What is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is a process performed regularly and routinely on physical assets. The goal of this process is to reduce equipment failures and unplanned machine downtime. Effective preventive maintenance is planned based on real-time data analysis and is often managed using software such as a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System). Preventive maintenance tasks performed while the equipment is still running help prevent unexpected failures.
The Importance of Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is the foundation of successful facility management. It keeps equipment and assets running efficiently, maintains a high level of safety for employees and helps you avoid major and expensive repairs down the road. In general, a properly functioning preventive maintenance program ensures that operational disruptions are minimized.
Why is a Preventive Maintenance Program Necessary?
A preventive maintenance schedule helps you organize and prioritize your maintenance tasks. This allows maintenance technicians to create the best operating conditions and lifespan for the equipment. By performing regular preventive maintenance, you can ensure that your equipment continues to operate efficiently and safely. When dealing with a large amount of equipment, maintaining a preventive maintenance schedule can be quite complex, so maintenance personnel often use preventive maintenance software to organize preventive maintenance tasks.
Types of Preventive Maintenance
There are many different types of preventive maintenance. Each of these types should ideally be planned and performed on all pieces of equipment to prevent unplanned failures. Below are examples of various types of preventive maintenance:
Time-Based Maintenance (TBM): A time-based approach schedules a preventive maintenance task over a specific time period.
Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM): Usage-based preventive maintenance triggers a maintenance action when asset usage hits a certain threshold.
Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM): Condition-based maintenance monitors the actual condition of an asset and determines which maintenance tasks need to be performed.
Predictive Maintenance (PdM): Uses condition monitoring tools and techniques to monitor the performance and condition of equipment