PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PHILOSOPHY BASIC INFORMATION

What are the philosophies of preventive maintenance?

Most people recognize the need for the maintenance of electrical equipment. The debate really focuses on how much maintenance is enough.

The key to the discussion over the proper amount of maintenance centers on the economic balance between the cost of performing maintenance and the importance of reliable power.

For example, a computer center with a downtime cost of $100 000 or more an hour would justify a much more extensive maintenance program than would a small facility whose downtime cost might be minuscule in comparison.

Moreover, it has been shown that there is a balance to the amount of economic benefit that is achieved from performing maintenance. A lack of maintenance eventually results in failures and a high cost to a plant.

Likewise, an extreme amount of maintenance is wasteful and also results in a high cost to a plant. The optimum maintenance program lies somewhere in between.

This balance point can vary for different types of facilities. There are two benefits to having an effective preventive maintenance program. The first is that costs are reduced through the minimizing of equipment downtime.

The second benefit is obtained through improved safety and system performance. Other intangible benefits include things such as improved employee morale, better workmanship, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, reduced interruption of production, and improved insurance considerations.

In planning an electrical preventive maintenance (EPM) program, consideration must be given to the costs of safety, the costs associated with direct losses due to equipment damage, and the indirect costs associated with downtime or lost or inefficient production.