How To Create A Preventive Maintenance Schedule

Using technological tools can help you schedule machine maintenance in a predictive manner, which will help to improve the efficiency of your maintenance team.

Preventive, preventative or predictive maintenance is the strategy by which you can reduce the chances of equipment failure and unplanned downtime. You can apply it across the whole facility, including machinery, electronic equipment and vehicles. Planning ahead will help you achieve greater long-term cost and energy efficiencies, so creating a preventive maintenance schedule to benefit your entire business strategy.

How To Create A Preventive Maintenance Schedule

A preventive maintenance schedule is a detailed list of your equipment and repairable assets. It should set out the frequency of inspections and regular maintenance tasks you need to carry out to keep these items always in the best possible working order. Repair crews and technicians should be equipped with precise instructions to guide them through this process, with clear deadlines for its completion.

You’ll need a maintenance manager or supervisor to monitor the schedule and keep an adequate stock of spare parts to cover possible repairs. They’ll also have to match up the maintenance requirements to the available resources at your facility. This includes matching the availability and skills of your team as closely as possible to each maintenance task.

Plan Or Schedule?

You or your director of operations will usually be responsible for coordinating an overall preventive maintenance plan. This ensures that the goals of your maintenance team are aligned with your business goals, focusing on the bigger picture of what needs to be done.

Your maintenance manager or supervisor will be in charge of the preventive maintenance schedule. This ensures the plan is successfully executed. The schedule concerns what work needs to be done, when, how often and by whom.

To create a preventive maintenance schedule, follow these five main steps:

1. Inventory

First, determine which of your assets need routine maintenance:

• Is an asset more prone to failure with age?

• Could you prevent failures by regular inspection and maintenance?

• Is this asset a critical factor in your business operation?

Any asset answering yes to these points should be included on your inventory list, which can form an electronic catalogue or spreadsheet. Include full information on each item of inventory, such as the make, model and serial number, plus the asset’s location, maintenance history and necessary spare parts. 

2. Prioritise

If you have a substantial operation, it will take time to create preventive maintenance schedules for all your assets. This means strict prioritising so that you deal first with your most essential assets. You can do it systematically by calculating the levels of each asset’s risk, taking into account factors such as the likelihood of the risk being detected, the probable frequency of failures occurring and the potential severity of a failure. You can assign a numerical ‘weight’ to each factor by calculating its Risk Priority Number.

3. Establish Intervals

Most of your assets are likely to require different intervals between scheduled maintenance – and there are different ways to deal with this. For some items, a floating time-based schedule will work best, but for others, a meter-based schedule is preferable. You should always refer to the manufacturing manual and previous maintenance data to determine what maintenance interval is appropriate for all items of equipment.

Time-Based Schedules

Time-based schedules are calendar-based so that maintenance is performed according to set periods – e.g. every week, every month, etc. These can be further divided into fixed or floating time scheduling. Fixed is when you schedule maintenance after a set and unchanging period, ignoring variables such as whether the last maintenance was completed on time. Floating means that you schedule maintenance in direct relation to the last time it was performed.

Meter-Based Schedules

Meter- or usage-based scheduling can be simpler, especially if your equipment is controlled by a PLC or other device. In this case, maintenance is triggered when the asset reaches a certain preset threshold, such as the number of production cycles performed or hours operated. It incorporates a certain amount of flexibility, to allow cycles to complete before undertaking maintenance.

4. Schedule Recurring Tasks

Recurring tasks and inspections are important when establishing a preventive maintenance schedule, so plan carefully. You can do this on paper, on a computer spreadsheet or by using proprietary software, depending on the size of your operation and its maintenance requirements. Preventive maintenance software is the easiest because it allows you to set up the tasks, intervals and instructions for every item and then relax until you get an alert on your calendar.

5. Monitoring

It’s essential to monitor your maintenance schedules regularly to ensure that each piece of equipment is properly maintained. You can assess the failure frequency to see if it’s dropping since you implemented the schedule. If you’re still experiencing frequent failures, the maintenance frequency may need adjusting. Alternatively, you may find that you need to scale back if routine maintenance is being performed too often.

Some metrics you can use to monitor your schedule include the Mean Time Between Failures, which should increase if your schedule is working effectively. Overall Equipment Effectiveness tracks the equipment’s availability, performance, and quality, while Planned Maintenance Percentage is a measure of lateness if a preventive maintenance task is overdue. This may indicate that you have insufficient maintenance staff or identify other deficiencies. 

Why Creating A Preventive Maintenance Schedule Is Important

A preventive maintenance schedule is vitally important in keeping your operations running smoothly and successfully. It will make your maintenance operations more systematic, providing your maintenance crews with guidance and structure, thus increasing overall team efficiency. You’ll reduce unscheduled equipment downtime, so preventive maintenance will extend your equipment’s lifespan. Creating an effective preventive maintenance schedule on any scale can deliver great benefits to your organisation.