Many people believe repair and maintenance are the same, but they are not. Being proactive with regular maintenance helps you avoid unplanned downtime with costly repairs or replacements. Machine Tools and Welding Services of Sumter wants you to know the difference between maintenance and industrial machine repair.
Key differences between repair and maintenance
Maintenance is proactive; you do it regularly to prevent equipment failures. This includes replacing worn-out components, performing inspections, changing filters, or giving the machine a tune-up. You only repair equipment once it breaks down or goes offline. You repair something to restore its functionality because it unexpectedly broke. Beyond these basic definitions, there are a few other differences.
Cost: Maintaining equipment is a cost-effective option because it prevents serious failures that are more costly to repair.
Downtime: Because maintenance is proactive, you can schedule it for times your equipment won’t be in use. Repairs, on the other hand, happen when machinery shuts down without warning and you want it fixed very soon.
Impact on equipment: Regularly scheduled maintenance prolongs the life of machinery. Repairs are performed after damage already has occurred.
What is maintenance?
Maintenance is any proactive step you take to prevent regular wear and tear from affecting the performance of your equipment. It’s done to prevent failures and ensure smooth operations.
Preventive maintenance: These are scheduled tasks, such as lubrications and inspections, performed to reduce the risk of failure.
Predictive maintenance: Maintenance decisions are based on data from monitoring technology used to predict when failures are most likely to occur. Maintenance schedules are based on that information.
Condition-based maintenance: This means responding to equipment conditions in real time based on information collected during inspections and condition-based monitoring technology.
Corrective maintenance: Corrective maintenance responds to minor issues to prevent them from escalating into more-serious problems.
What is machinery repair in Sumter?
Equipment repair is any reactive measures taken to fix malfunctions or breakdowns in your machinery, most often in response to unexpected failures.
Corrective repairs: These are performed after a piece of equipment malfunctions.
Emergency repairs: When a catastrophic failure happens, these costly, unplanned repairs help bring equipment back online as quickly as possible.
Deferred repairs: Less urgent than other types, these repairs can be scheduled at a time when they would be most convenient for the technicians.
One of the biggest challenges associated with waiting to address equipment problems through repairs is that they mean production effectively comes to a halt. This can add up to serious cost overruns in addition to the cost of the repairs themselves.
The importance of balancing repair and maintenance
Maintenance can go a long way to preventing costly repairs, but it can never be 100% effective. Take a balanced approach that combines efficient repair protocols with various types of maintenance to minimize your total downtime. Regular maintenance is important because it costs less \when compared to frequent repair work. It also serves to extend the life of machines, reducing the potential for serious issues.
Whether you need maintenance or machinery repair in Sumter, contact Machine Tools and Welding Services of Sumter today!
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