Preventative Maintenance Program: What Is It? How To Set It Up?
Preventative maintenance is a regularly performed maintenance service on equipment while they are still functioning well to prevent or lessen the probability of failure. It is usually planned dependant upon seasons or duration of usage of the equipment. For example, cars are usually serviced depending on usage after a certain number of miles and preventative maintenance of air conditioners are done depending on season; such as yearly or just before summer. A computerized maintenance management software system ( CMMS ) allows companies to keep track of all their equipment and ensure preventative maintenance is always on schedule. Here is a guide on how to set up a preventative maintenance program.
Create a Plan
A plan has to be made for any preventative maintenance procedure to be put in place. This includes identifying and assigning duties to people who are going to be involved in the project. This may include maintenance managers and technologists and people from the finance department. Planning also involves setting goals for the project such as reducing equipment downtime and corrective maintenance by a certain percentage. Ensure all the staff involved are fully aware of the goals and are invested to ensure the success of the project.
Inventory of the Facility Equipment
This may be time-consuming but it is a very important step in setting up a preventative maintenance program. Inventory of all the equipment in the facility has to be taken and their details noted down. The details may include the make and model of the equipment, specifications, serial numbers, fixed locations, and asset identification numbers. It is also important to note down the condition of the equipment when taking the inventory to help prioritize the equipment that needs urgent attention.
Create Preventive Maintenance Procedures and Schedules
Once the inventory of the equipment has been taken, one needs to identify what each piece needs for maintenance, how frequent the preventative maintenance needs to be done, and how long it is going to take. Other equipment may depend on time for preventive maintenance while others may depend on meter-based triggers. In both situations, one needs extensive knowledge of the equipment to schedule the time appropriately. Refer to previous corrective maintenance that has been conducted together with the user manuals to create the best preventative maintenance plans. It is also important to take note of all the tools and resources required to conduct the maintenance procedure to avoid wasting time during the maintenance.
Train Your Maintenance Team
The staff involved in the preventative maintenance program, whether directly or indirectly, should be trained to ensure the best outcome. Training involves teaching your staff on how to handle both hardware and software technologies and issuing them with the standard operating procedures for each piece of equipment to ensure proper adaptation and implementation of the program. This is essential in ensuring the program gives the best possible return on investment.
To ensure the consistent success of a preventative maintenance program, just like any other program, you need to analyze, adjust, and improve as you go. This helps identify equipment that requires more attention in terms of time and money. PM CMMS help companies achieve this and reduce costs involving equipment repairs and replacements; not forgetting the costly downtimes caused by malfunctioning equipment.
