Preventative maintenance software is essential for small business owners to increase asset lifespan and reduce downtime. With numerous solutions available, selecting the best one for individual needs can be challenging. This article includes 10 top preventative maintenance software solutions for 2023, aiming to streamline maintenance plans and optimize asset management.
What Is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance (PM) is the regular and consistent upkeep of assets and equipment to keep them functional and avoid expensive unscheduled downtime due to unexpected equipment failure.
Before a problem arises, planning and scheduling equipment maintenance is essential to a successful maintenance strategy. Therefore, keeping track of previous equipment servicing and inspections is another important component of a good preventive maintenance program.
Additionally, many businesses use preventive maintenance software to organize their necessary preventive maintenance tasks due to the difficulty of managing a preventive maintenance schedule for a sizable amount of equipment.
What Is Preventive Maintenance Software?
Preventive maintenance software automates scheduling and tracking maintenance tasks, aiming to prevent asset failure and reduce reliance on reactive maintenance. Additionally, it is not condition-based and not optimized for equipment conditions, unlike predictive maintenance.
Instead, preventive maintenance is either:
- Time-based, such as maintenance plans for every month, every six months, every five years, etc.
- Usage-based, such as scheduling maintenance for an asset every 500 uses, 5,000 kilometers traveled, etc.
Note that tasks can range from simple repairs and upgrades to complex repairs and inspections.
Therefore, the scheduling of these tasks can be done using a single, streamlined application thanks to preventive maintenance software. This greatly streamlines the planning and execution of preventive maintenance.
What Is The Main Purpose Of Maintenance?
Regular maintenance ensures equipment efficiency by conducting daily inspections, cleaning, lubricating, and making minor adjustments. This helps detect and correct small issues before they escalate to major issues, preventing production line shutdowns.
Therefore, a good maintenance program requires company-wide participation and support from top executives and shop floor personnel to address small problems that cannot be resolved immediately. This allows time for purchasing spares and parts for maintenance, ensuring efficient and effective operations.
What Are The Three Types Of Preventive Maintenance?
#1. Periodic Maintenance:
Periodic maintenance is performed on assets at scheduled intervals throughout the year, based on the manufacturer’s Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). Companies can fine-tune their periodic maintenance schedules with higher accuracy. It is effective for regularly used equipment but ineffective for occasional machines.
Additionally, periodic maintenance can include failure-finding maintenance (FFM) and risk-based maintenance (RBM). FTM checks for malfunctioning hidden parts, while RBM prioritizes high-risk PM tasks over low-risk ones. These scheduling methods reduce the likelihood of age-related equipment failure and can be used simultaneously.
Examples of Periodic Maintenance
- removal of corrosion
- examining the bearing grease
- replacement of lubricating oils
- changing the filter’s components
- temperature and pressure gauges for accuracy
#2. Predictive Maintenance:
IBM’s report shows that 30% of preventive maintenance procedures are performed too frequently, and companies waste more money by not practicing PM. Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is an advanced method that monitors asset conditions using sensor devices and generates work orders automatically.
Additionally, PdM can save time, manpower, and money but may not be suitable for all teams. Therefore, for those in reactive maintenance mode or unwilling to invest, time- and meter-based PM is recommended.
Examples of Predictive Maintenance
- When the technology vents in server facilities are in danger of overheating, thermal sensors installed on the equipment send out automated alerts.
- Coal plant centrifugal pump motors are equipped with vibration meters that use historical data to identify any unusual acceleration spikes.
- Performing a PM work order on a wrapper machine one month early using historical asset data from your CMMS to avoid downtime
#3. Prescriptive Maintenance
Prescriptive maintenance (RxM) is a cutting-edge equipment monitoring method that utilizes machine learning software to analyze equipment conditions, assess operational risks, and make specialized recommendations. This technology, called “prescriptive analytics,” helps organizations track variable operating conditions up to failure.
Furthermore, as AI becomes more familiar with machines, RxM becomes more cost-efficient, reducing unnecessary preventive or emergency maintenance. Although not yet affordable for most companies, it is expected to lower barriers to entry in the future.
Examples of Prescriptive Maintenance:
- You might be given a work order by the AI to adjust the pressure in a processing tank if the weather forecast predicts thunderstorms, which would increase the barometric pressure.
- When a busy production cycle requires your production line’s gearbox to be shut down for 15 minutes for a monthly PM, the AI may determine that keeping the line running will help you meet order demand because there is only a 2% chance that it will fail.
What Is An Example Of Preventative Maintenance?
Cleaning, lubrication, replacing or repairing parts, as well as partial or total overhauls, are a few examples of tasks. Additionally, making sure production line equipment is operating effectively and inspecting, cleaning, and updating heating, ventilation, and air conditioning components are more obvious examples of preventive maintenance.
What Are The Seven Basic Preventive Maintenance Elements?
1. INSPECTION
Maintenance personnel must periodically inspect assets to ensure their availability and compliance with expected standards. This includes physical, mechanical, and electrical components. Inspections should be planned but not scheduled, like checking for roof leakage weekly.
2. SERVICING
Regular servicing of assets and equipment prevents early wear and failure. Organizations should keep records of past maintenance to determine what is necessary and when. Additionally, using computer software like CMMS can aid the maintenance team in performing proper tasks.
3. CALIBRATION
PM involves assessing asset value by comparing it to expected standards, such as certified standards, to detect and correct discrepancies in precision between assets. This process is conducted periodically by manufacturers or experts.
4. TESTING
It entails routine testing and inspection to determine serviceability as well as spot deterioration in component characteristics.
5. ALIGNMENT
To achieve optimum performance, it may occasionally also entail making some adjustments to an asset’s specified variable components.
6. ADJUSTMENT
To achieve the best system performance, certain variable components of an asset might undergo regular tweaking.
7. INSTALLATION
Maintenance programs in organizations often fail due to unjustifiable costs or the low significance of maintenance results. Therefore, it is crucial for PM programs to be cost-effective, ensuring that limited-life components or assets are replaced before failure to prevent breakdowns and maintain system tolerance.
The Best 10 Preventive Software for Small Business
#1. EZO CMMS:
EZO CMMS is web-based software for streamlining maintenance management operations and assisting businesses with work orders, tasks, communication, and performance tracking. Additionally, its asset analytics help organizations improve operations by analyzing historical data and identifying areas for improvement across departments.
#2. UpKeep:
UpKeep is mobile preventative maintenance management software (CMMS) for managing teams, assigning work orders, and syncing devices.
#3. Whip Around:
Whip Around is a fleet maintenance software platform and digital inspection app that automates schedules, manages work orders, enforces inspections, and monitors fleet health. Additionally, it helps keep your fleet safe, compliant, and on the road.
#4. Fracttal:
Fracttal is a powerful cloud-based CMMS EAM software that provides a 100% mobile experience on any device, ensuring user satisfaction.
#5. MaintainX:
MaintainX is a mobile-first workflow management platform for industrial and frontline workers, enabling maintenance, safety, and operations on equipment and facilities without paper stacks.
#6. Fiix:
Rockwell Automation’s Fiix is the top management tool for work, assets, and parts, offering a 360-degree view of costs, schedules, KPIs, and more. It boosts asset performance and drives uptime with cloud and mobile capabilities, AI-driven insights, and connectivity with business systems.
#7. FMX:
FMX is a leading provider of facilities and maintenance management solutions, focusing on optimizing operations and enhancing asset productivity through CMMS software.
#8. Limble CMMS:
Modern mobile CMMS is a web-based, mobile computerized maintenance management system for businesses and facilities, offering asset, preventative, and work order management features across various industries.
#9. SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor)
SafetyCulture is an all-around preventive maintenance software with scheduling, reporting, and recordkeeping capabilities. It is available for teams of up to 10. It helps maintenance managers, project managers, and supervising personnel perform routine maintenance activities, proactively identifying issues and preventing disruptions to daily operations.
#10. Fiix
Rockwell Automation showcases Fiix’s cloud-based preventive maintenance software, enhancing efficiency and asset health through planning, tracking, and optimization.
Why Is Preventive Maintenance Important?
A preventive maintenance program is crucial for successful facility management, as it ensures efficient equipment, employee safety, and costly repairs. Therefore, adopting a preventive approach can save a company thousands of dollars, as reactive maintenance costs three to four times more.
Additionally, preventive maintenance offers multiple benefits, including reduced downtime, improved operations, and cost savings. Factors such as industry, equipment, and facility size can impact cost savings.
What Are The Three Benefits Of Preventive Maintenance?
#1. Reduced Downtime:
Reactive maintenance in a facility can lead to unplanned downtime, idle employees, and missed deadlines. To minimize disruptions, a preventive maintenance program is essential. This approach involves scheduling maintenance checks in a way that minimizes their impact on daily production.
Additionally, preventive maintenance involves regularly scheduled tasks like cleaning, lubrication, oil changes, minor repairs, part inspections, or equipment overhauls. Therefore, is approach saves time and money by properly maintaining equipment and ensuring smooth operations.
#2. Increased Equipment Efficiency and Performance:
Preventive maintenance programs in facilities ensure equipment is in good working condition, reducing energy and resource consumption, extending equipment life cycles, and increasing facility performance. Therefore, small part replacements reduce large-scale overhauls, and better equipment care leads to increased profit and decreased costs.
#3. Safer Working Conditions:
Your top priority is the safety of your workers, and regular preventive maintenance can result in better safety and quality environments for everyone. Routine inspections find potential hazards and stop unsafe working conditions, reducing the risk of workplace injuries and accidents.
What Is Preventive Maintenance Service?
Preventative maintenance service involves routinely performing routine maintenance on physical assets to reduce equipment failure and unplanned downtime, reducing costs for maintenance teams and facility managers.
What Is A Preventive Maintenance Check?
Preventive maintenance (PM) checks involve routine equipment and asset maintenance to prevent costly downtime and unexpected failures. A successful strategy involves planning and scheduling maintenance before problems arise.
What Is Preventive Maintenance in Manufacturing?
Preventive maintenance in manufacturing involves comprehensive, systematic actions to ensure machine operation in perfect conditions, preventing setbacks and breakdowns that could lead to future production failures.
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