Maintenance Maturity Pyramid: What is it and how to Interpret it?
We explain what the maintenance maturity pyramid is and how we should understand it.
Surely you have seen the maintenance maturity pyramid on several occasions, in different articles and documentation, as well as in different Wonderware posts. In this post we will explain what the maintenance maturity pyramid is and how we should understand it.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, it’s the following:
I What is it?
Among the main priorities of the industry is to improve the reliability, performance, and safety of its assets. Organizations are focusing their efforts and resources on controlling costs and maximizing the value of their past investments, such as assets. In order to achieve these milestones, it is essential to determine which maintenance strategy we should apply to each asset according to its criticality and its impact on the business.
A simple way to see the different maintenance strategies is the maintenance maturity pyramid. This is a graphical representation of the different maintenance strategies that we can adopt for each of the assets of our organization to maintain them.
This pyramid shows the maintenance strategies from reactive maintenance, which is the least proactive and most basic strategy, to risk-based maintenance, which will allow the organization to have a more strategic, operational, and optimized maintenance. Along the way, we find other maintenance strategies such as preventive maintenance, condition-based maintenance, and predictive maintenance.
To deepen your knowledge of each of the maintenance strategies, you can read the post: How proactive and efficient is my maintenance strategy?
I how to Interpret the Maintenance Pyramid?
One of the typical mistakes when interpreting the maintenance maturity pyramid is to think that we must travel through it step by step. Believing that if we are currently carrying out a preventive maintenance strategy, the next step should be to implement a condition-based maintenance strategy.
And no, it is not like that.
Is it Possible to Evolve our Maintenance Step by Step through the Pyramid?
Yes, it is possible. However, it will be necessary to carefully analyze which assets to apply each of the strategies that we will implement to extract the maximum economic performance. And this is where risk-based maintenance comes into play, which, as we can see, is at the top of the pyramid.
Risk-based maintenance is a comprehensive forecasting strategy focused on results, and it is the process used to determine what must be done to ensure that assets function in the way the user intends. It is the cornerstone of the fully integrated maintenance program.
A risk-based maintenance study will allow us to determine which is the strategy to follow in each of our assets according to its criticality and the impact it has on the results of the organization. This means that we will apply all the maintenance strategies in our organization, applying some or others to each of the assets according to their criticality.
Does it mean that I must carry out a risk-based maintenance study before implementing any technology in my organization?
It is not mandatory, but, in my humble opinion, it is recommended.
Therefore, it is possible to implement a predictive maintenance solution and not have a condition-based maintenance solution previously. It is even possible to carry out a risk-based maintenance study prior to the implementation of any maintenance strategy. Or, on the contrary, after the implementation of the different maintenance strategies, carry out a risk-based maintenance study to further optimize the strategy carried out for each asset. There are many ways to achieve excellence.
What is Important is not the Path but the Objective.
That is why we should not visualize the pyramid as a path to travel step by step, but rather each organization will determine which strategy it will follow over the next few years to implement all the necessary technologies to maximize its maintenance. This will allow them to achieve the objectives of reliability, performance, and safety, reducing the costs associated with maintenance and increasing availability, useful life, production, and a long list of benefits.
I Wonderware Solutions for each of the Strategies
In the midst of the digital transformation era, there are different software solutions that allow organizations to implement and manage the different maintenance strategies. At Wonderware Iberia we have all the necessary solutions for each of them, as well as other complementary solutions for optimal asset management.
Below, we show you what they are:
If you want more information about any Wonderware solution for asset management 4.0 (APM), do not hesitate to contact us.
