Scheduled maintenance is an essential component in the management of assets, where tasks are pre-planned and assigned to maintenance personnel before being executed. It could be a routine task carried out at regular intervals, such as changing a conveyor belt bearing every month, or a singular operation, like fixing a newly identified issue. The overall aim of scheduled maintenance is to minimize unexpected failures, reduce maintenance backlogs, and extend the operational life of equipment. Implementing a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) helps facilitate these processes effectively.
While often used interchangeably, scheduled and planned maintenance differ in several critical ways. Planned maintenance is an overarching term that includes devising strategies for maintenance tasks, from identifying the maintenance needs to setting procedures and prioritizing tasks. It encompasses various maintenance types, ranging from reactive to predictive maintenance.
Scheduled maintenance, on the other hand, involves assigning specific timeframes and resources to the maintenance tasks identified during the planning phase. Utilizing CMMS software, organizations can efficiently assign tasks to technicians, setting deadlines to ensure tasks are completed on time.
The Scheduled Maintenance Critical Percent (SMCP) is a tool to prioritize overdue maintenance tasks. It calculates urgency based on how overdue a task is relative to its scheduled frequency. A higher SMCP indicates a more critical task, thus aiding facilities in prioritizing tasks effectively.
SMCP = ((# of days late + # of days in the PM cycle) ÷ # of days in the PM cycle) x 100
For instance, a task scheduled every 30 days but delayed by 3 days results in an SMCP of 110%, making it more critical compared to a 5-day overdue task scheduled every 90 days (SMCP of 105%).
Implementing a CMMS can significantly improve your scheduled maintenance processes by organizing tasks, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing maintenance strategies. By focusing on critical maintenance activities, facilities transition from a reactive to a proactive maintenance model, maximizing asset uptime and minimizing costs.
