What is preventive maintenance? The Beginner's Guide to Running PM (2023)

Preventive Maintenance (PM)esplanned maintenancethat prolongs the useful life of the company's facilities, equipment and infrastructure. PM is also known as "preventive" and includes adjustments, cleaning, lubrication, repairs and replacements.

Equipment failure cannot be ruled out, it will happen. However, preventive maintenance programs have been shown to reduce downtime, protect employees and save a lot of money in unnecessary expenses.

In this guide, you'll learn how preventive maintenance can save money, reduce downtime, and improve security for businesses of all sizes and types.

We also cover how to create a preventive maintenance plan, determine what type of PM system is right for your facility, and evaluateComputerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)for optimized automation.

What is preventive maintenance?

Big problems are often caused by small mistakes.

Disorganized maintenance schedules can cause the most devastating plant accidents, operational losses and lost production.

As reported byPumps and Systems,one of yourThe 700 PS condensate pumpexperienced several failures over a 30-year period. During that time, in-house technicians learned how to replace a pump part.

However, over time, as experienced workers began to quit, the factory lost information on how to properly repair the pump. Unfortunately the plant was lost.13 million dollarsdue to the collapse of a substructure causing a chain of preventable equipment failures.

Obviously, not all maintenance errors carry as many risks. But even small betting errors result in unnecessary financial loss, reduced productivity and frustration. As already mentioned, the title of this guideesthe solution.

1. What is preventive/preventive maintenance?

preventive maintenanceit means solving small problems before they become big ones.The main objectives of preventive maintenance programs are to a) maximize the useful life of an asset and b) avoid unplanned downtime.

lack of timeIt is the time that a system, machine or equipment remains inoperative.condition monitoringit is a key component of preventive maintenance programs.condition monitoringis the evaluation of specific signs of machine behavior (temperatures, vibrations, oil levels) to check for imminent failures.

For example, technicians have to replace machine bearings after so many hours because they are not designed to last forever. The following three characteristics define the scope of project management tasks across industries.

The 3 Elements of Preventive Maintenance

1. systematic
2. routinely performed
3. Your goal is to reduce or minimize errors.

The 5 components of PM

For example, let's say you don't change your vehicle's oil every 5,000 miles. It probably won't be long. A breakdown on the side of the road is not only inconvenient, but also dangerous!

Clearly, large companies have the most to lose by ignoring the manufacturer's maintenance recommendations. Not only would replacing 200 vehicles in the fleet five years earlier than necessary be inconvenient; It would be expensive and dangerous!

Companies can maximize their investments by decreasing excessive depreciation, deterioration and asset malfunctions.

Click here for more information on scheduled maintenance.

2. Preventive maintenance vs. reactive maintenance

Alternatively, maintenance, i.e.Noperformed proactively or at routine intervalsreactive maintenance.

reactive maintenanceit means waiting for small problems to become big problems before doing anything about them. often calledRun-to-Failure-Wartung,Reactive maintenance means that an asset is never inspected until it fails or you notice that a specific part is not working properly.

according to thatInformar a Schneider Electric, “Predictive maintenance strategy for building operations: a better approach“55% of US companiesperform only reactive maintenance.

ONE2019 survey conducted by Plant Engineeringconfirms these results: more than half of respondents still practice only reactive maintenance. And only a third of facility managers surveyed practiced preventive maintenance to30+ hours per week.

Click here for more information on Preventative vs. Maintenance. Reactive.

Why doesn't everyone practice preventive maintenance?

Considering the proven benefits, you might be wondering:Why aren't more organizations prioritizing preventive maintenance programs?

According to our research, maintenance departments don't always have good asset management systems in place. This makes not only routine maintenance difficult, but also making informed decisions based on plant history.

It's true - starting with azero preventative maintenance programit can be intimidating! Many maintenance teams are so overwhelmed with reactive maintenance that they can't imagine finding time for preventive maintenance.

(Video) Scheduled Preventative Maintenance at G&P Trucking Company, Tyler Walker

Depending on the number of assets available and the number of workers available to runoneMaintenance recommended by the manufacturer seems impossible.

For example, a small property management team might need 200 assetsroutine, whereas a large production facility might have 20,000 assets!Diretrizes do American National Standards Institute (ANSI).provide a starting point for standard equipment maintenance.

However, most organizations can handle the sheer volume of asset data without aCMMS.Unfortunately, many companies reject existing CMMS solutions due to complex interfaces, lack of functionality and high prices.

Click here for more information on scheduled maintenance.

What kind of maintenance should you do?

As a comprehensive strategy, reactive maintenance is not cost-effective. The volatile nature of equipment downtime often leads to unplanned expenses.

Not only do reactive facilities lose money on faulty equipment, they also waste capital on costs associated with lost productivity, overtime, and parts purchases. However, this does not mean that technicians need to perform preventive maintenance on all assets.

The cost to run the PM must always be less than the cost of failureFor example, suppose the cost of downtime for a given asset is $500 and the cost of preventive maintenance is $800. In that case, PM would be a waste of time and money.

The company could save $300 if it went bankrupt. vice versa PMwillmeans financial savings for many critical assets. Here's an example: hotel employees turn mattresses every week to prolong their life. This small project management practice results in millions of dollars in savings for hotels around the world.

See Also

What is preventive maintenance? All you need to knowPreventive Maintenance: Simply Explained | ToolSense Glossarypreventive maintenanceWhat is preventive maintenance? 🇧🇷 Analysis steps

Bottom line: Organizations that adopt a general preventive maintenance philosophy save more money than those that don't.

As reported inwall street newspaper, unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers more than $50 billion a year. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of both preparation methods.

3. The pros and cons of preventive maintenance

Managers must consider several factors when evaluating preventive versus reactive maintenance for individual assets. While one method is not better than the other, it's important to understand the differences when developing department-wide strategies.

advantage

1.greater security

The more frequently assets are scanned, the less likely it is that there are dangerous issues. Adhering to preventive maintenance schedules reduces the risk of unexpected breakdowns, health hazards and liability claims.

2.Longer equipment life

Project management programs ensure that features are performed according to manufacturer and consumer guidelines. As underperforming parts are updated, factories operate at a consistent level of productivity throughout the year. This reduces the frequency of capital expenditures required to purchase new equipment.

3.increased productivity

With information from Deloitte, inadequate maintenance strategies can reduce a company's production capacity by 20%. Modern preventive maintenance solutions allow operations managers to digitize key equipment details, assign recurring work orders and view asset history from the convenience of their smartphones.

4.reduced costs

Reactive maintenance downtime makes for costly repairs. Using equipment to the point of failurecan cost 10 times morethan regular maintenance. Sometimes insiders can make these repairs quickly.

In other cases, organizations have to wait for third-party professionals to do the work. Organizations that adopt PM experience fewer outages, which translates to higher performance.Laut Jones Lang LaSalles „Determining the value of preventive maintenance,” A telecom company achieved a 545% ROI by implementing a preventive maintenance plan.

5.Less power consumption

Poorly maintained electrical systems often use more energy than those operating under normal conditions. PM allows energy depletion issues to be resolved quickly, resulting in lower utility bills. The more energy your business saves, the greater your profits. Alternatively, commonly cited disadvantages of project management programs include:

Disadvantages

1.budget constraints

Traditionally, the cost of implementing advanced digital maintenance solutions has been prohibitive for smaller companies. From expensive software solutions to allocating man hours to get work done, project management is often considered a luxury. However, in recent years, some vendors have made this goal more achievable.

2.More resources are needed

As more procedures need to be completed throughout the year, your business may need more employees, more parts, and more capital each month. Depending on the complexity of your organization, you may only need to prioritize PM for essential features.

3.waste of time

Companies that switch to preventive maintenance philosophies sometimes feel like they are doing more work. The reality is that they are! Taking the time to inspect complicated equipment involving multiple parts can be tedious. Even companies without complex machines may be initially reluctant to take on routine tasks.

4.hard to organize

As mentioned above, developing a project management program without an organizational system can be a disaster. With hundreds, let alone thousands, of assets to manage, no management team can rely on storage or whiteboards alone.

Folders full of paper checklists make it difficult to find what you need when you need it. And traditional CMMS solutions can seem overwhelming with a dizzying number of steps. having said thatmodern platforms like KeepXthey require zero to little training to use immediately after installation.

Which option is better?

There are pros and cons to having a department dedicated to preventive maintenance. However, thanks to modern technology, the advantages for most companies far outweigh the disadvantages.

The right CMMS platform can eliminate inefficient workflows, poor organizational systems and poor communication issues.

Before we dive into project management program improvement tips, let's take a look at the industries that can benefit the most from project management programs.

4. Industries that benefit from preventive maintenance programs

Any organization with assets that require maintenance can benefit from preventive maintenance plans. Here are some of the areas where KeepX has helped streamline maintenance operations:

Have you ever wondered when and why the industry started to adopt preventive maintenance? If so, keep reading! If not, scroll down to the next section on the four main types of preventive maintenance.

5. Preventive maintenance statistics

Gathering useful preventive maintenance statistics can be difficult when studies are mostly conducted by consulting firms and software vendors every few years.

You might also wonder if the success one industry is experiencing with PM can be replicated in yours. Therefore, it is better to take into account any outrageous success claims and pay more attention to more pragmatic gains:

As you can see, investing in the right maintenance schedule will almost always increase productivity and reduce costs in the long run.

6.The history of preventive maintenance

During World War II, the concept of productivity regained importance for manufacturers around the world. Although buyers had more purchasing power than ever before, many factory workers were conscripted into military service.

The inverse relationship between demand for products and available labor has catalyzed unprecedented levels of mechanical productivity, innovation and invention. Factories around the world began to rely on complex machines to do what humans did. This led to the observation that equipment failures could be mitigated through preventive maintenance.

1950-1960

In the late 1950s, American airlines were at a crossroads; What was once an exciting adventure is now a daily necessity. As the number of commercial passengers steadily increased, so did the demand for aircraft maintenance. As a result, the industry's high maintenance costs led to a combined investigationthe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airline representatives🇧🇷 The task force created a set of preventive maintenance guidelines that both airlines and aircraft manufacturers can use when creating maintenance programs.

Over the years, recommendations for maintenance procedures have evolved for many large aircraft, including the Boeing 747. The massive aircraft required 66,000 man hours of major structural inspections before performing a major heavy inspection at 20,000 operating hours . 1974 The US Department of Defense commissioned United Airlines to prepare a report on maintenance processes in the civil aviation industry. 1978 Maintenance specialistsStan Nowlan and Howard Heap published "Reliability-Centered Maintenance".This report triggered a catastrophic shift in the commercial world.

1970-1990

For the rest of the century, nearly every industry in the world was inspired by the report's holistic maintenance framework. At the same time, the chemical, transport and energy sectors became increasingly aware of the benefits that PM brought to employee safety. On the other side of the Atlantic, European plant managers also began to implement industrial maintenance standards.

In addition, the technological era brought drastic changes in purchasing, communication, production and quality. All of these developments combined eventually led to the creation of the world's first official technical training programs. Translation: The maintenance industry is finally here!

Where are we now

As mentioned above, almost half of the companies in the world today practice some form of preventive maintenance. Recent CMMS technologies have catapulted the ability to streamline today's complex asset databases and preventive maintenance programs exclusively into the hands of leading enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses.

In other words, making PM work for you has never been easier, no matter the size of your business. Below, we'll take a look at the preventive maintenance subcategories before we dive into some tactical advice:

7. Types of preventive maintenance

PM tasks are performed to anticipate and prevent equipment failures. These precautionary measures should be performed on all parts and components with age-related failure patterns.

It's important to realize that no one type of preventive maintenance is better than another. Follow the manual and manufacturer's recommendations when determining the type of PM your equipment requires. With that in mind, preventive maintenance is divided into four main categories.

We include simplified explanations in the following paragraphs.

regular maintenance

Regular maintenance, also known as time-based maintenance, is performed at scheduled intervals (ie, annually, quarterly, monthly, or weekly). Managers should read device manuals to determine recommended maintenance schedules. Most manufacturers specify how often the equipment should be inspected and the average life of each part.

Example: I have to change the oil every 6 months.

Subway-establishedmaintenance

Also known as performance-based PM and counter-based PM, this type of preventive maintenance dictates actions based on device usage variables. Any unit that requires usage-based maintenance also comes with a meter/counter to keep track of hours of use, production milestones, etc.

Example: I have to change my oil every 5000 miles.

predictive maintenance

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is an advanced form of preventive maintenance that aims to reduce the number of scheduled tasks required. PdM analyzes the data to determine when very specific maintenance conditions are met.

Organizations collect data from experts, device readers, historical experience and IoT before identifying optimal PM requirements. The more data you have, the more smart financial decisions you can make. Unfortunately, data collection is complex, expensive, and time-consuming.

Example: Between the months of June and August, I change the oil every 3000 miles because I drive off road and my vehicle collects more dust. I change my oil every 3000 miles the rest of the year.

Mandatory Maintenance

Similar to predictive maintenance, this new type of maintenance makes decisions based on data. However, Prescriptive Maintenance (RxM) gives operations managers the added benefit of machine learning software.

Intelligent software captures and analyzes device status before proposing specific recommendations to reduce operational risks. The technology is based on "prescriptive analytics" and is designed to formulate hypotheses about possible outcomes. We expect some amazing developments soon that will make RxM within reach of even the smallest maintenance teams.

Example: My engine broke down due to a dusty filter after going off road in the hot summer months. However, another owner of the same vehicle with similar hobbies reported similar artificial intelligence (AI) issues. The person found that he could change the oil every 4000 miles instead of every 3000 miles as I had done as a form of predictive maintenance.

What type of preventive maintenance is right for you?

Predictive maintenance is clearly able to find the sweet spot between traditional preventive maintenance and reactive maintenance.

Organizations that want to spend more time collecting, analyzing, and making decisions about device data should look to predictive maintenance. However, a combination of regular and over-the-counter maintenance will do the job just fine for most equipment.

Here are the main differences between traditional PM and predictive PM:

In short, preventive maintenance is the best way for companies that want to extend the useful life of their assets without risks and high fixed and variable costs.

8. Examples of preventive maintenance in action

While preventive maintenance tasks span almost every industry, most people seem to associate them with changing the oil, vents, and other components of everyday items. Here are some videos that describe some of the more advanced maintenance tasks that industrial and manufacturing technicians can perform:

9. How to create a preventive maintenance checklist

The preventive maintenance process is the foundation of any proactive operating organization. A successful workflow provides a roadmap for how and when assets should be maintained. Not surprisingly, there is no "correct" way to start.

Some organizations choose to catalog assets individually and create custom checklists on the fly. More complex facilities often create extensive asset inventories before formulating maintenance policies into procedures and work orders.

As Lao Tzu once said:The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.🇧🇷 Start planning your preventive maintenance schedule today, and tomorrow you'll be that much closer to a stress-free work environment.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

choose a format

according to thatPlant construction maintenance study 2019, the top three methods for organizing maintenance systems are CMMS (58 percent), internal spreadsheets/programs (45 percent), and paper records (39 percent).

Your preventive maintenance routine should answer questions like:

• Which task should be completed first?
• Where is the team?
• Which workers should be used?
• How often should the task be performed?
• What parts or accessories are needed?
• How are we going to maintain accountability?

While spreadsheets provide enough organization for smaller organizations, most businesses can benefit from an easy-to-use digital maintenance solution.

Simply put, it's 2021! There's no reason for time-constrained maintenance teams to waste hours a week comparing paper checklists, email logs, and Excel files when more elegant solutions are available (more on that in a moment).

To tear apart

In a perfect world, your procedures would be so well laid out that even Pete on the payroll could switch camps following your checklist.

Successful preventive maintenance and planned maintenance operations convey the WHAT, WHY and HOW of each task without overwhelming the reader. When your workflow is disorganized, employees may skip important steps or skip tasks entirely, creating inconsistencies in your operations.

But how can operations managers simplify when organizing dozens, if not hundreds, of maintenance steps? We recommend combining general workflows with detailed checklists.

Suppose you create a vehicle maintenance workflow to monitor operational health. You can create a master workflow and straightforward mechanisms to inspect air filters, spark plugs and brakes to extend the life of your critical assets. Don't overwhelm employees by listing all related tasks.

Instead, create standard operating procedures that detail each step-by-step inspection. This process will reduce employee overload, increase accountability, and help everyone stay more organized.

Set clear schedules

Next, make sure your workflow aligns tasks with clear deadlines. If you have separate checklists based on time intervals (daily, weekly, monthly), a robust software program can ensure that they automatically appear on schedule.

Managers enter how often checklists should be completed once and never have to worry about consulting user manuals, spreadsheets or colleagues to find out when maintenance is due.

be up to date

Manufacturers publish best practice updates regularly and at intervals as they are received.customer feedbackover time. Set a quarterly or semi-annual reminder on your calendar to review manufacturer policies for key assets.

Use existing data, asset age, equipment efficiency and personal experience to optimize existing maintenance checklists. In addition to evaluating the manufacturer's recommendationsEvaluate your team's performancefind areas for improvement. Be sure to change any standard operating procedures with the new enhancements.

For example, if one technician completes the same task much faster than another, determine if he is really more efficient or if he is skipping important steps.

Do you have a purpose?

After all, no preventive maintenance system is successful without clearly defined targets for individual assets. Do you want to reach 99 percent?uptimefor a machine? How about two years of no unplanned downtime for another one?

Discuss your goals with your team so that everyone can consciously work towards the same goals. This transparency not only supports the company's goals, but also motivates team members. Employees who feel connected to the company's mission take pride in their work.

If your goal is to create a smooth preventative maintenance regimen, these five tips will maximize your efforts. However, let's share something that most of your competitors don't know: companies of all sizes can now create digital work orders.book🇧🇷 Software providers like Maintainx offer affordable end-to-end maintenance solutions that anyone with a smartphone can master in minutes.

(Video) What is Preventive Maintenance ?

KeepX is a CMMS platform for maintenance, operations, security and training. We are also the first provider in the world to integrate live chat, commenting and photo sharing into the same digital maintenance platform.

That said, KeepX is not the only CMMS on the market. Let's take a look at how CMMS options are evaluated:

10. How to choose the best CMMS solution

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a software platform that organizes information about a company's maintenance operations and helps manage asset history.

List of CMMSobjectiveto make life easier for everyone on the team. Maintenance personnel can quickly determine how to maintain assets. And operations managers can prioritize maintenance from a bird's eye view.

Essentially, the entire team saves the company time and money by preventing premature equipment failure. Wow!

Unfortunately, reality often does not match expectations. Many companies invest in CMMS systems that are too complicated and slow to deliver on their promises.

Here are some questions to ask before choosing a CMMS:

what functions do we haveIn truthNeed?

Knowing which resources you need and which you can spare starts with clarifying your business goals. Your CMMS should at least provide a clear overview of pending work orders and work orders in progress. Managers need to be able to quickly prioritize, measure progress and hold their team accountable.

Senior management must work together to set SMART goalsSpecific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant,ylimited in time🇧🇷 Let's say your company has practiced only reactive maintenance for the past 20 years. can be your target20% reduction in downtime within 6 months (a realistic goal for most of our customers).

Perhaps you have identified poor communication as the number one cause of poorly executed work orders. Employees may experience unexpected setbacks that result in an hour-long wait for a call or email explaining what to do. In that case, you should prioritize a CMMS system with chat functionality.

This allows maintenance personnel to write to managers, send photos of equipment and resolve issues in real time. Communication is one of the most overlooked features for most CMMS buyers today. In addition to your productivity and cost savings goals, you need to consider what capabilities your specific industry requires.

Most CMMS contain a combination of these features:

• device data management
• preventive maintenance
• predictive maintenance
• Labor costs
• service order system
• Scheduling/Planning
• supplier management
• inventory control
• goods tracking
• asset history
• corrective actions
• climbing records

In many ways, choosing a CMMS platform is not that different from choosing between a Kia or a BMW. Both cars perform the same core functions, but the user experience is the same.muchdifferent. Sometimes it comes down to personal preference, while other times certain features are better designed.

This brings us to our next question:

How easy to use is the interface?

The best technical tools are those that are used frequently.

At KeepX, we've found a surprising number of maintenance leaders who have invested in sophisticated software, only to be disappointed a few months later. In each case, the manager purchased a CMMS solution that was too cumbersome for his team to use on a daily basis.

Its employees found the software confusing, inconvenient and unpleasant. Consequently, the burden of entering completed work orders fell on the manager. The result? An inaccurate PM record that defeated the purpose of adopting a preventive maintenance philosophy.

MaintenanceX is the only CMMS platform that takes care of maintenance, operations, security and training. We are also the first provider in the world to integrate live chat, commenting and photo sharing into the same digital maintenance platform.

Click here for additional reading material on the first mobile work order software.

How good is the provider's customer support?

Once you've narrowed down your options, compare customer support levels. One of the best things about online shopping is how willing customers are to rate products and services.

In addition to evaluating both positive and negative feedback, you should pay special attention to any mentions of customer support:How difficult was it to contact the CMMS vendor for troubleshooting? What was the average response time?What is the product integration process like? These are also questions you can and should ask your company's sales force.

Does the software have a chat feature?

It is important to maintain communication within your team. If you're a small business, standard text messages might suit your needs. However, even small teams sometimes get confused when discussing different tasks in a single message thread. That's why you can benefit from using a business messaging app.

KeepX is the only app on the market with integrated chat. Alternatively, team members can also communicate directly on individual work orders to organize conversations. As reported inYear 2019 Review by KeepX,Work order annotation was voted the most popular feature by software customers.

Does the software include a cost analysis?

Finally, determine whether the CMMS includes a cost analysis from both an equipment and time perspective. A robust reporting feature helps you answer questions like:How much time did Joe spend on security audits and inspections last month? Should we keep fixing this machine (and buying new parts) or should we buy a new one? Are we understaffed or overstaffed (and inefficient)?

There are many factors to consider when purchasing a CMMS solution. Ultimately, the best work order system for one company may not work for another. Always do your due diligence before making a decision.

Ready to ditch the piles of paper?

The best way to rate something is to "try it before you buy it". Most legacy solutions require a sales pitch before taking a test drive.

However, KeepX is completely free to download from the App Store and all premium features are free for 30 days.🇧🇷 Our platform includes everything you need to start creating work orders, communicating with employees and tracking assets today.