The importance of preventive maintenance
The term ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ still applies to many industries. But due to increasing costs of downtime, we want to emphasize on the benefits of preventive maintenance.
Operator and machine safety
By performing a regular preventive maintenance, you are assured your equipment remains to operate under safe conditions, both for the machine and the operators. Possible issues can be nipped in the but before they have a chance to cause harm.
Machine efficiency
Normal wear and tear can result in lower machine efficiency. Preventive maintenance assures optimal working conditions and conserves the life span of the equipment.
Time savings
A planned preventive maintenance may cause small hindrance for production, but that is nothing compared to actual downtime caused by a breakdown. Because it is planned, production can propose the optimal time and can factor in the nuisance. Preventative maintenance procedures take less time than emergency repairs and replacements.
Implementing a preventive maintenance program
Preventative maintenance for your heating and air conditioning systems keeps the facility environment at healthy temperature, humidity and air quality levels for equipment, chemicals, product inventory and people. Preventative maintenance plans include parts, emergency repairs and, when required, entire replacements. Properly done, preventive maintenance can:
- Minimize downtime and comfort issues
- Extend equipment life
- Ensure equipment reliability
- Reduce operating costs
- Maximize efficiency
INTRODUCTION TO EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE PLAN (EMP)
Electrical equipment malfunctions and failures are responsible for million dollar losses to facilities, industries and businesses worldwide. As an equipment starts to display signs of electrical aging, it should act as a trigger for the employer or owner to carry out preventive maintenance to avoid catastrophic failure.
The NFPA 70B provides general guidelines for the implementation of a useful maintenance plan by breaking it down into six major categories.
WHY IS AN EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE PLAN (EMP) REQUIRED?
All kinds of electrical equipment eventually begin to portray symptoms from aging. An effective maintenance plan can reduce the downtime of the facility by scheduling proper outages coinciding with routine maintenance activities. For the safety of the equipment as well as the personnel on site, OSHA recommends regular preventive maintenance for the equipment being operated under hazardous conditions.
POWER SYSTEMS STUDIES ROLE IN EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE PLAN
Electrical power systems studies are an integral part of an effective equipment maintenance program. They provide valuable information for the reliability assessment of the system.
Improved Reliability
Preventive maintenance can also help a company to be a more reliable business partner. Customers can count on a company to deliver products, materials, or service on time, without unnecessary delays. A resort with broken air conditioning will not succeed for long. By always offering a reliable product or service, a company can enhance its customer service and improve its reputation.
Conservation of Assets
Most equipment these days is certainly not cheap, but the better a company cares for its equipment, the longer it will last. Preventive maintenance will prolong the life of equipment so a company can get more hours out the equipment, resulting in reduced costs and increased profit.
The numerous benefits of preventive maintenance has caused many maintenance managers to shift from reactive maintenance to a regular, routine preventive maintenance plan meant to prevent problems and optimize equipment. Today’s CMMS software helps facilitate preventive maintenance by helping schedule maintenance tasks and keep organized records of all inspections and fixes. Preventive maintenance is the best option for companies that want to succeed long term, and therefore understand that they need a long term plan for proper equipment upkeep.
Benefits
There are two primary benefits from implementing effective preventive maintenance in a facility:
- The direct benefits of preventive maintenance programs in the reduced costs of repairs and minimized or eliminated downtime and
- Safety for personnel and property damage. The first item is far easier to measure than the second, as it is hard to predict how a failure in electrical equipment may cause injury or death, but it can happen. Chapter 2 of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, provides important safety-related maintenance requirements. An effective preventive maintenance program provides various management responsibilities that will help keep repair and replacement costs down and production at desired levels.
Developing an effective program
Good economic judgment is necessary for developing an effective electrical preventive maintenance program. As indicated earlier, two objectives of such a program should be focused on enhancing safety and reducing equipment failure and loss. A crucial element is having responsible and qualified personnel to understand and implement the program. The program should include regular inspections, periodic testing and servicing of equipment, and effective record-keeping. When developing an electrical preventive maintenance program, a thorough survey and analysis will identify equipment and systems that are essential and will itemize them into a hierarchy of importance. Once the priorities are established, appropriate schedules can be developed. There are four basic steps that should be taken to develop an electrical preventive maintenance program. First, compile a list of electrical equipment in the facility. Second, determine which equipment is most critical for the operation. Third, implement a monitoring system for length of use and duty cycles, and identify signs of failure or fatigue. And fourth, determine the staffing needs and expertise of personnel that will perform the service and maintenance operations.