Apply the Appropriate Maintenance to Optimize your Assets.

We might think, at this point, that following the recommendations established in the previous articles is enough to achieve operational excellence in the process industry. In an ideal environment, if we gathered the necessary elements to improve our production, we would ensure that the machines were running non-stop, at their maximum capacity, and generating the greatest possible benefit.

Unfortunately, ideal plants without equipment failures or breakdowns do not exist. On the contrary, beyond improvements in their operation, all require periodic repairs and revisions that further ensure risk mitigation. Herein lies the challenge we will face today. Will you join us?

Asset Maintenance, one of the Cornerstones of Plant Optimization

In many processes, the machinery involved does not operate as expected for various reasons. Through the OEE, for example, we can detect that the production speed of a machine has decreased due to multiple stops, and that this is affecting the set of equipment that follows it.

Although there will be justified interruptions, most unexpected stoppages are due to poor asset maintenance: lack of lubrication, clogged filter, poor calibration, etc. No matter how much we invest large amounts of money in state-of-the-art machines, if these do not undergo periodic revisions, they will end up generating disastrous stoppages. A large part of the optimization of our factory involves, precisely, reversing these situations.

Definition of the Maintenance Strategy

Having understood the need to apply good maintenance, we move on to the next level: evaluating the criticality of each of our assets. To do this, we must carry out a risk-based maintenance (RBM) study with which, after assessing different scenarios, define the strategies to be implemented in each particular case. Today, there are advanced technologies on the market that bring us closer to different maintenance perspectives.

Maintenance Planning

Once the strategies to be followed have been specified, they must be scheduled to avoid unnecessary damage to production and reduce downtime. If we define a good preventive maintenance plan, we will be able to anticipate breakdowns. However, this strategy requires planning and programming in line with production tasks.

We need to find a good tool that takes into account, as a whole, the work orders (WO) for maintenance and production, in order to take advantage of scheduled pauses or changes in machine format to execute maintenance. In addition, we must guarantee the assignment of qualified personnel, adequate tools, and a sufficient budget.

And if a Breakdown Occurs, how Do We Act?

Because yes: even doing periodic maintenance to prevent them, breakdowns will occur, whether due to human, random, or environmental factors, among others. Faced with this, what we can do is minimize its impact, with efficient management of the different processes to be carried out to solve them.

Leaving aside the technical difficulty that certain repairs may have, there are actions that reduce repair times in all cases. When the plant has an HMI/SCADA system, the organization can take advantage of the tool to integrate it with the EAM/CMMS system. In this way, at the moment in which the operator in charge detects the breakdown, he will send a notification through the EAM to the corresponding people.

Once the notice has been sent, the platform will be able to directly generate a maintenance task within the EAM, as well as provide real-time or historical plant data as context. What’s more: it will also provide access to the knowledge database and send the operator troubleshooting actions to solve the breakdown in the affected machine.

Continue to Improve Performance Day by Day

In short, it is very important to locate which assets produce the greatest number of stops, as well as detect the causes of the main breakdowns and redefine the strategies of said assets. Metrics such as mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) help identify areas for improvement.

Although organizations believe in their usual methods, it is increasingly recommended that they evolve towards more proactive or predictive maintenance. In a highly competitive and demanding environment, the reliability and availability of equipment are essential to avoid being left behind. Applying the appropriate maintenance ensures that assets function efficiently (OEE) and that downtime is reduced to reach minimum values.

Traceability, production optimization, maintenance… What will be the last piece to complete the process industry puzzle? You’ll have the answer very soon!