As the well-known civil engineer and author Henry Petroski put it, “Success is foreseeing failure.” It’s only four words, but it defines what every preventive maintenance (PM) program should strive for. Whether you have been working for many years or are a newcomer, your most effective weapon against breakdown is a well-organized and on-schedule PM program.

It also doesn’t matter what field you are in or how large or small your organization is. The fact remains, if you do preventive maintenance correctly and consistently, it works. Proper staffing levels are required to stay on schedule and staying on schedule is the cornerstone of all successfully run programs. You still can run your program behind schedule, but breakdowns will increase and your program will become less and less efficient. Your troops will be doing more breakdown maintenance than preventive maintenance, a sorry situation for everyone concerned (including your company, your department and your customers).

We are all familiar with the various predictive (PdM) technologies that have emerged to supplement PM programs (i.e. infrared scanning, oil analysis, vibration analysis, etc.). But, while such technologies are very effective and can add much more refinement to a program, they still are supplemental in nature. They do not take the place of a PM program, but enhance it. There is no substitute for the day-in-day-out battles that must be waged to keep breakdowns at bay.

The dictionary defines “breakdown” in terms of “failing to function.” A breakdown can be a complete failure, i.e. a motor burns out. It can be a partial failure, i.e. a motor overheats but still runs. It can be an intermittent failure, i.e. a motor stops and starts for

Let’s look over the accompanying chart. As you can see, the planning, strategy and tactics to conquer breakdowns start at the headquarters.

Planning
Planning is the first and most important step. According to John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” It’s the same in maintenance as it...(Read whole article)