Industrial maintenance defined

Currently, maintenance takes center stage in any manufacturing process and poses a big challenge for the competitiveness and productivity of industries. Previously maintenance was limited to repairs when needed. It has now become a  bigger field that determines the productivity of facilities.

The tools and methods at the disposal of professionals are not very well known. These tools have changed over the years due to technological advancements and new maintenance management methods. It is now possible to carry out the work of field technicians while giving room for managers to make improvements in their decision-making and running of organizations.

What is industrial maintenance?

According to the French National Organization for Standardization(AFNOR), maintenance involves maintaining or repairing a piece of equipment in a certain state that makes it possible to provide a particular service.

Generally, industrial maintenance involves:

• Reparation
• Verification and control
• Troubleshooting
• Overhaul
• Adjustment

Role of maintenance

Maintenance roles are becoming important on the production floor. Maintenance is not only focused on equipment repair but also expecting breakdowns. New technologies such as electronic sensors and CMMS have made it possible to forecast breakdowns and take necessary measures before they happen.

The main aim of maintenance is to keep production tools in good working conditions while reducing the cost of production. This makes the department of maintenance broader than before. Technicians and managers involve themselves with projects that incorporate many factors such as deadlines, safety, cost, quality, or environment.

Types of industrial maintenance

They are two types of industrial maintenance:

• Corrective maintenance
• Preventive maintenance

1.Corrective maintenance

These are repairs to a machine when it breaks down. It is divided into two:

a.Curative

Permanent repairing of equipment to fully perform its function.

b.Palliative

Temporary repairs on a piece of equipment to enable it to function partially.

2.Preventive maintenance

This means attending to a piece of equipment before it breaks down. It is divided into three:

• Systematic
• Condition-based
• Predictive

a.Systematic

It is the most common one. These are repairs done systematically within a set time or operating time. It aims to meet the needs of the manufacturer but can be changed by the user depending on their experience.

For example, a vehicle would need an annual oil change or after every  5000km. this is systematic preventive maintenance

b.Condition-based

These repairs are done in measurable conditions. It is conducted based on reading and measurements done by a technician who probably is using sensors providing data on the state of the equipment. Such data includes infrared thermography, vibration analysis, etc.

For example, changing the brake pad when you see the indicator lights are a type of condition-based preventive maintenance.

c.Predictive

It is related to condition-based and is done based on predictions from analysis of the degradation of equipment. It means anticipating reaching a predefined threshold that offers information on the extent of degradation of the machinery before a breakdown happens.

Why preventive maintenance?

There are various reasons for implementing a preventive maintenance plan on your production floor:

• For control purposes: some equipment should undergo preventive maintenance due to the standards to which they are subjected.
• For safety purposes: This is because of the critical use of the machine and the feared consequences of failure.
• For economic purposes: An effective preventive maintenance plan helps in cost reduction, unlike corrective maintenance.
• For practical purposes: Some equipment is available at specific times for maintenance and inspection.

Improvement maintenance

This kind of maintenance is not popular and is seen as a related process. It denotes a combination of management, technical and administrative measures geared towards improving the safety of the machinery by changing the original design but maintaining its intended function.

The main objectives of improvement maintenance are increasing the lifetime of machinery, reducing energy consumption, improving maintainability, and increasing production. Interventions of improvement maintenance include modernization, renovation, and reconstruction actions.

Levels of maintenance

Maintenance is constituted of five levels regarding the AYNOR classification. Each level depends on the complexity of repairs:

• Level 1 incorporates simple repairs to be done on easily accessible machinery.
• Level 2 involves low complex repairs with simple processes to follow.
• Level 3 involves complex repairs that consider the equipment as a whole and is done by specialized technicians.
• Level 4 refers to very complex and vital operations that need more than one qualified technicians that will be supervised by a manager.
• Level 5 involves activities resembling manufacturing actions i.e. compliance and reconstruction that can only be performed by the manufacturer of the equipment or a contractor approved by him.

Goals of industrial maintenance management

The main goal is to maximize the operation of machines and installations while making as minimal as possible breakdown risks and repair and maintenance costs. There the three main principles it is based on are:

• Availability
• Reliability
• Maintainability

Methods of maintenance management

Many maintenance management methods have been designed since it was discovered to be a vital role in the smooth running of a facility. They include:

• FMECA
• TPM(Total Productive Maintenance)
• Pareto analysis
• Kaizen

Management tools for factory maintenance

The tools for maintenance management have evolved in the past 40 years. From the use of paper to CMMS software. Intervention books were used by teams for recording all operations for better management of activities. Later companies replaced paper documents with Excel which gave room for better information processing and data-keeping without the loss of information. 

Currently, there is software that has been developed to give dedicated functionalities allowing the development of a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). If all the tools work together in the industrial world today a new kind of CMMS is likely to replace them. 

These kinds of software have an advantage and have been designed specifically for the management of maintenance for factories . They are complex and expensive which has led many factories to go back to excel or avoid installing a CMMS software.

In summary, industrial maintenance is very important on the production floor. It averts idle time which consequently leads to production loss and high expenses. It was previously seen as a non-issue but when facilities started experiencing unexpected breakdowns and unrecoverable losses it has become a major department in most manufacturing plants.