What are the benefits of preventative maintenance?

Having a solid preventative maintenance program at your facility is vital to your facility’s safety and productivity. A quality maintenance program improves equipment life and decreases the possibility of unexpected downtime.

Most facilities tend to have some form of preventative maintenance program in place, although the methods of programs at times differ from one location to another, eliminating any continuity. Something that doesn’t differ is the benefits from routine preventative maintenance.

Types of preventative maintenance programs

Variations in the types of maintenance programs exist in most facilities. In some cases, it is a matter of taking proactive measures to protect the equipment. These proactive measures vary on time between maintenance intervals or the condition of the equipment. This type of maintenance is beneficial, but in some cases, it is too little too late.

A variety of testing options is available for most equipment before they become apparent to the operator. These options allow maintenance to correct the issues before they become serious problems. Different types of testing include:

• IR Scans

• Ultrasonic scanning

• Sound level analysis

• Vibration analysis.

Many of these kinds of tests don’t touch the equipment or require taking it off-line.

What are the benefits?

There are many benefits to having a preventative maintenance program in place. Those benefits include the following:

Reduce equipment failure

A preventative maintenance program is in place to lessen the possibility of equipment failure. It allows the discovery of problems before the time that they become a serious issue.

Reduce downtime

When equipment fails or needs extensive repairs, the downtime halts your business. With an effective program, you can correct any problems before they become unmanageable.

Improved productivity

Since the equipment operates at peak efficiency, it also improves productivity. This fact alone often leads to a positive ROI on maintenance expenses.

Reduce repair costs

It is far less expensive to repair equipment before the time that a catastrophic failure occurs.

Scheduled downtime

When it is necessary to take the equipment off-line for a repair, you schedule the downtime when most convenient. Without preventative maintenance in place, the downtime is sporadic and unexpected.

David Manney, L&S Electric. This article originally appeared on L&S Electric’s blog. L&S Electric is a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Hannah Cox, content specialist, CFE Media, hcox@cfemedia.com.

Original content can be found at www.lselectric.com.

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