PERSPECTIVE
FIX BEFORE FAILURE
By Kenny Gaynor
The more time and effort you put into proper planning and scheduling of maintenance, the more reliable
the equipment will be and the longer its productive lifespan will ensure an optimal return on the capital
investment for your business.
T
40
AUGUST 2019
and safety. Poorly maintained equipment
can cause mechanical and electrical
failures which may result in explosions,
equipment disintegration, fires,
dangerous fumes and numerous other
events and incidents.
Maintenance is not only about
following an operating manual and
replacing consumables such as oil and
filters, maintenance is an important
and necessary discipline to physically
inspect plant and equipment to look for
potential issues that could lead to failures
therefore preventing breakdowns. Almost
all plant and equipment nowadays
inherently have sophisticated technology
to assist equipment operators and
plant engineers to predict problems
well before they happen. An effective
maintenance regime incorporates both
physical inspections and technology
alerts to ensure your business operates
uninterrupted and safely in the desired
‘fix-before-failure’ mode.
he old adage, ‘prevention is better
than cure’, rings very true for the
care and upkeep of plant and
equipment. The inevitable outcome of
poor maintenance is breakdowns after
breakdowns, which results in wasted
time and significantly increased costs
as your operations are shut down to
complete repairs.
In most cases the direct costs
associated with the repairs are
significantly higher than what it
would cost for a proper maintenance
programme. Then comes the indirect
costs of the knock-on effects which
will result in lost revenue, delayed
delivery schedules, missed customer
commitments and wasted material to
name a few.
Effective maintenance allows you
to operate in a pre-emptive fashion
creating an organised and structured
environment. Ineffective maintenance
implies you’re continually in a reactive
state, playing catch up. The simple fact
is that maintenance is scheduled well
in advance and thus is always planned
to take place either outside of normal
productive hours when the equipment
is not working or when plants and
operations are not too busy and there
is spare capacity. On the contrary,
breakdowns naturally occur during
productive periods with no warning.
But in addition to the monetary
cost and lost time impact, there’s an
even greater cost that can result from
poor maintenance practices – the
immeasurable cost of life and limb.
Maintenance and safety go hand in hand.
Good maintenance disciplines allow good
safety disciplines. Proper maintenance
schedules are planned with safety in
mind with all the steps and procedures
having been tried and tested to ensure
the safety of employees. Breakdowns
by their very nature, compromise safety
and introduce significant risks for health
Kenny Gaynor, integrated accounts leader, Cummins Africa Middle East.
www.equipmentandhire.co.za