No matter the size of the company, assets are a necessity. A poor understanding of the machinery and asset management can lead to break downs in the assets and downtimes in the business operations. An effective management strategy is essential for the equipment and workforce.
Maintenance processes are vital for machines and equipment. The proactive approach of businesses to enhance the turnover in sales led to arise in condition based maintenance. Currently, businesses are utilizing artificial intelligence in maintenance systems. Every entity is trying to find smart ways of data collection and integration of business processes across different departments. Companies are following the trends in the industry to gain a competitive advantage. The iot preventive maintenance is as a result of the modern technological advancement in the industry.
Types of Maintenance strategies
The evolution of maintenance systems is due to the continuous need for businesses to improve their business processes. Production and sales processes experience a significant boost when the fixed assets are working at optimum. There are a variety of maintenance strategies that company management can adopt. Let us look at the common strategies in the industry;
Preventive Maintenance
The process entails routine checkups and inspection of the machinery. It is a proactive method of preventing failure by fixing the little things. The strategy is successful in prolonging the asset life and service. Its main objective is to prevent malfunction in machines and equipment. Making use of this strategy, the company can avoid downtimes due to equipment machines. The computerized management and maintenance systems (CMMS) are popular with global businesses. There are a variety of parameters that the manager can use to plan for maintenance. The strategy can be predictive or certain of imminent failure. Asset’s condition, service life, and usage prompt the management to initiate the preventive maintenance process.
Reactive Maintenance
This is the process of fixing items after their breakdown. The strategy is costly to the company since it is reactive to the problems. It is only a solution for machines and equipment that the company rarely uses. The ones that act as backup equipment since they duplicate the functions of the other machines. It is essential to ensure that business operations are not affected once the items have a malfunction. Reactive maintenance is detrimental to the performance of the company. The downtown will create a loss of revenue that the company needs. Management can only employ the strategy to non-essential machinery.
Predictive Maintenance
It is a process of determining the approximate time that a machine or its component will fail. The prediction is based on the equipment’s artificial intelligence through the sensors. CMMS is the ideal tool in creating a dashboard for easy tracking of maintenance reports. Regular tests and inspection can predict the chances of equipment or its components malfunctioning. The process can be automated or done manually by a qualified technician. Metrics in the computerized management maintenance systems (CMMS) offers accuracy in its prediction. The computer software utilizes data from the sensors and information recorded in the system. It is essential to invest in upgrading the system since it depends on data.
Customized Maintenance
This is a process centered on the components of the equipment or machine. It seeks to analyze the parts making up the item. The strategy identifies the different scenarios that the component can fail. It takes into account the ripple effect of a breakdown in the component. With a representation of what can happen, the maintenance team comes up with a plan for each item. A problem can have more than one solution and it is critical to outline all possibilities. The technicians come up with a customized maintenance plan for the different machines and equipment.
Conclusion
The landscape of the maintenance processes is complex. It is essential to identify a point to initiate the process. The priority can fall on the main assets that the business utilizes for production.
