A big emphasis has been put on predictive maintenance (PdM), and for good reason. However, it’s not always applicable or practical, and it has other limitations. Don’t fall into the trap of neglecting two other kinds of maintenance just because you made a significant investment in PdM.
- Reactive maintenance is usually unplanned, but not always. You react to a problem; after something breaks, you fix it (maybe now, maybe later). Run to failure, repair or replace after failure, and breakdown response are all terms used for reactive maintenance. This is not what you want as your core maintenance philosophy, but it’s not all bad. If you have equipment that is neither critical nor expensive, reactive maintenance is often the most cost-effective approach.
- Preventive maintenance (PM) typically involves carrying out testing/measurement and adjustment/replacement on some interval basis. The interval might be calendar time (e.g., quarterly) or run time (for example, you change your car’s oil every 5,000 miles). PM also includes replacing infrastructure such as transformers when they reach a certain age. A drawback of PM is you often get adjustment or replacement regardless of condition.