What is Productive Maintenance?

 There is a set of rules commonly known as “Murphy’s Laws” which reflect a somewhat pessimistic view of how the world works. Most people have first hand experience of Murphy’s laws which state that if anything can go wrong it will, and in addition, if there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Also: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then, and if anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway. We may be paranoid, but that does not mean the world is not out to get us!

 The effects of Murphy’s laws can be devastating at work and in our own lives. We ask ourselves questions such as why do air conditioners break on the hottest days of summer? Why does a new light bulb break the first time it is used? Instinctively, we all know that Maintenance is important, if you neglect something it will deteriorate, whether it is a car, a relationship or your own health. Maintenance is the process of checking and replacing things before they are likely to break down.

 Preventive Maintenance is a schedule of regular tasks that can be done to ensure that something continues to operate. A good example is the process of changing the oil in a car engine every 3000 miles to ensure that dirty oil is not being circulated in the engine. Predictive maintenance is anticipating the likely failure point of a component, and replacing it before it fails. A good example of this is the replacement of a timing chain on an engine after 60000 miles. Productive Maintenance is the collective name for both Preventive and Predictive Maintenance.

 A good Productive Maintenance program will ensure the highest probability that a system will continue to function as expected. Most product warranty programs require that the product owner comply with the required service maintenance schedule, and in this way the risk of breakdown is minimized. The old adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, just does not apply any more. Productive Maintenance takes its place, and drastically improves process reliability and continued operation. Productive maintenance is one way of reducing the impact of Murphy’s Laws!