Maintenance excellence is all about achieving exemplary performance from physical assets at a reasonable cost. But what exactly is the “size of the prize” when investing in maintenance excellence? To understand this, we need to examine two key factors: capacity and cost.
In today’s industrial landscape, the efficiency and productivity of physical assets are critical factors for an organization’s success. The debate over an organization’s social or business mandates becomes irrelevant if these assets are unproductive. In this article, we will explore the concept of maintenance excellence and the substantial benefits it brings to organizations.
Capacity:
Capacity is a measure of how effectively an asset is utilized. It can be calculated as follows:
Capacity = Availability × Use × Process Rate × Quality Rate
When equipment is available, in use, operates at the desired speed, and produces the desired quality and yield, it achieves the required maintenance output.
Cost:
Here’s a rule of thumb to estimate cost-saving potential in an industrial environment:
- Predictive, Preventive, Planned Maintenance = $1
- Unplanned, Unscheduled Maintenance = $1.5
- Breakdown Maintenance = $3
In other words, investing in planned and preventive maintenance now saves significantly more than dealing with breakdowns later. Emergency and breakdown maintenance is costlier for several reasons:
- Production interruptions
- Unprepared work sites
- Pulling skilled workers from their current tasks
- Hiring contractors and renting equipment
- Rushing to acquire materials
- Overtime work
- Lack of clear plans or drawings.
- Planned Work Costs: $32 million
- Unplanned Work Costs: $29 million
- Emergency Work Costs: $39 million
- Planned Work Costs: $39 million
- Unplanned Work Costs: $24 million
- Emergency Work Costs: $29 million.