We’ve recently discussed the importance of flowmeters and the critical nature of their use in connection with valve efficiency and performance. In that spirit, we wanted to discuss one of the most important aspects of running an efficient operation, which are scheduled maintenance and repairs, or preventive maintenance. Planning and scheduling maintenance and repairs is critical to achieving an effective pumping system operation, and in turn, valve performance, for the purpose of keeping costs down and improving station reliability.
There are many factors to consider when putting a preventive maintenance program in place; but some of the most basic are:
Scheduling is Key: Having a set schedule in place such as weekly cleaning and lubrication, monthly seal tests, etc. is one of the main factors that will prevent problems from occurring and extend the time between repairs or failures.
Make Safety a Priority: Every negative HS&E incident is an interruption to production. Educate your staff on all the potential safety risks associated with your operation to ensure everyone is working under safe, controlled conditions.
Keep Good Records: Recording the condition of your equipment and any maintenance tasks performed on a regular basis will provide all workers with the information necessary to assess root problems when they arise.
Assign Responsibilities: Giving responsibility for specific maintenance tasks to various members of your team means that there are more eyes on the performance of your equipment. You can respond to issues more quickly and have a better change of detecting problems early on.
Be Proactive: If you’re doing all of the above, this should occur naturally. The whole purpose of scheduled maintenance and repairs is to identify problems before they get out of hand and cause catastrophic failure to your operation.
Outsourcing Maintenance and Repairs
If your operation is too big or there simply isn’t the knowledge base available within your own workforce, there are professional providers of preventive maintenance and repair best practices. One provider of these services is People and Processes based out of Florida, who we are featuring today. They are an education and consulting services firm dedicated to maintenance and operations enhancement through utilization of industry recognized best practices and processes with a holistic site approach.
Advanced Ways to Approach Maintenance and Repairs
People and Processes coaches and mentors employees with the goal of passing the knowledge and skills to others in the organization so the operation becomes self-sufficient and learns how to minimize cost. Facilities that cannot effectively implement a computerized maintenance management system or develop a preventive maintenance program, for whatever reason, can also be helped.
A few of People and Processes’ standout programs include:
Central components of a proactive reliability culture, effective planning, scheduling, and the coordination of maintenance activities are typically responsible for the majority of overall cost savings and return on investment. Studies continue to prove that every dollar spent planning and scheduling can save $3 to $7 in execution. However, many smaller organizations find it challenging to keep the Planner Scheduler strategically focused on the future. Instead of being proactive, many operations find themselves spending time and money being reactive to various critical issues as they arise.
If everyone in an organization knows that a piece of equipment is troublesome, the solution lies in PM optimization. Reliability-Centered Maintenance is about finding the functional failures that are not obvious, which are the ones that will cost the most money and appear at the worst times. Reliability-Centered Maintenance uses many different tools and can be as simple as reviewing Piping and Instrument Diagrams for a check valve that could fail, along with using a hybrid of various methods for a comprehensive solution.
This program helps your staff learn the difference and benefits between preventative and predictive maintenance. Some organizations use a one size fits all approach, believing the two are combined and are basically an overhaul of equipment occurring automatically on some timed basis. However, not all equipment wears out at the same rate, even identical pieces that perform the same tasks. The service teaches condition-monitoring approaches that are proven to be more cost effective and introduce less opportunity for infant mortality than overhaul methods.
Courses on Maintenance and Repairs
In addition to advanced consulting services, People and Processes also offers a wealth of courses from Maintenance Management Principles to CMMS/EAM Implementation. These courses are offered at the Florida location, or you can request that the courses be conducted on your site. They are a great way to help transfer knowledge and build internal support for improving maintenance and reliability while reducing travel costs.
Whether you work for the manufacturing, facilities, government, military, municipalities and utilities, transportation, or other sectors, you know that keeping your equipment running as efficiently as possible for as long as possible can be one of the most important aspects of any operation. We highly encourage those who are concerned about their operation’s performance to learn more about to proactively plan and schedule maintenance and repairs.
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