2. Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance refers to regular, routine
maintenance to help keep equipment up and running,
preventing any unplanned downtime, preventing problems from
occurring and expensive costs from unanticipated equipment
failure.
It requires careful planning and scheduling of maintenance on
equipment before there is an actual problem as well as keeping
accurate records of past inspections and servicing reports.
C-130J Hercules preventive cleaning at Keesler
Air Force Base, Mississippi after a period of
operation over the Gulf of Mexico (salt and
moisture which lead to active corrosion require
regular cleaning)
3. • It may include things such as : cleaning, lubrication, oil changes, adjustments,
repairs, inspecting and replacing parts, and partial or complete overhauls that are
regularly scheduled.
• The exact preventive maintenance required will vary based on operation and type
of equipment.
• Recommended standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are
used to help determine the type of inspections and maintenance needed and
how often they should be performed.
4. • The initial step most organizations take to increase the life of their equipment is to
move away from reactive or break-fix maintenance approaches to preventive
maintenance.
• Reactive Maintenance: A lightbulb lasts three years and two months and is replaced
when it burns out.
• Preventive Maintenance: A lightbulb is rated for three years and is replaced one
month before it burns out.
Preventive maintenance may seem counter intuitive to cost reduction as the light bulb
could have very well lasted longer than three years.
However, we are not talking about a light bulb. When it comes to equipment such as that
leased by heavy equipment dealers or operated by oil and gas companies, these
organizations can’t afford to halt business because of equipment break down.
In fact, according to “Operations & Maintenance Best Practices: A Guide to Achieving
Operational Efficiency,” preventive maintenance provides a cost saving of 12% to 18%
over reactive maintenance programs.
5. Types of preventive maintenance
1) Time based preventive maintenance
2) Usage based preventive maintenance
Time based preventive maintenance:
Time-based maintenance, also known as periodic-based maintenance is a traditional maintenance technique. In
TBM, maintenance decisions are determined based on failure time
analyses. In other words, the aging (expected lifetime), T of some equipment is estimated based on failure time
data or used-based data
Usage Based Maintenance
Usage based maintenance (UBM) allows companies to proactively maintain their assets based off the actual use of
their equipment or time based simultaneously. Usage is tracked in various ways, such as the use of equipment
monitors, the days a piece of equipment has been rented, or running hours of equipment
6. What Are the Benefits of Preventive Maintenance?
The benefits obtained by the companies are:
• Prolonged life of company equipment
• Less unplanned downtime caused by equipment failure
• Less unnecessary maintenance and inspections
• Fewer errors in day-to-day operations
• Improved reliability of equipment
• Fewer expensive repairs caused by unexpected equipment failure that
must be fixed quickly
• Reduced risk of injury
Editor's Notes
Overhaul: take apart (a piece of machinery or equipment) in order to examine it and repair it if necessary.
