Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 10

Once the inspection method- ology has been established the maintenance department must procure the inspection tools. Transfer the relevant inspection data to a set of machine inspec- tion cards, log sheets, or appro- priate software. Record daily the work complet- ed, using a standard check sheet. Require a signature at the end of each shift as evidence of having completed the work. Assigning responsibility to individuals in this way motivates them to complete their duties conscientiously and makes it possible to pinpoint responsibility for machine break- downs. Where a need for maintenance work outside the scope of ad- justments is required a standard maintenance request form needs to be submitted to the mainte- nance department. MACHINE RECORDING SYSTEMS In order to keep vital equipment running and minimize produc- tion delays resulting from break- downs, it is important to have on hand a selection of the important spare parts needed for individual machines. It is also important to have some record of the frequen- cy with which such spare parts are used so that inventories can be held to economic levels. To achieve this, it is necessary to set up a file of equipment repair history records. These should contain the important technical data of each machine, and in addition should list those parts of each machine, which are to be kept in inventory for repair pur- poses. Each data entry should also record the date, nature, duration, and cost of every repair made to each piece of equip- ment listed. This information is important in reaching decisions concerning replacement of equipment. Modern preventative mainte- nance software applications offer numerous templates that can tabulate all this data into one place. MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION Implementation of a program such as outlined above, may require some modification to the structure of the existing maintenance organization to accommodate the changes in procedures, which will result. Preventive maintenance super- visors must be appointed, clerks must be trained, and preventive maintenance foremen selected. This organization can be built up gradually since the information gathering phase of the program, which is fundamental to its suc- cess, is necessarily somewhat time consuming. The success of a preventive maintenance program is largely dependent on the ability of the preventive maintenance super- visors to implement completely the inspection, lubrication and corrective maintenance proce- dures. This means that the pro- gram must have the complete support of top management and that the supervisors, themselves must be able to exercise a proper degree of authority over those areas for which they are held responsible. 28 Such care will pay handsome dividends in prolonged machine life. III.Determine the frequency of lubrication – Machine priority ratings, lubricant supplier’s data and past plant records are used to determine both the frequency with which each lubricating point should be serviced and the type of standard lubricant to be used. IV.Compile a lubricating sched- ule – Use the established lubrica- tion criteria above to determine the lubricating workload on each machine. Next, compile a series of master checklists in the form of lubricat- ing schedules. EQUIPMENT INSPECTION PROGRAM An equipment inspection pro- gram can be developed in a manner similar to the lubrication program just described. Use machine priority ratings and past plant experience to establish: A. Items of equipment requiring regular inspection B. Type of inspection necessary (visual, audible, measured) * C. Frequency of each type of inspection D. Corrective maintenance proce- dures to be used to prevent the recurrence of unexpected equip- ment breakdowns * Rounds and readings are fairly common start of shift activities. Its also advisable to provide some basic training to the oper- ators. Simple sensory observa- tions of sound, smell and touch can help to avoid a catastrophic outage.