If you’re managing a steel manufacturing plant, you certainly know that maintenance costs are among the largest expenses you deal with on a daily basis. The thing is not in whether you should be concerned about the maintenance of your equipment. The point is how. If you compare Predictive Maintenance vs Preventive Maintenance, it’s essential to get a clear understanding of each process beforehand. Both of them will be useful for your business. But it’s vital to realize which one will bring greater benefits in terms of saving money and increasing productivity levels. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you out.
What Is Preventive Maintenance and How Does It Work?
The most popular methodology in steel plants today is preventive maintenance. As the name suggests, preventive maintenance relies on setting a schedule. Your machine receives services regardless of how much it is working according to the set plan of action. For instance, you may decide that you will change the bearings in your rolling mill once every 90 days. Conveyor belts are to be lubricated monthly, and the cooling system inspected once every two months.
This is a relatively effective strategy. It ensures that maintenance is done before a machine breaks down entirely. However, there is one major drawback associated with preventive maintenance that no plant manager wants to address.
The overwhelming majority of work performed as part of preventive maintenance is not necessary. The component you have just changed was still capable of providing reliable performance for a while longer. There was nothing for the inspection to find, so why was it scheduled? Preventive maintenance wastes money, time, and labor on things that were not required at the moment.
According to industry research, in heavy manufacturing facilities, approximately 30 percent of all preventive maintenance work does not need to be performed yet.
What Is Predictive Maintenance and Why Is It Different?
Predictive Maintenance uses a more intelligent method than preventive maintenance. It does not rely on scheduling; instead, it monitors the performance of your equipment constantly with the help of sensors and predictive analysis powered by artificial intelligence.
The sensors will detect vibrations, temperature levels, pressure, and sound frequencies. The artificial intelligence will learn what normal readings should be for each piece of equipment. If the sensors detect any deviation from the norm, the system will notify your maintenance crew that this particular equipment requires servicing, giving them enough information about which equipment and how much time they have left until breakdown.
Instead of changing the gearboxes every 90 days, for example, the system would give you notifications that the gearbox on No. 2 rolling line needs immediate attention due to increased vibration levels.
Predictive Maintenance vs Preventive Maintenance: The Real Cost Comparison
Now let us consider this point in practical terms because figures are of much greater value than theoretical assumptions when managing a Predictive Maintenance vs Preventive Maintenance.
Cost of Unplanned Downtime
When it comes to a steel plant, unexpected line breakdowns will incur financial losses ranging from a few lakhs to crores each day according to the size of the plant and prevailing market conditions. While preventive maintenance will minimize these losses, but will not eliminate them entirely because breakdowns will occur despite periodic maintenance. However, with predictive maintenance, 35 to 45 percent of these costs can be avoided.
Spare Parts and Labour Costs
The expenditure incurred on the purchase of unnecessary parts and services under preventive maintenance will reduce by 25 to 30 percent in the case of predictive maintenance since this system is based on real-time need basis and not periodic maintenance.
Life Cycle of Equipment
It is common knowledge that when machines are maintained just in time, they will have a longer life cycle compared to those maintained too soon or too late. Predictive maintenance has been observed to increase the life cycle of machines by 20 to 25 percent.
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A Scenario That Will Feel Familiar to Many Steel Plant Managers
Imagine that. You have a problem with your blast furnace cooling pump on a Tuesday afternoon when you are producing at maximum capacity. Your maintenance staff had inspected and worked on the machine just six weeks earlier, and everything seemed to be fine.
But what neither you nor your maintenance staff realized is that over the past few days since your last inspection, your pump motor had been getting hotter and showing a different vibration pattern due to bearing degradation.
In all, this resulted in four hours of lost productivity, the need to buy replacement parts on an urgent basis, extra compensation for your maintenance team, and under-production.
This is not an uncommon scenario. This happens in many steel companies in India. And this is the exact type of scenario where predictive maintenance comes into play.
Which Approach Is Right for Your Steel Plant?
The truth is that both can be applied by any well-managed facility; however, they are used for different machinery types.
Preventive maintenance will definitely pay off in case of low-cost consumable items such as filters, small-sized belts, and simple seals. It is simply unreasonable to install monitoring equipment for each and every piece.
Predictive maintenance will help you save money in case of expensive critical pieces of machinery like furnace motors, compressors, gearboxes, hydraulic systems, and large-sized pumps. Its cost-efficiency can be clearly seen during the first six to twelve months.
It is best to begin with monitoring your critical machinery first and see results before moving further.
Final Thoughts
Both Predictive Maintenance vs Preventive Maintenance are essential when it comes to maintaining an efficient steel plant. However, should you continue using only scheduled maintenance on your vital machines, then you are undoubtedly spending way too much money while continuing to face unforeseen breakdowns.
Predictive maintenance ensures you know precisely what action to take, saving you money and ensuring nothing ever takes you by surprise.
Should you wish to find out how we can help with predictive maintenance at your plant, our team at Epsum Labs would be glad to discuss this with you.
