Page 343 - Intro Predictive Maintenance

334 An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance

Frankly, most maintenance improvement programs will not pay for themselves. Tra-
ditional applications of predictive maintenance, reliability-centered maintenance, total
productive maintenance, and a myriad of others are not capable of generating enough
return to justify implementation. The only proven means of generating a positive
return is to include the total plant in your program.

Do Not Overstate Benefits. The natural tendency is to define outlandish benefits that
will be generated by the program. In some instances, these projections are based on
data provided by consultants or vendors of improvement systems, like predictive
maintenance, and are simply not valid. In other cases, you may overstate expected
return-on-investment numbers to ensure approval. This is perhaps the greatest mistake
that can be made. Remember that your justification will establish expectations that
you must meet. If you overstate benefits, you will be expected to deliver. In conclu-
sion, make sure that you prepare your justification and plan to assure success.

Doing Your Homework
An honest, in-depth evaluation of your plant is an absolute requirement. This evalu-
ation provides two essential data sets: (1) it defines the specific areas that need to be
improved, and (2) it provides a baseline or benchmark that can be used to measure
the success of your program.

Taking a Holistic View
Do not limit your plant evaluation to a single plant function or deficiency. If you really
want to improve the performance of your plant, look at every function or variable that
has a direct or indirect impact on performance. Your evaluation should include these
critical plant functions: sales, purchasing, engineering, production, maintenance,
human resources, and management. Unless you take a holistic view, your program
and its benefits will be limited.

Getting Absolute Buy-In

The total, absolute support of all employees within your plant is essential to success.
You must gain their support or the program will fail. This task must be ongoing for
the duration of your program. You must constantly reinforce this commitment or some
portion of the workforce will lose interest and you will lose their support.

15.4 SELECTING A PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM
After developing the requirements for a comprehensive predictive maintenance
program, the next step is to select the hardware and software system that will most
cost-effectively support your program. Because most plants will require a combina-
tion of techniques (e.g., vibration, thermography, tribology), the system should be able
to provide support for all of the required techniques. Because a single system that will