Not a single organization has perfected their maintenance approach. Regardless of their maintenance approaches being flawed, businesses worldwide continue to salvage the health of their equipment throughout the years. The ways in which they do that differ, however, most maintenance contributions come in the form of preventive or predictive maintenance.

A basic understanding of maintenance would mean you’ve likely heard of the first strategy. This strategy has been a staple in the manufacturing industry for some time. Preventive maintenance is a calendar-oriented maintenance strategy that sets up specific time intervals throughout the year for planned check-ups on each piece of equipment in an organization’s fleet. While this may seem counterintuitive as maintenance would be conducted much more often year-round, it has been known to be effective for many organizations. Determining the frequency in these maintenance intervals is what’s most important. An organization’s older machines may require a handful of checkups per year compared to an organization’s newest machine receiving a single check up on the year for example. Incorrect maintenance intervals can be detrimental to the health of any piece of equipment.

Where preventive maintenance tends to fail, predictive maintenance shines. As mentioned previously, it can be challenging to determine when any piece of equipment requires maintenance short of it failing on the job. Avoiding equipment failure is the purpose of any organizations’ maintenance efforts. Predictive maintenance simplifies these efforts through integration with an organization’s equipment. The data fed from this equipment allows organizations to better understand their equipment and its possible failures rather than having to guess. May sound like the best choice for each organization, right? Of course, but not every organization will be able to afford these systems.

While the decision between these two strategies may seem clear, it’s important to know that predictive maintenance systems have some significant barriers to entry. Namely cost, as it’s been reported that these systems will cost more than following a preventive maintenance schedule throughout a calendar year. Organizations will have to carefully consider whether or not a predictive maintenance system is truly worth it.

Unfortunately despite these systems proving to be more than capable, some businesses have continued to struggle despite their implementation. No maintenance approach can solve all of a businesses’ internal problems, especially one that has such higher barriers of entry. Not only will they require grand capital investments, they’ll also require highly tailored technology platforms to be integrated into a business. Meaning employees may have to reconsider everything they’ve ever known regarding their positions as a result of these changes. Only organizations confident in their staff should ever consider making the transition to predictive maintenance systems.

It’s impossible to deny the struggle associated with maintaining manufacturing equipment. For more information on how to mitigate that struggle and ensure the health and long-term integrity of your equipment, check out the infographic paired alongside this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.