Boost Asset Reliability with Preventive Maintenance

A distribution centre near Manchester struggled with equipment downtime that repeatedly disrupted operations. Their journey toward implementing an asset reliability management program offers valuable lessons for organisations facing similar challenges.

They began with a thorough assessment, documenting current maintenance practices, equipment performance, and failure histories. This baseline revealed that 78% of their maintenance activities were reactive—addressing failures after they occurred rather than preventing them.

Next came strategy development. They established clear objectives with measurable targets:

• Reduce reactive maintenance to less than 30% of total work
• Decrease downtime by 50% within 18 months
• Cut maintenance costs by 20% within two years

Asset prioritisation proved crucial. Their automated sorting system absolutely couldn’t fail without halting all operations. Their cardboard baler, while important, could be temporarily bypassed if necessary. This criticality assessment shaped resource allocation decisions.

Technology selection followed. They evaluated various maintenance management systems and monitoring technologies, ultimately choosing solutions that integrated well with existing infrastructure and matched their team’s technical capabilities.

Their implementation followed a phased approach:

1. First, establishing reliability practices for critical systems
2. Then, extending the program to secondary equipment
3. Finally, incorporating supporting assets

Throughout the process, they tracked performance against established metrics, using the data to refine their approach. When vibration monitoring didn’t deliver the expected results on conveyor systems, they adjusted their technique rather than abandoning the effort.

The program required cross-functional involvement:

• Operations provided insight into equipment constraints and production requirements
• Maintenance technicians contributed practical knowledge about failure modes
• Engineering suggested design improvements to address recurring issues
• Procurement helped source quality replacement parts
• IT-supported data management and system integration

This collaborative approach proved essential to the program’s success. Within two years, reactive maintenance dropped to 24% of total work, downtime decreased by 63%, and overall maintenance costs fell by 22% despite increased investment in predictive technologies.

Their experience demonstrates that implementing an effective asset reliability management program requires both technical expertise and organisational commitment. The process takes time but delivers substantial returns through improved productivity, reduced costs, and extended asset life.