03/01/2024
WHAT IS FACILITY MAINTENANCE
Facility maintenance keeps facilities (and all of their assets & infrastructure) in good working order. The goal is to reduce the amount of unscheduled downtime for facility assets. It encompasses preventative and corrective actions to keep facilities functioning optimally. Preventative Maintenance helps ensure that problems, such as equipment failure, don't occur in the first place. Corrective or Reactive Maintenance involves fixing those problems after they have occurred. Risk Based Maintenance is based on a hierarchy of importance. Condition Based Maintenance takes in factors such as the current conditions of an asset.
WHY IS FACILITY MAINTENANCE IMPORTANT
The significance of facility maintenance cannot be overstated in any business that relies on it’s physical assets and infrastructure. The primary objective is to ensure that all elements of a building - including structures, systems, and equipment - are kept in optimal working condition. This contributes not only to the efficient operation of the business or facility, but also to the safety and comfort of its occupants or users.
SAFETY
Well-maintained facilities promote a safer environment for employees, customers, and visitors. Broken equipment, malfunctioning systems, and damaged structures can pose significant safety risks. Regular maintenance identifies potential hazards, thus preventing accidents.
EFFICIENCY
Regular facility maintenance enhances the overall efficiency of the systems and equipment in place. For example, maintaining HVAC systems regularly ensures they operate at their peak, resulting in energy efficiency and cost savings over time.
LONGEVITY
Regular preventive maintenance extends the life span of equipment and building systems. Routine inspections and maintenance ensure that equipment runs smoothly, decreasing the chance of premature replacement and saving considerable money in the long run.
COMPLIANCE
Buildings must comply with a variety of health, safety, and environmental regulations. Regular facility maintenance ensures that a business remains compliant, thereby avoiding penalties and potential legal issues.
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
A well-maintained facility ensures smoother operations and less downtime. Preventive maintenance can often detect potential issues before they escalate into significant problems that can disrupt business operations.
BRAND IMAGE
A well-maintained facility reflects positively on a company's brand image. Customers and clients are more likely to have a favorable impression of a business that is housed in a well-kept building.
Types Of Facility Maintenance
Preventative
What is Preventative Maintenance?
Preventative maintenance is taking preventive steps to ensure that corrective action is not needed. A preventative maintenance strategy will often involve routine inspections and data entry into a CMMS providing digital statuses and replacement of parts that have reached the end of their lifecycle.
Examples of Preventative Maintenance
A company has a digital record of all parts for their manufacturing machines and their expiry dates. They set up an alerting system to order parts three months before they expire and install them two months before the previous part expiry date.
Benefits of Preventative Maintenance
One of the biggest benefits of preventative maintenance is that unexpected downtime is reduced. The other big benefit is lower energy consumption. Preventative maintenance falls into the circular economy theory and is also more eco-conscious.
Downsides to Preventative Maintenance
While preventative can save money in the long run, the immediate and tangible costs to the business are higher than other strategies. For example, a facility will need to have extra staff to carry out routine inspections, as well as recording all machines and parts on site.
Corrective
What is Corrective Maintenance?
Corrective maintenance is where a problem is identified while working on another order, essentially identifying the issue at the last minute. This can help to reduce emergency repairs but also means that issues may not be correctly identified, like they would through other more reactive strategies.
Examples of Corrective Maintenance
A carpenter is deployed to fix an external door that has fallen off its hinge during a storm that was noticed during a security check.
Benefits of Corrective Maintenance
Corrective maintenance ensures downtime is reduced, as issues are fixed quickly. There is also a reduced cost, as less planning is involved, instead more of a focus on fixing immediately is applied.
Downsides to Corrective Maintenance
Corrective maintenance is less of a strategy, and more of a fix-when-broken approach. While this take can be beneficial for companies with less machinery, for those wanting an approach that ensures corrections are minimal, it’s not always the best strategy.
Risk Based
What is Risk-Based Maintenance?
Risk-based maintenance prioritises maintenance on equipment that would create the most risk if it were to fail. This is a more unique strategy that is completely customised to each facility and requires a carefully planned project approach with easily broken-down formulas to assign the priority.
Examples of Risk-Based Maintenance
In a regular office, where the highest risk is a server going down and work not being able to continue, the server would be priority one for maintenance. In a manufacturing facility, the machines would be rated from highest to lowest priority in order of importance to process.
Benefits of Risk-Based Maintenance
One of the main benefits of risk-based maintenance is that the overall risk of total system failure is greatly reduced. Instead, it’s on a scaled measure whereby items that are more likely to affect total failure are maintained as a priority.
Downsides to Risk-Based Maintenance
Risk-based maintenance isn’t that effective when there are multiple high priority pieces of equipment that could all lead to total or major outage. It works well in companies that are highly reliant on a few major pieces of equipment.
Condition Based
Condition-Based Maintenance
One of the higher tech requirements, condition-based maintenance takes a series of data points and uses it to form an idea of when an asset is in early failure, and what action needs to be taken to prevent this from happening.
This is calculated using a P-F curve, where P is change in condition or performance is detected and F is functional failure. P is at the top of the curve and indicates a change in performance that leads to F, or functional failure.
Examples of Condition-Based Maintenance
A HVAC system sends an alert out letting people who use it know that it is low on gas and the gas needs replacing. This is the P, where performance change is detected. The HVAC system running out of gas and stopping work is functional failure, and the number of uses left between the P occurring and the F happening is the curve.
Benefits of Condition-Based Maintenance
Condition-based maintenance is incredibly proactive, as it means fixing equipment before a major failure occurs. However, in the early days where data is being collected to ensure a correct change in condition is flagged, there will be an inevitable false alarm or two.
Downsides to Condition-Based Maintenance
Condition-based maintenance suits companies that have equipment that have a stage of semi-degradation that means they can still function at a reduced capacity. This, however, doesn’t work for companies that when something breaks, it can be catastrophic.
WHAT TYPE OF MAINTENANCE STRUCTURE IS RIGHT FOR YOUR FACILITY?
It’s not quite as simple as just picking one method. A successful long term maintenance program requires a combination of all 4 types of maintenance systems including constant data entry into a CMMS (Computer Maintenance Management System) and regular inspections and reporting.
That’s where we come in. NQ Facility Maintenance can meet with your business and set up a tailored Maintenance Program for your facility based upon your budget and requirements. NQ Facility Maintenance are dedicated to providing exceptional facility maintenance management and services to our clients.
Our team of experts is committed to ensuring that your facility, property, asset and/or infrastructure is well-maintained, key stakeholders are satisfied, and your investment is protected for the future.
You can’t change the past, but you can prepare, plan and implement for the future.
Whether you own a small family business, multi-unit complex, high rise hotel, resort, shopping centre, sporting complex, government asset or infrastructure, factory, warehouse, refinery or mine site.
NQ Facility Maintenance have the experience and knowledge to maintain it effectively and efficiently.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you maximize your facility‘s potential and longevity.
