May 01, 2008
Maintenance Tip
Optimizing Preventive Maintenance Programs to Move Away from Reactionary Maintenance
A common mistake often seen in implementing a reliability strategy is to use reliability tools such as RCM analysis, FMEA and RCFA, while the organization is still in a reactive maintenance mode.
At this stage, these tools can produce some quick results that vanish quickly due to the firefighting nature of an organization.
The key point to remember is that the purpose of setting a reliability strategy is to provide a rational and logical base to Preventive Maintenance programs. Cost savings are a result of effective utilization of maintenance resources with increased equipment availability.
The best approach is to first implement key performance indicators and then monitor the effectiveness of existing Preventive Maintenance programs. Make the necessary adjustments to existing programs until reactive maintenance activities are reduced to 15%-20% of all the maintenance work.
This can result in excessive Preventive Maintenance, but resources saved due to having planned work can be utilized in the second stage of the process. Once an organization is out of the reactive mode, it becomes the right time to implement a reliability program with predictive maintenance technologies in order to reduce the reactive workload to 3%-5% of all the maintenance work.
Tip provided by Burhan Zafar
Management Resources Group, Inc.,
http://www.mrginc.net
