All manufacturing operations around the world operate at the mercy of their machinery. In other words, without proper maintenance to this machinery, their organizations will fail. Two of the major strategies for maintaining equipment in these operations are preventive and predictive maintenance. While they both ensure quality care provided to equipment, they differ greatly.

Preventive maintenance has been a staple in the manufacturing industry for some time now. This approach is centered around the idea of running routine maintenance on all equipment at a scheduled time interval throughout the year. Not every piece of equipment will have the same maintenance interval, however. These intervals are based largely on the run time and age of a particular piece of equipment, but other factors can influence maintenance scheduling. Preventive maintenance is largely a calendar-driven maintenance strategy.

The newer, and certainly more efficient, strategy for maintaining an organization’s equipment comes in the form of predictive maintenance. Rather than focusing on set maintenance intervals throughout the year, this strategy employs a sophisticated set of technological systems that integrate into an organizations’ equipment. Once installed, these systems are able to collect and analyze a collection of performance and external data related to the equipment and its maintenance needs. In turn, organizations are better able to predict equipment failure and determine the most optimal maintenance schedule for each piece of equipment. The major issue with this approach, however, has to be its costs.

While the costs associated with this maintenance strategy might be higher than most organizations can stomach, what has become increasingly easier is implementing these systems into an organization’s operation. Largely in part due to more and more organizations opting into this strategy, and thus expanding the IoT’s capabilities as mentioned previously. The more organizations that utilize this strategy, the more intuitive the insights that these systems can provide to organizations. If you’re hoping to improve efficiency through a decrease in unexpected downtime, predictive maintenance is definitely your best bet.

For any organization considering a change in maintenance approaches, it’s important to note that, despite its benefits, predictive maintenance might not always be the best fit for your business. Even with the best maintenance strategy, you will still encounter some form of unplanned downtime. Despite most organizations believing predictive maintenance is the better choice, the barriers to entry can likely keep a number of businesses from utilizing this strategy. Not only can cost become an issue, but the highly advanced technological systems required to operate these systems can also prove to be a challenge for staff.

If your organization is currently contemplating a switch between maintenance strategies, be sure to consult the infographic featured alongside this post. Courtesy of Industrial Service Solutions.