More and more companies understand that in order to optimize the performance of their equipment and machinery and improve their useful life, maintenance operations must be carried out before wear and tear occurs as a result of their sustained operation.
Between the corrective maintenance model and the predictive maintenance model, the former operates on the correction of failures when they occur and the latter analyzes the working conditions of the equipment, its mechanical and operational performance, and acts in a planned manner, according to the analysis of current and historical data of each equipment.
The advantages of predictive maintenance are several: it avoids equipment depreciation, improves its useful life, allows maintenance planning in order to manage a rotation that guarantees full availability of the equipment, and avoids unnecessary disassembly and interruptions in the work flow due to unforeseen failures.
Avoiding failures also makes it possible to minimize the damage that an incident in one piece of equipment can generate in other equipment, and thus operate a specific maintenance, linked to the knowledge of the operational aspect that is more subject to wear or where the performance irregularity is located. Thanks to predictive maintenance, fewer components of an equipment are replaced and it is possible to do it at times of less demand. In this way, the operational flow is not interrupted as a result of maintenance.
The process of data analysis and monitoring to which the equipment undergoes predictive maintenance is more rigorous, so that maintenance managers are assured of a better knowledge of its condition and performance, also ensuring the processes and operational quality. The sum of these benefits allows cost reduction, related, among other factors, to the improvement of the equipment's useful life and the optimization of operating times, and, therefore, to improve productivity.
How to invest in preventive maintenance?
The solution is to digitize the information coming from the machinery or equipment and use technology to survey and monitor this information, and thus know for certain the current state of the equipment, its performance, and predict its needs according to the operation we carry out.
Field operations management technologies, such as those designed by GoDoWorks, connect maintenance managers with the equipment they are in charge of, facilitating the task of gathering information. This connection, mobile, in real time and operating very large volumes of data(Big Data), operates according to operational needs and, therefore, includes the tasks associated with the maintenance and mechanical and performance conditions of each equipment.
Corrective maintenance operated in a timely manner by a management software allows, via notifications, forms, databases, or data monitoring, the maintenance manager to be aware of the history and maintenance needs of each piece of equipment. The software in charge of collecting and knowing this information collaborates by generating predictions, through its artificial intelligence, that complete the technical work of the maintenance manager with valuable information and data reports and performance indicators.
It is possible to trace the operations to which each piece of equipment is subjected by the operators, improve the availability of specific technical knowledge for the operators, and above all generate timely notifications that allow the scheduling of preventive maintenance and a constant monitoring, in real time, of the performance obtained.
This monitoring detects abnormal equipment performance and behavior, ensuring the correct use of valuable resources such as fuel and the safety of technicians, operators and equipment. In turn, obtaining this data allows measuring the impact that maintenance is having on equipment and operations, thus improving decision making regarding maintenance or the implementation of other operational changes.
In summary, operating scheduled maintenance on time to avoid wear and tear and failures is an investment that improves equipment performance and generates operational situations of flexibility and coordination that improve productivity and lower costs. In order to be timely in this task, it is necessary to have digital tools, such as the ones we designed in GoDoWorks, which not only enrich and help coordinate the work of maintenance managers but also become important assets to know and improve the performance of the operation that our equipment is carrying out.