How to Develop an Effective Maintenance Program

Author: Jaime Agpalo, BSME

Application: Residential, Commercial and Industrial          

An effective equipment maintenance program is a very important requirement for extending the life expectancy of equipment, while minimizing production losses, improving operational process and gaining more income and profits.         

Procedure:

1. Establish an identification system by gathering pertinent data of all equipment in the building. 
2. Identification System includes Equipment Unit Name, example: Hot water pump, Chiller, Cooling Tower, etc. If there are multiple units, provide the Unit name with a number, example: Hot water Pump #1, Hot Water Pump #2, etc. Label every equipment with customized and durable stickers. 
3. List down Equipment Make or Brand by referring from its name plate. Example: York, Carrier, General Electric, etc.
4. List down Model Number, Serial Number, capacity, amperes, voltage, frequency, etc.
5. Specify the location of the Equipment, example: 1^st floor-Mechanical Room, etc. 
6. Compile equipment manuals and catalogues. These manuals will be used later as reference materials. 
7. Based from the equipment manuals and catalogues, determine the manufacturers’ recommendations and frequency, example: Lubricate bearings with grease every six months. 
8. For each type of equipment, determine the parts that need to be replaced or maintained and the amount of time it will take to do the corresponding activity and the number of people needed to accomplish such activity. 
9. Determine the frequency that these activities are to be performed based from the manuals and catalogues, example: Check oil level of crankcase daily and refill as needed, or check for any vibration and adjust as needed. 
10. The next frequency would be the weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, annually, every five years, every ten years, and etc. 
11. Compile Warranty Documents to determine what activities are covered by warranties versus activities that are to be performed by In-house Maintenance personnel. 
12. Make a necessary maintenance schedule starting with daily activities, followed by weekly, monthly and etc. 
13.  Classify maintenance activities according to trades, example: Electrical, Mechanical, Carpentry, Painting, Minor renovations, housekeeping, etc. and the time required to complete the job. 
14. Assign activities or maintenance jobs to each trade. Record if jobs were completed, in-progress or not done. Consider activities that are not done as backlogs. Backlogs can be scheduled anytime until completed. 
15. Supervise personnel while performing the maintenance jobs on a regular basis and instruct the personnel to notify the Supervisor should problems arise during the performance of the maintenance jobs. 
16. Participate in the determination of problems, cause and effect analysis, solution formulation and implementation as needed to show support to the personnel in order to build camaraderie between the Supervisors and their staff. 
17.  In order for the program to be effective, the Management must see to it that they are always open for suggestions, advice, and support to the people involved in this program. Teamwork is also one of the criteria that can be applied to make the program effective. 
18. Lastly, the program should be standardized and included in the preparation of the annual budget. Continuous monitoring also plays a major part of the program to be successful.