Industrial Maintenance Strategies: A Quick Guide

Both large organizations and SMEs know that productivity and business growth depend on efficient they with their operations. To ensure smooth operation, plants and machinery should be top notch and maintained properly.

There are various types of maintenance when it comes to industrial machinery and equipment. Each method has its own definition and different procedures. There are 5 main types of industrial maintenance: corrective, preventive, predictive, predetermined, and condition-based.

Even though most companies know that maintenance is a must they often find it hard to pick the right strategy for them and even if they do, they have trouble sticking to it.

Why is Industrial Maintenance Important?

A big portion of the operating costs of an organization comes from maintenance. Depending on the type of organization even half of the total operating costs could come from the maintenance of various machinery and equipment. Unaccounted and unexpected events like untimely failure of equipment can give rise to extra costs and increase the operating costs.

When it comes to industrial facilities and maintenance, the strategies used by the maintenance team will determine the profitability of the organization. Therefore, it is vital that you have sound strategies and maintenance plans to reduce production and operation costs and ensure that all your equipment is liable.

No two plants are the same so a strategy that works with plant A might not be the ideal for plant B. Below is a short breakdown of the main types of maintenance strategies. Hopefully this will help you understand each one better and pick the right one for your company.

Corrective Maintenance

This type of maintenance as the name suggests is done right after a problem surface. Once an employee reports a problem in the production line maintenance is done. More than maintenance this strategy actually focuses on fixing the equipment up so that the production line can get back to work again.

This type of maintenance doesn’t work well for every organization. If downtime causes significant loss and you and cannot continue with a replacement till the machine is fixed corrective maintenance is not the best choice for your organization.

Predetermined Maintenance

This is not a popular strategy because it is determined by the manuals sent by the manufacturers. So basically, this strategy depends on the promises of the manufacturers.

There is definitely risk involved here because unexpected breakdowns can occur, and this will lead to downtime.

Condition Based Maintenance

This maintenance strategy is the most complicated out of all. You need to regularly check the equipment and plan ahead to prevent failures.

You should track performance of the equipment and determine whether maintenance is required by identifying certain indicators.

Predictive Maintenance

This type of maintenance is probably the best type of maintenance up to date. It prevents downtime and help smooth out operations. With advancement in technology and the introduction of IoT(Internet of Things), predictive maintenance is made even easier.

Preventive Maintenance

A preventive strategy consists of your maintenance team regularly maintaining your equipment and machinery to prevent failure. Measures are taken to reduce the probability of sudden breakdowns.

These are the 5 main types of strategies organizations used when it comes to industrial maintenance. Picking the right strategy depends on the type of industry you are in and also the equipment and machinery you own.