A simple analogy of maintenance
Hello, today I want to discuss a common and important topic: “maintenance”. So, I want to break down maintenance for people to understand, even without having deep knowledge of the industrial processes. From time immemorial, the most efficient machine built by man was a house or a residential building. The contractor that built the house is the original equipment manufacturer.
So, I am going to liken a factory or a production facility to a building. For example, in a condominium, we have distinct types of apartments, right? You have some as residential, some as storefronts and the like. I am going to liken that to a factory with different equipment. So, in this illustration, equipment is equivalent to an apartment. You can argue that it does not have moving parts like most common equipment, but it still serves its purpose.
What is maintenance? Why is maintenance important? Who should do maintenance? And how often should we maintain the equipment? These are questions that come up when it comes to maintenance in the industry. Some see maintenance as unavoidable because of the cost implications, but with the evolution of different concepts like Industry 4.0, that perception has changed. Maintenance is a value-added activity, and what is more expensive is breakdown.
The word maintenance refers to all the activities conducted on equipment to keep it in its basic condition while sustaining safety, quality, and productivity constraints. Maintenance ensures the safety of operators and the machine itself, and it also makes sure that the product is of the desired quality. Today, I am going to emphasize the basic things that you need to do just to keep your machine running. You do not need so much to conduct these activities, but they are especially important. When performed judiciously, your machine’s reliability will be sustained. May I introduce to you the concept of “CILT” cleaning, especially lubrication and tightening.
So just like you have your building, we know that your building is very efficient and dependable. In fact, when you rent an apartment, you do not even think of it falling or crashing down or anything of the sort, but even in that building, there are basic things that you do to keep it in good condition. The first thing that I mostly like to do is clean.
Cleaning is the basic maintenance that every machine needs. And you must be judicious and diligent in your cleaning activities. Now, how is cleaning done? You know you can clean by sleeping with a broom. Is cleaning good enough? You can go further by using soap and water, which is also cleaning. You can decide to use a brush for more difficult stains that reach hidden and difficult-to-access areas.
Since I am using a building to replicate a machine, what are the components of the building? From my architectural knowledge, the sitting room is like the exposed parts of the machine that are very visible. Then you have your bedroom, which becomes your assembly. The washroom is like your sub-assemblies, while within the washroom, you can also have components like your sinks. So, what I am trying to explain is that the equipment consists of assemblies, sub-assemblies, and components or units. So, your building can be divided into assemblies, like your bedroom. The assembly can be broken down into sub-assemblies, like your washroom. And your washroom has components or units like your sink or washing basin.
What you do to keep them in basic condition is the cleaning that you perform, depending on their usage and with whom they come into contact. The cleaning that you give to the sitting room is different from the one that you give to your bedroom and from the one that you give to your washroom. For your living room, you can afford to just sweep it once a day, and you are good. You may also decide to use soap and water once a week. The cleaning for the living room and bedroom is the same, but for the washroom, you may have to clean it every day and even proceed more thoroughly by using a brush to remove stubborn stains.
While cleaning, you can discover deteriorations and damages, which could be a quick fix with some tightening. For example, you may discover that a part of your paint is peeling off and the door handle is not firm. The art of discovering those trivial things is called inspection. Once you discover these things, if you are a handy person, you can do some tightening to restore some easy and quick fixes.
The next important thing to do is lubricate. Lubrication is like an air freshener that you spray on your bathroom walls to keep them shiny. This is a basic explanation of what maintenance looks like.
