MAINTENANCE

Maintenance is a set of organised activities that are carried out in order to keep an item in its
best operational condition with minimum cost. It ensures that the system’s equipment are in
working order and it increases the availability of a system

It refers to all actions necessary for retaining an item, or restoring to it, a serviceable condition,
include servicing, repair, modification, overhaul, inspection and condition verification. They
are activities such as tests, measurements, replacements, adjustment and repairs that are
intended to retain or restore a functional unit in or to a specified state in which the unit can
perform its required functions. Maintenance can also be defined in terms of materials as all
actions taken to retain material in a serviceable condition or to restore it to serviceability. It
includes inspection, testing, servicing, classification as to serviceability, repair, building and
reclamation(Chaudhary, n.d.)

Past and current maintenance practices in both the private and Government sectors would imply
that maintenance is the actions associated with equipment repair after it is broken. The
dictionary defines maintenance as “the work of keeping something in proper condition,
upkeep.” This would imply that maintenance should be actions taken to prevent a device or
component from failing or to repair normal equipment degradation experienced with the
operation of the device to keep it in proper working order.
Data obtained in many studies over the past decade indicates that most private and Government
facilities do not expend the necessary resources to maintain equipment
in proper working order. They wait for equipment failure to occur and then take whatever
actions are necessary to repair or replace the equipment. Nothing lasts forever and all
equipment has associated with it some predefined life expectancy or operational life.(Jackson
& Stevens, 1993)

Maintenance recommendations are based on industry standards and experience in

Reclamation facilities. However, equipment and situations vary greatly, and
sound engineering and management judgment must be exercised when applying
these recommendations. Other sources of information must be consulted (e.g.,
manufacturers recommendations, unusual operating conditions, personal
experience with the equipment, etc.) in conjunction with these maintenances
recommendations.(Cline, Germann, & Mcstraw, 2007)
MAINTENANCE HISTORY
In the period of pre-World War II, people thought of maintenance as an added cost to the plant
which did not increase the value of finished production. Therefore, the maintenance at that era
was restricted to fixing the unit when it breaks because it was the cheapest alternative. During
and after World War II at the time when the advances of engineering and scientific technology
developed, people developed other types of maintenance, which were much cheaper such as
preventive maintenance. In addition, people in this era classified maintenance as a function of
the production system. Nowadays, increased awareness of such issues as environment safety,
quality of product and services makes maintenance one of the most important functions that
contribute to the success of the industry. World-class companies are in continuous need of a
very well organised maintenance programme to compete world-wide(Class 02 - Types of
Maintenance, n.d.)
 HISTORIC EVOLUTION OF MAINTENANCE

Source: (Moubray, 2001)

This evolution is demonstrated through the industrial needs in each generation, in which the
central concepts about the maintenance types and how they could have been classified were
highlighted. With the division of maintenance into generations, also concepts about more
efficient maintenance types to be applied in the industrial context were developed.
The first generation gave support to the diversification of corrective maintenance concept, such
as: scheduled, unscheduled, curative, palliative or repair. The corrective maintenance actually
is still “repair after damage” and appeared as the main concept of the first generation. The
second generation in turn, brought conceptual elements for the development of preventive
maintenance, which is based on scheduled overhauls, planning and control of work systems
and the evolution of applied computer science. In the third generation the evolution of condition
monitoring techniques, failure analysis and studies of risks brought base to conceptualize
predictive maintenance.
The evolution of these concepts was fueled by growing maintenance expectations. These
expectations forced the development of new technologies that could help the productive sector
to maintain safety, quality, availability and reliability of their equipment and consequently of
the production processes. In the current generation, inherited from aerospace industry the RCM
(Reliability Centered Maintenance) brought advanced techniques linked with reliability and
availability and frequently adapted to industrial systems(Trojan & Marçal, 2017)

PURPOSE OF MAINTENANCE
1. To keep equipment/system operative
2. attempt to maximize performance of production equipment efficiently and regularly
3 prevent breakdown or failures
4. minimize production loss from failures
5. to keep operation safe
6. to prevent leakages/losses
OBJECTIVES IN MAINTENANCE

1. Maintenance objectives should be consistent with and subordinate to production goals.

2. The relation between maintenance objectives and production goals is reflected in the action
of keeping production machines and facilities in the best possible condition.
3. Maximising production or increasing facilities availability at the lowest cost and at the
highest quality and safety standards.
4. Reducing breakdowns and emergency shutdowns.
5. Optimising resources utilisation.
6. Reducing downtime.
7. Improving spares stock control.
8. Improving equipment efficiency and reducing scrap rate.
9. Minimising energy usage.
10. Optimising the useful life of equipment.
11. Providing reliable cost and budgetary control.
12. Identifying and implementing cost reductions

PROBLEMS IN MAINTENANCE
1. Lack of management attention to maintenance
2. Little participation by accounting in analyzing and reporting costs
3. Difficulties in applying quantitative analysis
4. Difficulties in obtaining time and cost estimates for maintenance works
5. Difficulties in measuring performance

CAUSES OF PROBLEMS IN MAINTENANCE

1. Failure to develop written objectives and policy
2. Inadequate budgetary control
3. Inadequate control procedures for work order, service requests etc.
4. Infrequent use of standards
5. To control maintenance work
6. Absence of cost reports to aid maintenance planning and control system

TYPES OF MAINTENANCE

1. Run to Failure Maintenance (RTF)

2. Preventive Maintenance (PM)
3. Corrective Maintenance (CM)
4. Improvement Maintenance (IM)
5. Predictive Maintenance (PDM)

Run to Failure Maintenance (RTF)

The required repair, replacement, or restore action performed on a machine or a facility after
the occurrence of a failure in order to bring this machine or facility to at least its minimum
acceptable condition. It is the oldest type of maintenance and it is subdivided into two types:
 Emergency maintenance: it is carried out as fast as possible in order to bring a failed
machine or facility to a safe and operationally efficient condition.
 Breakdown maintenance: it is performed after the occurrence of an advanced considered
failure for which advanced provision has been made in the form of repair method, spares,
materials, labour and equipment.
RTF Disadvantages
 Its activities are expensive in terms of both direct and indirect cost.
 Using this type of maintenance, the occurrence of a failure in a component can cause
failures in other components in the same equipment, which leads to low production
availability.
 Its activities are very difficult to plan and schedule in advance.
RTF Advantages
 The failure of a component in a system is unpredictable.
 The cost of performing run to failure maintenance activities is lower than
performing other activities of other types of maintenance.
The equipment failure priority is too low in order to include the activities of preventing it within
the planned maintenance budget

Preventive Maintenance (PM)

It is a set of activities that are performed on plant equipment, machinery, and systems before
the occurrence of a failure in order to protect them and to prevent or eliminate any degradation
in their operating conditions.
The maintenance carried out at predetermined intervals or according to prescribed criteria and
intended to reduce the probability of failure or the degradation of the functioning and the effects
limited (British Standard 3811:1993 ). It is good for those machines and facilities which their
failure would cause serious production losses.
Its aim is to maintain machines and facilities in such a condition that breakdowns and
emergency repairs are minimised. Its activities include replacements, adjustments, major
overhauls, inspections and lubrications.
Factors Affecting Preventive Maintenance
 The need for an adequate number of staff in the maintenance department in order to
perform this type of maintenance.
 The right choice of production equipment and machinery that is suitable for the working
environment and that can tolerate the workload of this environment.
 The required staff qualifications and skills, which can be gained through training.
 The support and commitment from executive management to the PM programme.
 The proper planning and scheduling of PM programme.
 The ability to properly apply the PM programme

Researchers subdivided preventive maintenance into different kinds according to the nature of
its activities:
 Routine Maintenance which includes those maintenance activities that are repetitive and
periodic in nature such as lubrication, cleaning, and small adjustment.
 Running Maintenance which includes those maintenance activities that are carried out
while the machine or equipment is running and they represent those activities that are
performed before the actual preventive maintenance activities take place.
 Opportunity Maintenance which is a set of maintenance activities that are performed on
a machine or a facility when an unplanned opportunity exists during the period of
performing planned maintenance activities to other machines or facilities.
 Window Maintenance which is a set of activities that are carried out when a machine or
equipment is not required for a definite period of time.
 Shutdown Preventive Maintenance, which is a set of preventive maintenance activities
that are carried out when the production line is in total stoppage situation.

Advantages
1. Cost effective in many capital intensive processes.
2. Flexibility allows for the adjustment of maintenance periodicity.
3. Increased component life cycle.
4. Energy savings.
5. Reduced equipment or process failure.
6. Estimated 12% to 18% cost savings over reactive maintenance program.
Disadvantages
1. Catastrophic failures still likely to occur.
2. Labour intensive.
3. Includes performance of unneeded maintenance.
4. Potential for incidental damage to components in conducting unneeded maintenance.

Depending on the facilities current maintenance practices, present equipment reliability, and
facility downtime, there is little doubt that many facilities purely reliant on corrective maintenance
could save much more than 18% by instituting a proper preventive maintenance program.
While preventive maintenance is not the optimum maintenance program, it does have several
advantages over that of a purely corrective program. By performing the preventive maintenance as the
equipment designer envisioned, we will extend the life of the equipment closer to design.
This translates into dollar savings. Preventive maintenance (lubrication, filter change, etc.) will
generally, run the equipment more efficiently resulting in dollar savings. While we will not prevent
equipment catastrophic failures, we will decrease the number of failures. Minimizing failures
translate into maintenance and capital cost savings.

Corrective Maintenance (CM)

In this type, actions such as repair, replacement, or restore will be carried out after the
occurrence of a failure in order to eliminate the source of this failure or reduce the frequency
of its occurrence.
The maintenance carried out after recognition and intended to put an item into a state in which
it can perform a required function (British Standard 3811:1993)
Corrective maintenance is subdivided into three types:
 Remedial Maintenance, which is a set of activities that are performed to eliminate the
source of failure without interrupting the continuity of the production process. The way to
 carry out this type of corrective maintenance is by taking the item to be corrected out of the
production line and replacing it with reconditioned item or transferring its workload to its
redundancy.
 Deferred Maintenance, which is a set of corrective maintenance activities that are not
immediately initiated after the occurrence of a failure but are delayed in such a way that
will not affect the production process.
 Shutdown Corrective Maintenance, which is a set of corrective maintenance activities
that are performed when the production line is in total stoppage situation

The main objectives of corrective maintenance are the maximisation of the effectiveness of all
critical plant systems, the elimination of breakdowns, the elimination of unnecessary repair,
and the reduction of the deviations from optimum operating conditions.
The difference between corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance is that for the
corrective maintenance, the failure should occur before any corrective action is taken.
Corrective maintenance is different from run to failure maintenance in that its activities are
planned and regularly taken out to keep plant’s machines and equipment in optimum operating
condition. The way to perform corrective maintenance activities is by conducting four
important steps:
1. Fault detection.
2. Fault isolation.
3. Fault elimination.
4. Verification of fault elimination.
In the fault elimination step several actions could be taken such as adjusting, aligning,
calibrating, reworking, removing, replacing or renovation
Advantages to corrective maintenance can be viewed as a double-edged sword. If we are
dealing with new equipment, we can expect minimal incidents of failure. If our maintenance
program is purely corrective; we will not expend manpower or incur capital cost until something
breaks. Since we do not see any associated maintenance cost, we could view this period as
saving money. In reality, during the time we believe we are saving maintenance and capital cost,
we are really spending more money than we would have under a different maintenance approach.
We are spending more money associated with capital cost because, while waiting for the equipment
to break, we are shortening the life of the equipment resulting in more frequent replacement. We
may incur cost upon failure of the primary device associated with its failure causing the failure
of a secondary device. This is an increased cost we would not have experienced if our maintenance
program was more proactive.
Our labour cost associated with repair will probably be higher than normal because the
failure will most likely require more extensive repairs than would have been required if the piece
of equipment had not been run to failure. Chances are the piece of equipment will fail during off
hours or close to the end of the normal workday. If it is a critical piece of equipment that needs
to be back on-line quickly, we will have to pay maintenance overtime cost. Since we expect to
run equipment to failure, we will require a large material inventory of repair parts. This is a cost
we could minimize under a different maintenance strategy.(Jackson & Stevens, 1993)
Advantages
1. Involves low cost investment for maintenance.
2. Less staff is required.
Disadvantages
1. Increased cost due to unplanned downtime of equipment.
2. Increased labour cost, especially if overtime is needed.
3. Cost involved with repair or replacement of equipment.
4. Possible secondary equipment or process damage from equipment failure.
5. Inefficient use of staff resources.
Improvement Maintenance (IM)
It aims at reducing or eliminating entirely the need for maintenance. This type of maintenance
is subdivided into three types as follows:
1. Design-out Maintenance which is a set of activities that are used to eliminate the cause of
maintenance, simplify maintenance tasks, or raise machine performance from the
maintenance point of view by redesigning those machines and facilities which are
vulnerable to frequent occurrence of failure and their long term repair or replacement cost
is very expensive.
2. Engineering Services which includes construction and construction modification, removal
and installation, and rearrangement of facilities.
3. Shutdown Improvement Maintenance, which is a set of improvement maintenance
activities that are performed while the production line is in a complete stoppage situation.

Predictive Maintenance (PDM)

Predictive maintenance can be defined as “Measurements that detect the onset of a degradation
mechanism, thereby allowing causal stressors to be eliminated or controlled prior to any significant
deterioration in the component physical state. Results indicate current and future functional
capability”.
Basically, predictive maintenance differs from preventive maintenance by basing maintenance
need on the actual condition of the machine rather than on some preset schedule. The main difference
between preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance is that predictive maintenance uses
monitoring the condition of machines or equipment to determine the actual mean time to failure whereas
preventive maintenance depends on industrial average life statisticsPreventive
maintenance is time-based. Activities such as changing lubricant are based on time, like calendar
time or equipment run time. For example, most people change the oil in their vehicles every 3,000
to 5,000 miles travelled. This is effectively basing the oil change needs on equipment run time.
No concern is given to the actual condition and performance capability of the oil. It is changed
because it is time. This methodology would be analogous to a preventive maintenance task. If,
on the other hand, the operator of the car discounted the vehicle run time and had the oil analysed
at some periodicity to determine its actual condition and lubrication properties, he may be able
to extend the oil change until the vehicle had travelled 10,000 miles. This is the fundamental
difference between predictive maintenance and preventive maintenance, whereby predictive
maintenance is used to define needed maintenance task based on quantified material/equipment
condition.
There are many advantages of predictive maintenance. A well-orchestrated predictive
maintenance program will eliminate catastrophic equipment failures. Schedule of maintenance
activities can be made to minimize or delete overtime cost. It is possible to minimize inventory
and order parts, as required, well ahead of time to support the downstream maintenance needs
and optimize the operation of the equipment, saving energy cost and increasing plant reliability.
Past studies have estimated that a properly functioning predictive maintenance program can
provide a savings of 8% to 12% over a program utilizing preventive maintenance alone. Depending
on a facility’s reliance on reactive maintenance and material condition, it could easily recognize
savings opportunities exceeding 30% to 40%. Independent surveys indicate the following industrial
average savings resultant from initiation of a functional predictive maintenance program:
1. Return on investment—10 times
2. Reduction in maintenance costs—25% to 30%
3. Elimination of breakdowns—70% to 75%
4. Reduction in downtime—35% to 45%
5. Increase in production—20% to 25%.
 It is classified into two kinds according to the methods of detecting the signs of failure:
 Condition-based predictive maintenance
 Statistical-based predictive maintenance
 Condition-based Predictive Maintenance depends on continuous or periodic condition
monitoring equipment to detect the signs of failure.
 Statistical-based Predictive Maintenance depends on statistical data from the meticulous
recording of the stoppages of the in-plant items and components in order to develop models
for predicting failures

Advantages
1. Increased component operational life/availability.
2. Allows for pre-emptive corrective actions.
3. Decrease in equipment or process downtime.
4. Decrease in costs for parts and labour.
5. Better product quality.
6. Improved worker and environmental safety.
7. Improved worker moral.
8. Energy savings.
9. Estimated 8% to 12% cost savings over preventive maintenance program.
Disadvantages
1. Increased investment in diagnostic equipment.
2. Increased investment in staff training.
3. Savings potential not readily seen by management

REFERENCES
Chaudhary, E. S. (n.d.). Maintenance and its types.
Class 02 - Types of Maintenance. (n.d.).
Cline, R., Germann, J., & Mcstraw, B. (2007). FIST 4-1A, Maintenance Scheduling for Mechanical
Equipment FIST 4-1A. 4(January).
Jackson, M., & Stevens, S. D. (1993). Maintenance management. Engineering a Cathedral, 188–191.
https://doi.org/10.1680/eac.16842.0014
Moubray, J. (2001). Reliability-centered maintenance. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bNCVF0B7vpIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Mou
bray+J.+(2000).+Reliability+Centered+Maintenance+(RCM),+Aladon,+United+Kingdom&ots=
2aUqvL9g4A&sig=kKcHm6nta945nSKosdfP-mGKh0E
Trojan, F., & Marçal, R. F. M. (2017). Proposal of Maintenance-types Classification to Clarify
Maintenance Concepts in Production and Operations Management. Journal of Business and
Economics, 8(7), 560–572. https://doi.org/10.15341/jbe(2155-7950)/07.08.2017/005