Years ago, basically nobody did preventative maintenance.
You’d run things until they failed, then you’d fix them. Simple, right?
These days, of course, operations and equipment are much more complex. Every minute of downtime is a minute of revenue hemorrhage. Yet some companies still take the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach – often because they buy into one of these common myths about preventative maintenance.
Make sure these myths aren’t costing you headaches and profits…
Myth #1: Preventative maintenance is expensive.
It’s true that preventative maintenance requires conscious effort and investment in personnel and overhead. Some people have a short-term outlook – they focus on the bottom line today, not in the future. So they resist this investment.
Truth #1: Preventative maintenance pays for itself.
In the long run, preventative maintenance on industrial pumps and equipment is a fantastic investment. Planned maintenance is far less expensive than reactive maintenance because you can have everything lined up in advance – manpower, repair shop, replacement parts – in order to keep downtime to an absolute minimum.
Think about changing the oil in your truck.
Sure, you could ignore the task until the truck stops running – but that’s going to result in extra headaches and expense. Plus, the extra wear-and-tear is likely to reduce the lifespan of your engine.
The analogy is particularly appropriate because in many industrial pumps there’s a chamber for oil that lubricates the pump. That oil should be changed.
Myth #2:…
