Despite how important maintenance is to the success of any manufacturing operation, there isn’t much variance between the methods of maintenance most businesses take. For most standard manufacturing operations, businesses will default to a maintenance strategy known as preventive maintenance. However, as the manufacturing industry has evolved, so too have the maintenance options. This gave way to the predictive maintenance, a much more advanced option in regards to how businesses keep their machinery in the best shape.
Traditional maintenance has fallen under the preventive maintenance umbrella for years. Many industries looked to this method as their standard for maintaining their equipment’s integrity. It operates under a calendar driven approach, where each piece of equipment will have work done to it throughout scheduled intervals in the year. These intervals are dependent on factors of the equipment like age, run time and pre-existing conditions.
While the preventive strategy has been successful, maintenance has certainly evolved past these regularly scheduled intervals. Predictive maintenance is the product of this evolution. Through this approach, organizations can disregard blanket maintenance throughout the year and focus on the data fed to them through the integrated systems that attach to their equipment. With the performance data from each piece of equipment being collected, organizations are able to determine the most optimal maintenance schedule. While this approach is certainly more effective in regards to an organization’s maintenance resources, it has its flaws. Namely the costs associated with implementing these systems into equipment.
While the costs of these systems may give businesses pause, there’s no denying their effectiveness. Not to mention, as more and more businesses do manage to implement these systems, the easier it becomes. As these systems rely on the Internet of Things, the more machinery connected, the more vast the capabilities of these systems. More accurate data results in more accurate maintenance; which is directly related to the equipment’s longevity.
What many businesses fail to realize, however, is that all of their problems will not be solved by the integration of these systems. While the right maintenance strategy is a leg-up on the competition, internal issues will not be solved through predictive maintenance. It’s also worth considering that the barriers to entry are higher than most organizations can handle, which extends beyond just capital. Employees must be able to understand and work alongside these new additions effectively in order for them to make the largest difference. There are bound to be significant challenges even after making the initial investment into the systems. If your organization is capable of investing the capital required and feels comfortable facing these challenges, predictive maintenance might be an excellent fit.
Still unsure on which of these maintenance approaches is right for your business? Look no further. With the information shared within the infographic paired alongside this post, you’ll find everything your business needs. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.