One of the main goals of efficient management in maintenance is to keep asset availability and production reliability indicators at the highest levels. Equipment failure prevention becomes essential to maintain any company’s operational efficiency, as well as to increase the safety of factory floor workers.
In this article, we will explore strategies for reliability engineers who want to ensure that their most critical assets operate consistently and reliably, avoiding costly and dangerous shutdowns and unscheduled downtime.
The Importance of Reliability in Equipment Failure Prevention
Critical equipment failures not only disrupt the immediate machine operation, but can also trigger a series of problems in the production process.
The effects of these failures are extensive and diverse. Production lines can be affected, employee safety may be put at risk, and, in worst-case scenarios, environmental disasters can also happen.
The application of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) concepts within industries has therefore been recognized as the most efficient way to prevent failures and their potential effects.
RCM focuses on critical equipment or production bottlenecks, as failures in these assets can lead to greater damages compared to auxiliary equipment.
This empowers industries to achieve excellence in maintenance activities, increasing equipment availability and reducing costs associated with accidents, defects, repairs, and replacements.
Best maintenance practices like RCM shouldn’t be seen as a cost, but rather as an investment. Investing in the impact of preventive machine maintenance leads to sustainable production continuity.
Types of Maintenance: Preventive, Predictive, Reactive Maintenance, and more
Reliability Concepts in Industrial Production
The reliability of an item corresponds to its probability of performing its specified purpose adequately, for a given period of time and under predetermined environmental conditions.
In an industrial environment, low reliability has consequences that extend beyond simple repair costs or downtime. It impacts the company’s reputation, customer satisfaction, and even its competitive position in the market.
Imagine a factory experiencing frequent shutdowns due to critical equipment failures. This not only raises operating costs but also leads to delivery delays, potentially resulting in customer loss and ultimately, declining revenue.
When optimized, reliability serves as a guiding principle for maximizing productivity across the entire organization.
Reliability KPIs
Continuous Improvement Initiative
Managers should constantly seek process optimization in maintenance. This involves reviewing existing practices based on data, failures, and feedback, as well as evaluating and selecting optimization and monitoring technologies deemed appropriate, such as IoT sensors and automated management systems.
Tracking KPIs is also a crucial practice for measuring the success of processes and directing improvements, ensuring that operations happen with maximum predictability, ultimately contributing to the organization’s success.
Team Training
A well-trained team is the first line of defense against failures in industrial machinery. Therefore, managers should ensure that all employees involved in the operation and maintenance of critical equipment are properly trained and up-to-date.
This will not only enhance the performance of your maintenance but also help your team identify issues more efficiently and accurately.
Inventory and Spare Parts Management
Inventory and spare parts management plays a critical role in preventing downtime. Maintaining a well-organized and strategically managed inventory of spare parts is essential to ensure that your industry is prepared to handle emergency situations promptly.
Immediate access to critical parts, which may need urgent replacement, also ensures that the essential assets of the plant remain up and running for as long as possible, generating savings and maintaining the operational efficiency of the company.
Skimping on material quality can lead to much higher costs in the long run, including the potential cost of equipment failure and production downtime.
Reliability and the Future of Industry
Reliability-Centered Maintenance is entering a new era thanks to the rapid advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.
In particular, predictive maintenance within industries is becoming increasingly viable and necessary. Instead of reacting to failures after they occur, predictive maintenance uses sensors, real-time data, and machine learning algorithms to predict failures before they happen.
Artificial Intelligence Assisted Maintenance, The Evolution of Reliability
This approach not only enhances system reliability but also optimizes the use of resources, as maintenance can be scheduled based on the actual needs of the equipment.
How Companies Improve Asset Reliability through Advanced Predictive Maintenance Approaches
Cibra, one of the largest fertilizer companies in America and partner of Omimex Resources, has provided high-quality agricultural products for over 28 years, and has implemented reliability-centered predictive maintenance approaches in its factory floors.
Through meticulous work in selecting critical systems, studying failure modes of critical assets and their respective effects, and adopting a hybrid maintenance approach combining online and offline condition monitoring techniques, several gains in efficiency and predictability were achieved:
- Reduction of equipment downtime from 8.9% to 3.2%
- Decrease in man-hours exposed to reactive or emergency practices
- Increased team productivity in scheduled activities
- More accurate, data-driven decision-making
The adoption of modern strategies for failure prevention has shifted from being an option to becoming an undeniable competitive necessity.
The bottom line is that with careful strategic planning, implementation of advanced monitoring technologies, and rigorous personnel training, it is possible not only to minimize risks but also to create an environment that is as efficient as it is safe.
