Preventive & Corrective Maintenance
Corrective maintenance can be defined as a maintenance task performed to identify, isolate, and rectify a fault so that the
failed equipment, machine, or asset can be restored to an operational condition within the tolerances or
limits established for in-service operations.
Corrective maintenance is maintenance which is carried out after failure detection and is aimed at restoring
an asset to a condition in which it can perform its intended function.
Preventive maintenance (PM) has the following meanings:
1. The care and servicing by qualified personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment and facilities
in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of
incipient failures either before they occur or before they develop into major defects.
2. Maintenance, including tests, measurements, adjustments, and parts replacement, performed specifically
to prevent faults from occurring.
The main value of Predictive Maintenance is to allow convenient scheduling of corrective maintenance, and to prevent unexpected equipment failures. The key is “the right information in the right time”. By knowing which equipment needs maintenance, work can be better planned (spare parts, people etc.) What would have been “unplanned stops” are transformed to shorter and fewer “planned stops”, thus increasing plant availability. Other advantages include increased equipment lifetime, increased plant safety, and optimized spare parts handling.
Moreover, the planned maintenance of equipment will help improve equipment life and avoid any unplanned maintenance activity. A successful preventive maintenance program is dependent on the cooperation of all the parties involved. Maintenance managers must rely on the knowledge, ideas, and contributions of all the maintenance personnel at the property.
The implementation of a preventive maintenance program can be time consuming and costly. This creates constant debate as to whether a preventive maintenance program is worth utilizing.
Will the man hours and money invested in the program outweigh emergency repairs? From our experience, we believe that when a program is properly operated the benefits exceed the costs.
Here are other important benefits of a properly operated preventive maintenance program:
1. Production capacity is increased and the number of repairs are reduced
2. Better conservation of assets and increased life expectancy of assets, thereby eliminating premature replacement of machinery and equipment
3. Reduced overtime costs and more economical use of maintenance workers due to working on a scheduled basis instead of an emergency basis to repair breakdowns
4. Timely, routine repairs circumvent fewer large-scale repairs
5. Improved safety and quality conditions for everyone
