The aim of preventive maintenance of machines and tools is to extend the life of the machinery and prevent damage, faults and errors that could halt the production line. These maintenance plans also help to protect operators, of course, as they improve workshop safety.
What types of industrial maintenance are there?
Machine tools can also develop faults, errors and damage, break down and be beyond repair. Any part of a machine can seize up and halt the production line, which would undoubtedly delay delivery times and cause losses for the factory or workshop. Moreover, when a machine starts to fail and the fault is not dealt with, it could become completely unusable and have to be replaced with a new one. That means a financial outlay.
Last but not least, faulty machines put the safety of factory workers at risk. A machine that does not work as it should can cause fires, jam, leak fluid, fail to respond to the operators' stop commands, and much more. This clearly poses a danger to workshop staff.
Ever since machines as we know them today were invented, their maintenance has been part of the picture. Depending on its purpose, machine maintenance can be corrective, preventive or predictive.
Corrective maintenance
This was the first type of maintenance to be devised and it is very easy to understand: when a machine breaks down, it has to be repaired. In other words, errors are corrected once they appear. For many years, corrective maintenance was the only action taken to protect machines. It was only when factory and workshop owners realised the losses this caused to production that they began to devise new forms of maintenance. This is how preventive maintenance of machines and tools came about.
Preventive maintenance
When a machine breaks down, production stops until the fault is corrected. This can take a couple of hours, days or weeks, or it may even be necessary to buy a new machine. To avoid corrective maintenance, a system was devised to reduce risks. This set of tasks makes it possible to prevent faults, errors and breakdowns in machines and their tools.
Predictive
Predictive maintenance uses statistical data to predict errors that could occur in installations and equipment.
How to carry out preventive maintenance of machines and tools
To avoid machine faults, it is important for workshop and factory maintenance technicians to carry out inspection checks. These checks verify that machines are being used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions; one of the most common mistakes is not using machine tools correctly.
During these routine inspections, technicians must also check the condition of the facilities. In other words, the workshop facilities must be in optimum condition for the machines to operate: for example, there must be adequate ventilation and the required electrical power. These small actions help to extend the service life of the machines and avoid unexpected failures.
Types of preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance can be time-based: daily, weekly, monthly or annual actions are scheduled to check the machines and detect potential breakdowns. This type of maintenance requires planning and coordination across all departments of a workshop.
For preventive maintenance, the machines must be in use. That does not mean they have to be running at the exact moment of the inspection, but they must be operational machines that run every day. Daily preventive tasks include cleaning away swarf; a weekly task would be changing or topping up the oil.
Another type of preventive maintenance is based on machine usage. If a machine is used every day, it must be monitored. To do this, operators or maintenance technicians must keep a record of operating hours, production cycles and so on. For example, in factories where machines run 24 hours a day, they must be checked frequently to prevent sudden breakdowns that would stop production.
Draw up a prevention strategy
Every machine tool is different. They do not all need the same care, but there are some things in common, such as cleaning. On machines that generate swarf, it must be removed from the bed and any other areas where it can build up. Oil should also be used to lubricate the machine's moving parts and prevent wear. And of course, the facilities must be spotless and provide the right environment for these machines to operate (electricity, water supply, oil, lighting, ventilation, temperature and so on).
Every machine in the workshop should have its own preventive maintenance plan (weekly, monthly, annual). Regular inspections of the machines must be scheduled, along with cleaning (of both floor and machine) and monitoring of software (on CNC machines). And, of course, maintenance must be notified whenever a part is not working properly so that it can be replaced or repaired.