Different Types Of Machine Maintenance

By Author: Patricia Millay
Total Articles: 6
Comment this article

To make sure that all machineries are performing well, proper maintenance should be utilized. Machine maintenance, to most people, is usually considered to be work done just after any glitch is found in machineries or worse when there are already failures in machineries. Having legit maintenance programs can effectively help prevent machine failures through various steps of preventive measures. There are generally 4 different maintenance programs that can be used in machine maintenance. Each method of every maintenance program will greatly depend on the organizational structure and management philosophies of the company or organization that owns and operates the machineries, or perform machine repairs. Adelaide, for example, may have programs that are different from other programs in other places.

Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is a type of maintenance program that involves routine inspections of machineries in certain days of the year or during certain operating hours. Through preventive maintenance, wear and tear on a certain machine will be easily identified since inspection follows a predetermined ...
... schedule. Any signs of degradation or minor damage of the machine should be scheduled for machine repair as soon as possible, to prevent worsening of the damage thus causing a total breakdown. Of all the 4 types of machine maintenance programs, preventive maintenance is the least-costly form, since failure of machines can be prevented. Expensive spare parts replacement and high hourly labor costs for machine repairmen can be prevented.

Reactive Maintenance
Unlike preventive maintenance, reactive maintenance does not require any predetermined or scheduled checkups of machines. Reactive maintenance repairs machines only when there is failure already. Machines are allowed to work until failure in this type of maintenance program. Reactive maintenance may not sound costly since it does not need any up-front costs, but when a machine breaks down, costs may be sky-high since there will be cost for part replacements, hours of labor and even revenue loss due to the failure of the machine. This type of machine maintenance program may be the most expensive when talking long-term.

Predictive Maintenance
When talking about one of the most efficient machine maintenance program and not costly at the same time, then predictive maintenance may be it. Predictive maintenance makes use of repair methods only as the conditions warrant. For example, if risks of machine damage surfaces due to certain environmental conditions, such as high temperature, vibration, warning lights, etc., then the machine will be shut off before the machine is damaged. By following predictive maintenance, machines should be closely monitored to help prevent machine failure, thus needing machine repair and may end up spending more for the repair.

Reliability Centered Maintenance
When talking about industry and machinery standards in machine maintenance programs, the reliability centered maintenance is the one. Reliability centered maintenance is the maintenance program that combines all 3 programs mentioned above, preventive maintenance, reactive maintenance, and predictive maintenance. This type of maintenance program was invented and first used by the aviation industry. The reliability centered maintenance may cost more than other machine maintenance programs, but this type of program is considered to be the most affordable one in the industry today. Reliability centered maintenance is usually used by companies for many industrial machine repairs. Adelaide-based Rush Engineering, for example, is one of them.

For more info about machine maintenance, visit our website.