What is Maintenance Frequency?
Maintenance frequency is a key performance indicator (KPI) that tracks how often maintenance activities are performed in a facility. It includes both proactive and reactive maintenance tasks.
Many variables may influence this frequency, such as manufacturer recommendations, inspection frequencies, past performance data, equipment design, and usage patterns.
First, you must set a reasonable inspection frequency to determine how often scheduled preventive maintenance occurs. If your maintenance frequency KPI exceeds this limit, it indicates that an unexpected breakdown may have occurred.
Optimizing maintenance frequencies involves striking the right balance between reducing maintenance costs, enhancing equipment reliability, and decreasing the occurrence of typical problems.
How is Maintenance Frequency Calculated?
An optimal maintenance frequency ensures equipment is operating correctly by delivering its intended function. That’s because an ideal frequency keeps all assets in working order without causing excessive maintenance downtime.
Set your target frequency by assessing your facility’s operational parameters and making a reasonable guess regarding how often maintenance should occur to uphold them.
Then, you can calculate your actual maintenance frequency using this information.
- Manufacturer’s recommended maintenance intervals
- Mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) data
- Equipment operational hours
- Environmental conditions and usage
For instance, a manufacturer might suggest servicing a machine every 500 operational hours. If used 40 hours a week, maintenance should occur every 12.5 weeks.
Comparatively, corrective maintenance frequency is based on analyzing failure rates and patterns over time.
How to Determine The Ideal Frequency of Preventive Maintenance Inspections
The ideal preventive maintenance schedule is often based on a facility’s failure developing period (FDP). An FDP represents the time period between when a failure can first be detected and when the equipment actually breaks down.
The potential failure or PF curve is used to visually represent this data. Generally, scheduling an inspection period at the halfway point between failure detection and actual failure is best practice.
Assuming you’ve kept good historical data, you can use past trends to calculate your FDP. Record the average time from an asset’s warning period to failure whenever it occurs. Then, use the average for each asset to determine each one’s FDP. From there, you can decide when maintenance must occur for each.
Why Track Maintenance Frequency?
Tracking maintenance frequency is a very critical component of any preventive maintenance program. You can use it to better understand each asset’s needs, so you can assign inspection frequency accordingly. As a result, you’ll extend asset lifespans and address issues before a breakdown occurs.
Here are 4 other reasons why tracking this KPI helps enhance your preventive maintenance program.
Scheduling
Tracking maintenance frequency helps facility managers organize maintenance tasks. That’s because it ensures these tasks are scheduled in a way that minimizes disruptions to daily operations. Therefore, the maintenance process becomes more efficient.
Resource Allocation
Proper tracking enables better planning for the allocation of the labor and materials required for upcoming maintenance. This preparation reduces the risk of unexpected shortages during critical repairs. It also ensures that the people trained to maintain the asset and their needed inspection tools are available when needed, instead of relying on just guesswork.
Budgeting
Monitoring this KPI helps maintenance departments predict future requirements and plan budgets accordingly. This approach allows for more accurate budgeting based on anticipated maintenance demands.
Reliability Improvement
Optimal inspection intervals boost equipment reliability and performance. The ideal time difference will prevent unexpected breakdowns and keep equipment functioning smoothly. For example, transportation companies can determine how often buses need servicing to ensure safety.
How to Reduce Maintenance Frequency
Reducing maintenance frequency without compromising reliability and safety requires a strategic approach. Too little maintenance may cause unplanned downtime, but too much maintenance may cause unnecessary wear and the same failure you meant to prevent.
Here are some tips on how you can strike that perfect balance.
Implement Predictive Maintenance
Use condition monitoring tools to determine the equipment’s actual condition and guide maintenance scheduling. By avoiding fixed schedules, you can focus maintenance efforts only where they’re truly needed. Therefore, you’ll reduce unnecessary maintenance and address critical issues promptly.
Improve Equipment Quality
Invest in more durable, higher-quality equipment that requires less frequent maintenance. High-quality equipment is less likely to break down, which will save time and resources in the long run. This investment both increases reliability and reduces maintenance needs.
Optimize Maintenance Procedures
Make maintenance work more efficient to allow longer intervals between sessions. Streamlining tasks also speeds up the maintenance process, so there will be less operational downtime.
Enhance Operator Training
Ensure that you are training people to correctly service and use equipment. Proper usage prolongs maintenance intervals and ensures equipment remains reliable. Well-trained operators also help maintain safety standards, which may be required by your insurance policy.
Additionally, make sure that managers only assign maintenance tasks based on a person’s ability.
Adjust to Operational Needs
Align maintenance schedules with the criticality and usage of equipment. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t account for the unique requirements of different assets. Tailored schedules ensure that each piece of equipment receives proper maintenance.
Root Cause Analysis
Analyze failures to identify underlying causes and address them directly. Doing so will reduce the frequency of corrective actions by preventing repeat issues.
For instance, a manufacturing plant could install a vibration analyzer or volt meter to track and assess machine health. They could then use this information to detect the true cause of a recurring issue and plan repairs accordingly.