a handful of scheduled maintenance sessions throughout the year. The aim is to keep the machinery in prime condition, minimize downtime, and mitigate the risk of major breakdowns.
Alternatively, for companies hoping to more efficiently schedule maintenance, predictive maintenance has become a much more popular approach to ensuring the status and integrity of any piece of equipment. The process involves collecting data from the equipment, such as temperature, vibration, and pressure readings, and analyzing this data to identify patterns and predict maintenance needs. And it is these numbers on the charts that can help identify parts that need servicing or replacements. For example, solid contaminants in the oil tanks could be a direct result of an old double block & bleed valve. And since the contamination can result in blockages that affect pressure and flow, there could be lower productivity in addition to a risk of accidents. So, when the need arises, there should be quality and maintenance checks made regularly.
However, despite the costs associated with these systems, the implementation has continued to become easier. As more and more machines are becoming compatible with the Internet of Things, the more common these systems have become in manufacturing operations around the world. The information from these systems that get fed to managers allow a much clearer insight than preventive maintenance would ever provide. As such, the ‘predictions’ for when machines require maintenance is much more accurately measured. By analyzing machine details, manufacturers can also identify potential wiring and component problems, and such dangerous parts and wires are identified and labeled (with self laminating calibration labels) before they pose a safety threat. This data also allows managers to better predict when their equipment is at risk for failure and what must change to avoid any amount of down-time as a result of failure.
Regardless of these advantages, more often than not these systems will remain out of reach for a majority of organizations. Their inaccessibility might not be too much of an issue, though. These systems bear a very high cost to begin, but they also require near seamless integration in order to get the most out of them. Another downside is the required retraining of existing employees to work alongside these new systems and new platforms that may be required as a result of these systems. However, if your business has enough capital to support the transition, the benefits will likely outweigh the cost. It may just take a slight adjustment period.
For additional information on the advantages and disadvantages of these two strategies, in addition to how to properly differentiate between the two, be sure to check out the featured resource of this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.
