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Maintenance Strategies You Can Utilize to Avoid Catastrophic Asset Failure

Maintenance Strategies You Can Utilize to Avoid Catastrophic Asset Failure

Maintenance Strategies You Can Utilize to Avoid Catastrophic Asset Failure

For any business or company, assets are a very significant part because without assets any company will not be able to complete the work order. Therefore, assets are considered as the backbone of any organization.

However, strategies are also crucial, if they are not executed precisely then results will not be as you have expected. Strategies are used for asset maintenance. If you are not sure about what maintenance strategies you should choose and implement then, we can help you.

Maintenance strategies shall be implemented after thorough checking, by evaluating risk & failure consequences. For this process, all assets are reviewed so that failure mode can be identified. After reviewing and identifying, consequences can be defined.

This will assist in deciding the priority of asset, what will be the impact of asset failure, how it will affect, repairing costing expenses, etc.

Also Read: Everything you need to know about Equipment Maintenance

What are the strategies for maintenance?

There are several maintenance strategies which you can utilize according to your business:

1. Reactive maintenance

Reactive maintenance is also known as breakdown maintenance and it's applicable for equipment where failure is not critical for the facility. Usually where there is adequate redundancy in a system and the increased risk during the downtime of one item is acceptable.

In short, reactive maintenance occurs when assets or equipment is not working and now it needs to be fixed. And the risk related to the asset breakdown could be urgent or non-urgent. So, it depends on the requirement of that asset.

Therefore, reactive maintenance shall not be utilized on those assets that are not very essential for the organization.

2. Preventive maintenance

According to the Transcendent,

Preventive Maintenance: a company can save between 12-18% using preventive maintenance over reactive maintenance. Facilities implementing proper HVAC maintenance will use 15-20% less energy.

Preventive maintenance is also known as planned & proactive maintenance because it is scheduled in advance. This is the most popular and used practice for maintenance activity. Its main focus is to avoid any problem that can cause a problem in the future.

Preventing the potential problem is the objective of preventive maintenance activity. Maintenance management software can detect any kind of potential issue. It is always economical to implement preventive maintenance rather than to wait for asset & equipment failure.

3. Opportunity maintenance

Opportunity maintenance is also known as shadow maintenance. Huge equipment or large assets are subject to planned upkeep or those events which cause the whole plant to shut down, offer the opportunity to perform maintenance work.

When those huge machines are in the process of maintenance, at the same time all other small equipment and assets are processed for maintenance work.

When these huge operations are executed then the opportunity is informed in advance. So that other teams can also plan accordingly.

Also Read: What is the Need for & Importance of Maintenance Management?

4. Condition-based maintenance

Lots of asset failure occurs dues to the negligence of asset maintenance, overestimating the asset life, long continuous working hours, wear & tear of the asset, etc. These are some of the main reasons for asset failure.

They can result in unexpected asset breakdown & disaster. So, these sorts of situations must be avoided. This is where condition-based maintenance comes into play.

The objective of this maintenance is to monitor assets & finding the potential issue, so that proactive maintenance can be scheduled, when it needs, not before.

Condition-based maintenance shall be implemented when certain signs are noticed such as decreased performance. This maintenance follows the  “calculated risk” philosophy.

It can be applied to critical as well as non-critical assets. This maintenance only takes place when assets need maintenance & it does not matter when was last maintenance done.

5. Reliability-centered maintenance

Reliability-centered maintenance is an incredible upkeep technique and considered the most cost-effective. It may include all of the other techniques depending on the equipment component and the available resources.

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) addresses the fact that failure is not always linear. RCM is a highly-involved process that tries to examine all the possible failure modes for each piece of asset or equipment and customize an upkeep plan for every equipment and machine. The end objective of RCM is to enhance equipment availability and reliability.

6. Predictive maintenance

As the name suggests, it predicts the asset or equipment failure before it occurs so that maintenance can be executed prior. Predictive maintenance uses the machine data to notify the maintenance team about the asset & equipment are at risk of failing.

The simplest way to execute predictive maintenance is via using asset tracking management software or CMMS (computerized maintenance management system). The software can keep track of these costly assets and also keep track of their maintenance history.

Preventive maintenance has a lot of potential in order to save money (detecting a potential problem in advance, asset performance, minimized man-hours from maintenance).

7. Scheduled maintenance

After the month's end or after 45 days or after a certain period of time as defined by an organization a maintenance activity takes place that is known as scheduled maintenance. This activity is part of the planned maintenance activity. It is effective as it is scheduled in advance.

One of the main objectives of scheduled maintenance activity is to keep assets in a good running & well-maintained condition. Another activity of this maintenance is cleaning, oiling, lubricating, replacing batteries & changing the oil.

Also Read: How Important Is It to Track Business Assets in Different Industries?

What are the advantages of Maintenance?

Some of the advantages of maintenance are given below:

  • Performance maximized downtime minimized: When a machine or equipment is serviced, all parts of assets are in good working condition which results in maximized performance and minimized the chances of asset failure.
  • Equipment runs efficiently: When equipment maintenance is done on time then equipment runs efficiently. When equipment runs efficiently then business runs smoothly. As a result, the project is done on time or before the deadline. Because, if the maintenance suffers so does the productivity.
  • Identify the potential problem: What if we keep avoiding the small issues in equipment? Someday in the future, it will become a daunting task. Hence every issue must be resolved as soon as possible, and every problem must be addressed in order to run the organization smoothly. Because, if it's not done on time it can burn a hole in your pocket.
  • Increased lifespan & resale value: In business, everybody has to stay updated. So, when an updated version is launched to a piece of specific equipment, chances are you will also try to sell your old equipment for the new one.

Therefore, one must perform maintenance activity regularly. It will get you two benefits first it will increase asset life and second it will get you the maximum resale value (when you sell).

Also Read: Equipment Maintenance: Role, Types & Objectives

Endnote

You can implement these maintenance strategies according to your company's needs. And these were the only few advantages of maintenance, there are several other benefits too.

If you need any assistance implementing any of the maintenance strategies, asset infinity can help you & you can also get a 14 days free trial.

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