Whether your business is large or small, having an effective CMMS program on your machines is essential. But what is the right maintenance strategy for you? This is a big question, because choosing wrong can be catastrophic for your business and your team. At this time, many companies choose to invest their entire program in the prevention and prediction of problems in their equipment, while the old and good corrective maintenance ends up being left out.
Contrary to many people’s beliefs, a good maintenance program does not only include one type, but all applied right now and the right equipment, including corrective maintenance. But what are the objectives of this strategy and what benefits can it bring to the business? Want to know more? Keep reading!
What is corrective maintenance and what is it for?
As we speak, corrective maintenance should also be part of an efficient industrial maintenance program. It concerns all repairs performed on machines and equipment at the time they fail to correct them or avoid a larger problem. As its name suggests, corrective maintenance is performed to correct an existing problem. This means that the problem has already occurred and must be resolved. There are two types of corrective maintenance: planned and unplanned, as we’ll talk more about.
When is corrective maintenance indicated?
Corrective maintenance is a viable solution for equipment that is not necessarily essential to the performance of routine operations. In this case, the machine executes all its processes until its parts are completely worn out or equipment failures. Only once the machine is no longer operational, the parts are replaced.
To define your maintenance program and identify where the corrective is the best option, consider two points:
– Cost of maintenance: If the cost of replacing a part or correcting an error is low, corrective maintenance is the best option. The simplest example is a lamp. You will always let it burn before you make the switch, simply because the cost is lower than performing the prevention and changing it before;
– Impact of equipment downtime: If the machine or item is not critical to production and its downtime does not have a major impact, corrective maintenance may also be more appropriate.
What types of corrective maintenance?
There are two types of corrective maintenance, as we have presented above: the planned and unplanned. It may seem strange, but the process of correcting an error can also be planned, as we will show.
Unplanned corrective maintenance is the one performed when the equipment undergoes a complete shutdown and requires immediate repairs to return to normal operation. Already planned, it happens when a small fault is detected in advance, without causing the machine to stop, and the correction can be programmed, thus avoiding the impact on the production or a bigger problem.
To better understand, let’s consider the example of an automobile. If you feel that the steering wheel is hanging slightly to one side, you know that the car needs an alignment. That way, you have the time to research prices, find a reliable workshop, and schedule the best time for this correction to be made without disrupting your planned corrective routine.
Now if the engine temperature light rises because it is warming up, you should take it to a workshop immediately to understand if there is an oil or water leak and do the unplanned remedial repair. In this case, by conducting regular reviews (preventive maintenance), it would be possible to identify this problem in advance and avoid higher expenses.