There is not a single manufacturing operation out there today that would survive without a sound maintenance strategy. Though identifying the times in which a piece of machinery may require maintenance can be difficult, with the right maintenance approach, it can be simplified. The two major maintenance approaches today are known as preventive and predictive maintenance. This post will analyze both of these methods and determine which is the right fit for your business.
In order to determine which maintenance approach is right for these organizations, they must first differentiate between the two. The preventive maintenance approach is likely the earliest consideration for all organizations worldwide. Largely because it’s the cheaper option, but also because it has been such a mainstay in regards to maintenance. The philosophy is simple: construct a maintenance schedule at recurring intervals throughout the year for each machine or equipment in an organization’s fleet. These intervals are largely based on each organization’s fleet. Age, length of average run time, required up-time, etc., are all components that contribute to the scheduling of this maintenance.
Alternatively, for companies hoping to more efficiently schedule maintenance, predictive maintenance has become a much more popular approach to ensuring the status and integrity of any piece of equipment. Predictive maintenance requires a highly integrated set of systems that connect to an organization’s machines. These systems then collect and analyze the output data of these machines to indicate when each machine would require maintenance. Much more efficient, for the companies that can afford to implement these systems. Unfortunately, the barriers of entry for these systems can be too high for a great deal of organizations.
While the costs of these systems are inherently higher than those of its counterpart, the implementation continues to become easier. As more and more technologies in this space are added to the Internet of Things, more and more capabilities become possible. Currently, these systems are put in place to more accurately schedule maintenance. As mentioned previously however, these systems also provide unique insight into the fail conditions of certain pieces of equipment and machinery, in addition to ways to combat future failure and thus avoid downtime throughout the year.
Regardless of these advantages, more often than not these systems will remain out of reach for a majority of organizations. Their inaccessibility might not be too much of an issue, though. These systems bear a very high cost to begin, but they also require near seamless integration in order to get the most out of them. Another downside is the required retraining of existing employees to work alongside these new systems and new platforms that may be required as a result of these systems. However, if your business has enough capital to support the transition, the benefits will likely outweigh the cost. It may just take a slight adjustment period.
Keen on learning more about the different advantages and disadvantages these strategies can pass on to your business? Continue reading on to the infographic featured alongside this post for more valuable information. Infographic courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.