What is Maintenance? – its Applications and Benefits

Over the years, maintenance has become one of the most important factors an organization or industry must accomplish. Learning and performing maintenance is a very broad topic all technological organizations must look into to keep organization and equipment in good working condition.

The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing, or replacing industrial items. This item might include devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, etc.

Well, in this reading, we’ll explore what maintenance is in organization exposition, its applications, types, advantages, disadvantages and examples.

What is Maintenance?

Maintenance in this scenario is referred to as Maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) which is also referred to as Maintenance, repair, and operations. The implementation of this maintenance and MRO has begun to become standardized.

The following stated below is the definition of maintenance assigned by the United States Department and Defense:

  • They defined it as any activity such as tests, measurements, replacements, adjustments, and repairs intended to retain or restore a functional unit in or to a specified state in can perform its required functions.
  • They also stated maintenance to be all action taken to retain material in a serviceable condition or to restore it to serviceability. It includes inspections, testing, servicing, classification as to serviceability, repair, rebuilding, and reclamation.
  • Maintenance can also be defined as all supply and repair actions taken to keep a force in condition to carry out its mission.
  • And finally, maintenance is a routine recurring work required to keep a facility (plant, building, structure, ground facility, utility system, and other real property) in such condition that may be continuously used, at its original or designed capacity and efficiency for its intended purpose.

Applications

In woodworking and metalworking organization that utilizes machine tools and other facilities for production, maintenance is strictly connected to the utilization stage of the product or technical system.

This means the concept of maintainability must be included.

In this case, maintainability is considered as the ability of an item, under stated conditions of use, to be retained in or restored to a state making it perform its required functions, using the set down prescribed procedures and resources.

All industries must implement the MRO standards to keep those things in perfect position.

Apart from the metalworking and woodworking field that sees the implementation of maintenance as a key purpose other areas such as the marine and air transportation, offshore structures, industrial plant, and facility management industries.

They all depend on maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

Types of Maintenance

The following stated below represent the basic types of maintenance that fall under the MRO:

  • Preventive Maintenance
  • Corrective Maintenance
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Predetermined Maintenance
  • Conditioned Based Maintenance
  • Reactive Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is abbreviated as PM. It is a routine for repeated inspection with the goal of noticing minor problems and fixing them before the major ones develop.

In this situation, the machine or equipment is in good condition, nothing breaks down.

In short for, preventive maintenance is a regular and periodic or time-based schedules.

The main purpose of preventive maintenance is for the equipment to make it from one planned service to the next planned service. This helps to avoid failures caused by fatigue, neglect, or normal wear which are preventable items.

Planned maintenance and Condition Maintenance help to achieve this by replacing worn components before they actually fail.

For instance, an equipment maintenance may change based on its age as frequent routine maintenance will be done as of when it’s new.

A good example of preventive maintenance is the routine cleaning of an air conditioning system. This maintenance is expected to be on schedule and ensure it is free of grit and dirt inside the casing and ensuring no blockage in the air intake.

In this maintenance, there is no specific problem with the system, but if not maintained, accumulation of dirt could cause problem later in the future.

So, this maintenance help to prevent difficulty in the future such as poor performance, increased energy usage or sudden break down.

The major benefits of preventive maintenance include prevention of major repairs, avoid sudden or emergency shutdown of the business, increasing product’s lifecycle as wear or tear is reduced, and finally keeping energy costs low.

Corrective Maintenance

The corrective type of maintenance is carried out after the complete breakdown or malfunction of equipment.

It is also known as unplanned corrective maintenance because the maintenance team must begin work as soon as the issue occur.

It tends to be expensive because there are multiple damages apart from the worn parts. Serious repair and replacement costs and loss of revenues due to downtime during overhaul can be meaningful.

Corrective maintenance also includes the rebuilding and resurfacing of equipment and infrastructure damaged by erosion and corrosion.

Some conventional processes like welding and metal flame spraying, as well as engineered solutions with thermoset polymeric material, will also be performed.

The purpose of this type of maintenance is to get the system back to its normal working condition as soon as possible.

This is because the breakdown could lead to loss of money as the operation is shutdown. A good example of corrective maintenance is repairing an air conditioning system that stop functioning or repairing it when it is not functioning at it maximum performance.

An excellent benefits of corrective maintenance include low cost of monthly maintenance, focuses on the main issues, and it is a straightforward process of maintenance

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is more advanced in sensing and computing technology. It uses the maintenance strategy to monitor key parameters within a system or machine.

It uses the data with the analysed historical trends to continuously evaluate the system’s health and also predict a breakdown before it happens.

The predictive type of maintenance tends to be more efficient due to the fact that more up-to-date data is collected about the machine issues.

Predictive maintenance is known as a data-driven approach to conducting maintenance tasks, utilizing data to identify when maintenance is needed and predict potential machine failures.

Some good examples of predictive maintenance include alarms sounding when internal temperature moves outside safe parameters.

Also, sensors in data centers’ server rooms alerting when the internal temperature is too hot, engine sensors monitoring misfires, and a refrigeration truck sensor monitoring internal temperatures.

These notifying does not necessarily indicate a complete failure of the system but it means it’s approaching a range where catastrophic failure can occur.

Predictive maintenance may require higher setup costs, it can save money by improving product quality, reducing breakdown, improving equipment performance, and increasing customer satisfaction.

Additionally, automation can reduce maintenance labor, as automation can become part of the predictive process.

predictive maintenance offers numerous benefits, including improved equipment performance, customer satisfaction, and reduced maintenance labor costs.

Predetermined Maintenance

Predetermined maintenance is a plan action developed by the manufacturer of equipment, rather than a scheduled maintenance.

For example, machinery maintenance is scheduled at time intervals based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, such as oil changes every fourth month, transmission service at a certain number of hours of run time, Parts X, Y, and Z checking for wear after one year of use, and engine replacement after a certain number of years.

This approach extends the life of assets and is generally cost-effective, as it allows for planning for the purchase of parts and maintenance tasks.

Some good benefits of predetermined maintenance include being easier to schedule and manage, including labor, and is outlined by the manufacturer.

It also allows for scheduling technicians rather than hiring maintenance personnel.

Conditioned Based Maintenance 

Condition-based maintenance is a method of checking the range of normal operating conditions of machines. This method involves observing the engine’s performance and adjusting the maintenance accordingly.

For instance, a check engine light in a car indicates an issue with the engine’s range, requiring scheduled maintenance.

This process can also be applied to self-monitoring machines or those that require physical inspections.

Additionally, a machine’s increased energy consumption, such as a shorter fuel tank or a sudden spike in electrical usage, can also make use of a conditioned based maintenance.

In essence, condition-based maintenance is crucial for maintaining the functionality of machines. It shows a lower cost than complete failure of a machine due to scheduling anomalies when they begin.

This approach reduces downtime, energy consumption, and increases productivity by allowing equipment to run in peak performance for longer periods. As performance drops, there are less failures as maintenance occurs as the equipment’s performance declines.

Reactive Maintenance

Reactive maintenance, also known as Run-to-failure or urgent maintenance. It is a system that responds when a failure of machinery or systems occurs.

It can be handled in-house by the manufacturer, or through a combination of in-house maintenance and the manufacturer’s technicians.

Examples of reactive maintenance include a car wash at a local gas station breaking, and the maintenance team being notified. The costs of reactive maintenance can range from minor repairs to total machinery replacement, making it difficult to predict.

Some benefits of reactive maintenance include fewer maintenance staff, fewer employees, and wages paid out regularly.

Additionally, there are fewer costs to implementation, as no regular maintenance means no labor or part costs until failure occurs.

How to Choose the Right and Best Maintenance?

To choose the best maintenance strategy you have to consider the cost of equipment failure and the potential impact on customers. If the cost is higher than repair, a reactive maintenance approach may be suitable.

Conversely, if the cost is higher, a proactive approach may be of better choice.

Factors to consider include time for maintenance, production loss cost, and customer impact. Businesses may need multiple types of maintenance depending on their operations.

Preventative maintenance protects customer satisfaction and reduces legal risks, while reactive maintenance may be more economical for equipment under warranty or nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Consider choosing the right maintenance for your equipment.

Share with others!

Leave a Comment