Maintenance management: Objectives and Types

Maintenance management is the process of maintaining a company's assets and resources. The purpose is to ensure that production proceeds efficiently and that resources are used effectively. Maintenance management is one of those aspects of managing a company that is usually not explored in depth. The term maintenance refers to the upkeep and protection of machinery. Maintenance refers to keeping the machinery or equipment in working condition. 

Maintenance is done to avoid the following;

1.       Lower productivity

2.       Higher cost

3.       Sudden failure of machinery

4.       Poor product quality

 Objectives of maintenance:

1.       To minimize the cost of sudden complaints

2.       To increase the life of the equipment

3.       To keep all the productive assets in working condition

4.       To maximize the efficiency of production

5.       To avoid accidents

6.       To minimize maintenance cost

Types of maintenance:

Break down maintenance: this is referred to repair work which is done after the failure of the machine. It is also called corrective maintenance.

Preventive  maintenance: this refers to the maintenance work undertaken to prevent the machine from failure. Preventive maintenance consist of the following:

Periodic or regular inspection of machinery

Repetitive servicing of machines

Routine maintenance: this of 2 types

Running maintenance: it is done while the machine is in service.

Shut down maintenance: it is done when the machine is out of service.

4. Planned maintenance: this maintenance refers to the maintenance which is planned in advance. This is also called as scheduled maintenance.