Functions and Objectives of Maintenance
From the time man had study to manufacture his tools for hunting & fighting, he also had learnt how to preserve them, sharp them & keep ready to utilize at any moment he required. He also understood the up keeping (maintenance) of his tools & assets and found the ways to protect & increase their life. This function has been gradually gaining the significance from that Stone Age to the Modern Age. Still, in several industries today, the Maintenance Function is given a low status. Instead, it was considered to be a third rate job until the middle age, which was unlucky. The function of carrying out the maintenance is such an absolute obligation that the subject has been taken for granted over centuries without much thought being given to its worth in our everyday lives. Some studies are supporting this argument from the results they revealed that the equipment used was found to be as low as 30% in few cases whereas 50 to 60% in several cases. Maintenance management in a broader sense is named as Plant Engineering and Management (PEM), as its activities are related to engineering as well as management.
In the views of the most of the people, maintenance is a repair function only, but this is a combination of any action performed to, Preserve, Retain, Prolong, Restore (Known as 2P′s & 2R′s of maintenance) the acceptable condition of a machine or equipment. However, a much broader concept has been assigned to PEM by adding the activities as increasing Availability, Reliability and Maintainability (R-A-M) of machine, equipment, assets or tools. And these functions have taken broader shapes in the modern world with the names as "Terotechnology", "Physical Assets Management", & "Total Productive Maintenance", etc.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you must be able to
- Understand the significance of maintenance & plant engineering,
- Describe the functions & objectives of maintenance & plant engineering and management,
- Understand & execute the planning function of maintenance,
- Organise maintenance by centralized/decentralised system,
- Bring out & establish interface among pem and other departments, and
- Plan & organise the maintenance activities.