Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

preventative maintenance procedures 3

Status
Not open for further replies.

Buck27

Mechanical
Apr 24, 2002
2
0
0
IE
I am a young engineer who has been asked to begin a preventative maintenance program from scratch. Any ideas where to start? Any tips available? Is there any computer programs or spreadsheets freely available that might be of help?
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

First point: Computer system or spreadsheet will never wstablish your system itself. You have to organize yourself first, establissh the system, then computer can help you improve your work.
Second point: Start with manufacturer's recommendations. You can make first issue of PM plan strictly according to O & M manual.
Third point: Coach all people involved in PM (operators, maintenance specialists, helpers). Emphasize that you expect their observation and feedback regarding changes in initial plan. Form a team to analyze any sugestion and after analysis, accept it or reject with sufficiant arguments. Members of the team: only people involved with particular machine.
Fourth point: Allways be ready to further improve your plan. Consider all people involved crutially important for success, not only yourself!
 
First which type of industry are you in?

There are lots of links on the Internet but most of the sites try to sell you some CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System).

First Things:

1) Make an inventory of the equipment, model type, manufacturer etc.
2) Organize an equipment library. Centralize or make a copy of all equipment documentation and some good books about maintenance engineering etc. The books of Heinz P. Bloch are a good start.
3) How do you fit in the "maintenance dept"? Has management already established a working structure, and what is your relation to the executing craft?

Send your email, so I can send you some relevant pdf files from
Regards
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
 
You might read these:

Total Plant Performance Management : A Profit-Building Plan to Promote, Implement and Maintain Optimum Performance Throughout Your Plant:
Total Productive Maintenance, An American Apporach:

Uptime: Strategies for Excellence in Maintenance Management

Reliability, Maintainability and Risk : Practical Methods for Engineers:
More to choose at
 
Check out rttech.trading.net
We have a booklet we can send as pdf if you request, 13 pages on clean levels required for total reliability,
Our experience has shown if the lubricant cleanness is controlled then all other areas will show up in the periodic particle count,
this works great for oil lubricated,
grease lubricatednot so easy,
if u have a large amount of grease lub equip may have to VA each month as well, check out our web site then if wish email @ rt.tech@ihug.com.au for direct info for your plant, no charge,

regards Rob Simmonds
 
Drazen offers excellent advice.

I've been in your shoes, and took the same journey. Here's what I did, in order:

1. I took an AMA course in maintenance management. It didn't answer all my questions, but it provided a system to follow.

2. I bought the CMA's (Chemical Manufacturers Association) set of "Mechanical Integrity Program Development" manuals. They answered most of my questions, because it basically walked you through step by step on how to develop a maintenance program geared toward satisfying CFR 1910.119, Process Safety Management. Everything Drazen wrote was covered in these manuals. It even came with its own complete sample maintenance program: development material, scheduling and priority matrices, procedures, forms, etc.

3. I scheduled everything from a home-made MS Access database, and kept paper work order files. The guys got their work orders for the entire week on Monday. This simple system worked like a charm. I've seen programs like Maximo and MaintainIt Pro in action, and the only way they work is if you have a support staff to run it (scheduler, planner, clerk, etc). A small site will not benefit from having a fancy program.

4. I asked the senior mechanic to give me his opinion on maintaining the equipment before I started a new procedure, and again after the procedure and work order were in use in the field. Remember that it's the guys who do the maintaining that make it work, not the software or procedure.

That's my 2 cents.
 
I believe Drazen and Inbcpe have the best advice. The first thing is to identify if the CMMS program is worth implementing b/c of time/ labor involved. How big is the plant? if it is a small plant a CMMS program is a waste of time, but if it is a major plant with hundreds of equipment on site CMMS is a definite solution. It will keep a database of all the equipment, generate reports, help in preventive maintenance scheduling, MTBR and MTBF can also be calculated.
I the case of the small plant, INBCPE has the best advice, start with a home based program, cosult your staff, generate work order/ work requisition system.

One quick way to identify is to identify problem areas by
past year's purchases. For example if pump- 102 parts had been ordered five times during the year, then it is certainly a problem and a corrective action should be initiated. Also finding out what is the biggest cost center can help e.g highest purchases were done in replacing valves or gaskets or repairing piping etc. This info is easy to find in an electronic PO generation system, otherwise someone from the accounts deptt may be able to help you.

I believe this will give you a starting point.
 
That is a great bunch of replies. Depending on physical size and complexity of your situation will determine if you need to purchase a system or you can run it on excel or a database prog. Follow manufactures recommendations. On your activity sheets, add to the back reference data to help the individual carrying out the activities.

You'll probably want to start with implentation plan and present it at some point to the players, and an executive summary for your peers. This is a relatively important step as it clarrified your goals, and obtains support from your managers and those executing the plan. No use wasting your time if financial/time commitments are not sincere.

Begin a plan of graduated installement which starts simple and starts with your highest priority services, typically compressed air, electrical infeed/distribution, water, etc. Over a scheduled time frame, continue to install and evolve. Preventitive maintenance is very dynamic. Place a lot of effort in the manpower component. This component requires skill that is typically not in the qualifications of an engineer. I suggest you seek some coarses in this regard.
 
INBCPE.

I am reopening a plant we recently acquired, the machinery and processes are for shredding tires and rubber. Maintenance is key to success, and before we open we need a pm plan. I was curious how you set up the access database to do your? I have looked at grouping different databases and relating them but haven't found a really good way to do it. I wanted to have a database that contained the tools needed, drawings, instructions, dates, etc. Could you expound on yours a little? Thanks
 
Order yourself the "Maintenance Managers Standard Manual" from Prentice Hall and so you can speak the lingo and understand what your boss is looking for. He may not know what he is looking for. Then start reading OEM manuals for the major pieces of machinery that you plant depends on, each manual will have a Preventive Maintenace section, or something similar. Start by building a schedule based on machinery and available manpower. The best software you get will not provide the prework you need to put into it. Eventually you will know what you need for software.
 
HI,
MANY PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND PREVENTATIVE MAINTENENCE.I HAVE EXPERIENCE IN IMPLEMENTED QS9000 IN MY COMPANY 4 YEARS BACK.CAN GIVE YOU SOME USEFUL STEPS:
1.0 THERE IS NOTHING CALLED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENENCE.ACTUALLY
IT IS PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS FOLLOWED BY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE.

WHAT PREDICTIONS YOU WILL MAKE DEPENDS ON YOUR ACTUAL REQUIREMENT
SOME EXAMPLES COULD BE:
MONITORING OF BEARING VIBRATION AND CHANGING THE BEARING BEFORE IT FAILS

CHANGE OF ELECTRON TUBE IN A MACHINE BEFORE THE MANUFACTURERS
STIPULATED LIFE IS REACHED.
USING SPC CHART AS WELL AS REJECTION TREND AND CHANGE THE IDENTIFIED PART BEFORE A QUALITY BREAKDOWN OCCURS

BY CONTINUOUSLY RECORDING THE BREAK DOWNS/ANALYSE STATISTICALLY
THE PERIOD OF FAILURE
AND ARRIVE AT A PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FREQUENCY

ACTUALLY YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE FOR TOOL MAINTENENCE AS WELL TO AVOID FAILURE.
TO CONCLUDE YOU HAVE TO DO A PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS OF EVERY EQUIPMENT STATISTICALLY BASED ON QUALITY DATA,OR PAST FAILURES AND PREVENT BREAKDOWN BY HAVING WELL DEFINED PLAN IN PLACE IN CASE YOU CANNOT MONITOR CERTAIN CRITICAL PARAMTERS IN THE MACHINE ONLINE WHICH WILL BE HIGHLY USEFUL TO AVOID BREAKDOWN.
FEEL FREE TO HAVE SOME DOCUMENTS IF YOU WANT.DEVICE YOUR OWN METHOD TO MAXIMISE OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND ONE OF THE VERY USEFUL METHOD OS PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS

uppili11
 
I disagree mate. My outlook is that predictive failure analysis is a tool of preventitive maintenance. Preventitive maintenance also includes negotiating process procedures, identifying qualifications of tradesmen, part inventory management, and a host of other 'broad perspective' outlooks.
 
hi-automatic2

I fully aggree with you that preventive maintenance has to be considered in much broader perspective.but the real issue is preventative maintenence which is a term coined by the BIG3 in evloving the automotive procedures and in limited perspective of meeting 100%delivery requirements/prevent defects/as well continuous improvement.
which is being followed by host of companies subscribing to automotive requirements and this also has got an element of statistical analysis.
 
I disagree uppili11

You start with preventive maintenance, which englobes inspections/repairs at predetermined intervals.
After you master that, you can switch over to predictive techniques for some equipments.

Imagine you do expensive vibration monitoring on a pump, and the operator/mechanic doesn't know where to check if there is enough oil in the gearbox? This is bascic PM!! Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
 
YES .WE HAVE TO START FROM BASICS ANY WAY.PREVENTIVE --AFTER WE MASTER SOLVING BREAKDOWN CONDITIONS/UNDERSTANDING ALL ASPECTS OF THE MACHINE/FORMULATE SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES.
BUT PREVENTATIVE IS LITTLE ADVANCED (SAY FROM ISO TO QS9000)
THE ULTIMATE SHOULD BE THE TPM WHERE EVERY MINUTE OF THE BREAKDOWN COUNTS IN MASS PRODUCTION OR CONTINUOUS PROCESS INDUSTRIES.
THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE.

 
I agree with svenels' point. Maintenance is very conservative ground and you need to be firmly on ground all the time; every step you can start only when previous is very good worked on. I beleive in evolution, not revolution in developing maintenance organization. Every "flashing" step I saw somebody has undertaken ended up in dust with somobody else given to recover what remained after "flasher's" undertaking.
 
Check the Maintenance Technology Magazine Web page. There is also a Maintenance Forum that you can ask experts in the field for information. There are many computer programs that can help you Manage the program. These programs have parts inventory management, manpower, scheduling and much more. However, you need to research the manufaturer's instructions so that you can determine how much P.M. you have to do.Basically, develop an inventory of all the P.M. tasks that you need to do. Assign a number to them for reference. You also want to assign a time slot for completion. This will allow you to develop a schedule. All this can be done on paper. But, of course a computer facilitates access to the information a lot easier and it is easier to maintain. Good Luck!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top