What are the best practices for scheduling preventive maintenance tasks?

Preventive maintenance (PM) is a proactive strategy to keep your equipment and machines in optimal condition and avoid costly breakdowns and downtime. However, planning and scheduling PM tasks can be challenging, especially when you have to balance them with other production and maintenance priorities. In this article, we will share some best practices for scheduling PM tasks that can help you improve your maintenance efficiency, reliability, and performance.

1 Define your PM tasks and intervals

The first step to schedule PM tasks is to define what they are and how often they need to be performed. You can use different methods to determine the PM tasks and intervals, such as manufacturer's recommendations, industry standards, historical data, or condition-based monitoring. The goal is to identify the most critical and effective PM tasks that can prevent failures, extend equipment life, and reduce costs. You should also document your PM tasks and intervals in a clear and consistent format, such as checklists, work orders, or manuals.

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Kubera H

Production Manager in Neo Foods Pvt ltd
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For effective PM Scheduling only : 1.Known repeated breakdown & failure parts. 2.Set frequency preventive schedule & involvement Skilled operator during activity

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Md Waqar Ahmed

Manufacturing || Process Excellence || Operations || TPM || Lean Six Sigma || Lean Manufacturing || FMCG
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For an effective PM scheduling. First step would be listing down all the operational equipments Second step would be to define the PM task and activities - If it's being made for the first time, then OEM Manual should be referred, for equipments already in use historical data, past trends & patterns should be analysed to finalize the schedule Third step - Defining the frequency and intervals for PM tasks for which again historical data to be taken in account along with OEM recommendations. All above action to be incorporated in a checksheet for proper implementation and tracking

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2 Use a CMMS software

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software is a powerful tool to help you schedule PM tasks and manage your maintenance operations. A CMMS software can automate the creation and assignment of PM work orders, track the status and progress of PM tasks, send reminders and alerts, and generate reports and insights. A CMMS software can also integrate with other systems, such as inventory, production, or quality, to optimize your maintenance resources and coordination.

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3 Prioritize your PM tasks

Not all PM tasks are equally important or urgent. You need to prioritize your PM tasks based on factors such as equipment criticality, failure consequences, downtime impact, and resource availability. You can use a risk matrix or a scoring system to rank your PM tasks and assign them to the most qualified and available technicians. You should also review and update your PM priorities regularly to account for any changes in your equipment condition, production demand, or maintenance capacity.

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Md Waqar Ahmed

Manufacturing || Process Excellence || Operations || TPM || Lean Six Sigma || Lean Manufacturing || FMCG
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PM tasks can be prioritised by the criticality or the failure probability of an equipment, working environment or resource availability. Quantification can be done by assigning RPN(Risk priority number) to each task and executing ones with higher RPN RPN - criticality/severity*probability*correction time

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4 Align your PM tasks with your production schedule

One of the main challenges of scheduling PM tasks is to minimize the disruption to your production schedule. You need to align your PM tasks with your production schedule to find the best time and frequency to perform them without compromising your output or quality. You can use tools such as a Gantt chart or a calendar to visualize your PM and production schedules and identify any gaps or conflicts. You should also communicate and collaborate with your production team to ensure that they are aware of and support your PM schedule.

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5 Monitor and evaluate your PM schedule

Scheduling PM tasks is not a one-time activity. You need to monitor and evaluate your PM schedule regularly to measure its effectiveness and efficiency. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs) such as PM completion rate, downtime reduction, failure rate, mean time between failures (MTBF), and maintenance cost per unit to track and analyze your PM performance. You should also collect and review feedback from your technicians, operators, and managers to identify any issues or opportunities for improvement.

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Md Waqar Ahmed

Manufacturing || Process Excellence || Operations || TPM || Lean Six Sigma || Lean Manufacturing || FMCG
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To measure the efficacy of PM schedule implementation. We should start tracking the KPIs for PM. Follow the TPM method - where u need to form a circle team with leaders and members who will lead the PM pillar The KPI for the PM pillar will be :- 1. MTBF - Increment in MTBF, will suggest PM practises in place. 2. % Adherence to PM schedule 3. M&R( Repair) cost/unit 4. OEE

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6 Adjust and optimize your PM schedule

Based on your monitoring and evaluation results, you should adjust and optimize your PM schedule to ensure that it meets your maintenance and production goals. You can use techniques such as root cause analysis, Pareto analysis, or Kaizen to find and eliminate the causes of PM inefficiencies, failures, or wastes. You should also leverage the data and insights from your CMMS software or other sources to fine-tune your PM tasks and intervals, prioritize your PM tasks, align your PM tasks with your production schedule, and allocate your maintenance resources optimally.

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7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that donâ€™t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Dr Farshid Pahlevani

PhD, Research Scientist, Innovating Sustainable Solutions for Industry Profit & Longevity
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These are the best approach to consider: 1- List of equipment that need maintenance and what type of maintenance is needed 2- Link this to the usage hours of the machine 3- Create milestone based on number of hours usage for each section that need to look at it and need repairs 4- Check the equipment and if needed do the maintenance In this way you can make it systematic Be kind to our planet! âœ…âœ…âœ…

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Directory

What are the best practices for scheduling preventive maintenance tasks?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your PM tasks and intervals

2 Use a CMMS software

3 Prioritize your PM tasks

4 Align your PM tasks with your production schedule

5 Monitor and evaluate your PM schedule

6 Adjust and optimize your PM schedule

7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Manufacturing

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Directory

What are the best practices for scheduling preventive maintenance tasks?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your PM tasks and intervals

2 Use a CMMS software

3 Prioritize your PM tasks

4 Align your PM tasks with your production schedule

5 Monitor and evaluate your PM schedule

6 Adjust and optimize your PM schedule

7 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Manufacturing

Rate this article

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