Product category:
Bearings
News Release from: SKF UK | Subject: Maintenance management
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 19 June 2000
Why maintenance should be proactive
50% of all maintenance is unnecessary, according to SKF's Gerald Rolfe, who argues the case for planned maintenance strategies.
50% of all maintenance is unnecessary This is normally the result of history and feel good factors
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 1 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The challenge is to determine what actually needs attention.
Industry must awaken to the concept of Proactive Reliability Maintenance if it is to maximise efficiency and minimise downtime costs.
That is the message SKF is promoting through initiatives aimed at improving machine performance and creating maintenance regimes that are condition based and predictable.
Implementing proactive reliability maintenance is a total solution.
Some companies do not have the broader understanding of machines that is needed to improve reliability.
Outsourcing maintenance management is increasing for this reason.
It's also why SKF has invested substantially in the development and acquisition of specialist expertise in this area.
Typically, components liable to wear are replaced within a safety margin of their mean time before failure - irrespective of their actual condition.
This might reduce unplanned downtime, but it may also be extremely wasteful.
Similarly, the use of condition monitoring equipment is laudable, but only if it is used intelligently to develop a maintenance strategy.
Condition monitoring can only be effective as part of a plan.
A plan that might also encompass lubricant analysis, vibration measurement and other determining factors in the health of a machine.
Analysing the problem is one thing, remedying the problem is another.
That is where SKF's real know how comes into play.
So often, if the factory or plant engineer is asked to make savings, they do so by cutting back on the maintenance resource.
It's easy, to save 10% of maintenance costs, simply cut the budget by 10%! It might sound glib, but it happens a lot in industry.
SKF has found empirically in countless applications that the best way to save maintenance costs is by best practice - and that may mean an initial investment to save significantly in the future. Request a free brochure from SKF UK ...
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