PM100: Developing and Improving Preventive Maintenance Programs

In this module, we start the real work. After a brief introduction of why we do maintenance and how our preventive maintenance program contributes to meeting our overall maintenance objectives, we’ll take a short walk back in time to look at how maintenance thinking has changed in the last 70+ years.

We’ll then look at the principles that underpin an effective Preventive Maintenance program. I’ll summarise what we’ve learned as an industry from the development of RCM and how you can apply those principles in your PM program without having to do complete RCM studies

You will also learn that no matter what industry you are in, whether that is the manufacturing industry, mining, or oil and gas, these basic principles still apply.

In the remainder or of the module we’ll delve into more detail of those principles including a discussion on the different types of maintenance, what failure modes are, the importance of the characteristics of a failure mode, the P-F curve and we’ll round up the Module with discussion on Consequence of Failure and Operating Context.

In this module, we’ll discuss the different types of maintenance (e.g. preventive and predictive maintenance), their characteristics, when to use them and when not to.

We will talk in detail through the benefits and drawbacks of Time-Based Maintenance (TBM), Failure Finding Maintenance (FFM), Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), Risk-Based Maintenance (RBM), Predictive Maintenance (PDM) and Run-to-Failure (RTF) Maintenance.

We will also discuss practical applications for each of the different types of maintenance. Starting with the familiar concept of a family car, all the way to industrial applications.

In this module, we’re going to unpack what is probably the most famous or infamous acronym in our profession – Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM). You will discover that RCM is a relatively simple concept, but it takes a lot of experience, expertise and a lot of effort to apply it effectively.

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is introduced early in this course because it is in many ways, the Gold Standard to maintenance program analysis. It is the benchmark against which all the other approaches are compared against, and more often than not, other approaches are derivatives from RCM.

In many ways, this is the heart of the course. In this module, we’ll talk about the most common flaws in preventive maintenance programs so that you can avoid making them. And we’ll explore different improvement techniques and methodologies like preventive maintenance optimisation (PMO), FMEA, and more equipment-specific risk-based maintenance methodologies like RBI or SIL.

We’ll talk about what they are, how to use them, when to use them, and I will provide you with practical, actionable frameworks and templates so you can put what you learn to good use!

This module will address the importance of documenting your maintenance tasks through sufficiently detailed, and properly controlled Maintenance Work Instructions. With effective work instructions, you will reduce variability in task execution and improve the effectiveness of your preventive maintenance program.

We’ll explore the amount of detail you need to include, the techniques on how to structure your work instructions, and even touch on the importance of standardising your writing style and vocabulary using an international standard like ASD-STE 100 – Simplified Technical English.

In this module, we’ll discuss some of the key factors when it comes to structuring your preventive maintenance program in your CMMS so that you build a preventive maintenance program that is executable.

If you don’t structure your preventive maintenance program well, you can make it really hard for your crew to do preventive maintenance tasks on time, and that will significantly undermine the effectiveness of your preventive maintenance program.

Another consequence of poorly structuring your preventive maintenance program in your CMMS is that you will make life hard for your Maintenance Planner, Scheduler, and Execution Crew—undermining the efficiency of the team and impacting the gathering of the right data for longer-term improvement.

In this module, you will learn how to run a preventive maintenance project, either an improvement project for an existing preventive maintenance program, building a new preventive maintenance program for a new plant, or maybe for a new production line or major piece of equipment.

We will talk about the project management and change management you need to apply, and we will look at how you can measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your preventive maintenance program.

We will wrap up the Module by discussing how to eventually adopt the concept of a Living Program that is driven by incremental continuous improvement, rather than major improvement projects.