Preventive Maintenance in Facility Management: improve efficiency and reduce costs

What is Preventive Maintenance (PM) and why is it so important?

PM is a maintenance strategy that follows manufacturer (OEM) recommendations for regular and periodic maintenance of assets. This work is carried out while an asset is operating normally, to prevent unplanned downtime. Unlike reactive maintenance or maintenance performed after a failure, a PM approach allows organisations to extend asset life, plan maintenance budgets and inventory management, make efficient use of manpower, reduce equipment downtime and plan capital expenditure investments in advance. All this makes organisations see preventive maintenance as a valuable addition to their core operations.

What are the benefits of applying Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance ensures that regular and periodic maintenance is carried out on assets, not only to prevent critical failures and extend lifespan, but also to ensure seamless services and reduce operational costs. It prevents problems before they occur. This maintenance strategy is a solution that can be applied in any sector. Although it is especially effective in asset-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, construction, hotels, hospitals, etc., it is easily applicable in all areas of facility services.

1. Less downtime PM enables facilities teams to keep assets at high performance levels and avoid downtime due to abrupt and unplanned failures. In organisations such as process industries, where an unexpected outage can lead to huge loss of production, keeping assets operational is crucial.
2. Workplace safety One of the main benefits of PM is the prevention of downtime. Situations where a sudden equipment failure could lead to workplace incidents, such as in hospitals or production units, can be easily avoided through planned maintenance of critical and high-risk machinery.
3. Energy efficiency Properly functioning engines, HVAC systems, boilers, etc. contribute directly to energy savings. This lowers the overall cost of the organisation and reduces its impact on the environment. Government agencies concerned with energy management are tightening compliance with energy efficiency standards. Regular maintenance can ensure safe compliance with these standards.
4. Higher productivity A machine's output improves significantly with regular maintenance. The amount of manpower required for frequent repairs decreases, freeing up resources for other critical tasks. This reduces the workload among team members and increases productivity.
5. Lower operating costs Periodic maintenance prevents more costly breakdowns. For example, periodic checking of oil levels in diesel generators as part of PM can prevent catastrophic main engine failures. A small investment in systems such as CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) that notify users of planned PM activities will save big expenses in the long run.
6. Better inventory management Planned maintenance makes it possible to pre-assess and manage inventory based on OEM recommendations and technical assessments. This also enables organisations to plan and forecast expenditure.

Basic approaches to Preventive Maintenance Schemes

Preventive maintenance schedules are designed to manage downtime without disruption or impact on services. There are four main methods for performing preventive maintenance in each sector:

1. Periodic time-based Maintenance is scheduled at fixed intervals, e.g. monthly, quarterly or annually.
2. Usage-based Maintenance is carried out based on hours of use or operational statistics.
3. Condition-based Maintenance takes place when deviations from predefined performance thresholds are observed.
4. Predictive Advanced methods, such as thermography and sensor data, are used to predict maintenance needs.

Conclusion

Preventive maintenance is a crucial strategy for any organisation to ensure reliability, efficiency and safety. Digital tools such as CMMS significantly enhance this strategy, controlling costs and maximising productivity.