Maintenance problems from both the organisational and the strategic points of view
- The personnel involved and the qualities.
Machine Operator
In the Planned preventive maintenance, daily servicing of an equipment is done by a machine operator to the equipment used to execute construction work. Among the daily maintenance include cleaning and lubricating the moving parts to prevent wear and tear and rusting. This is usually done 30 minutes or so before the equipment begins to work.
Machinery Mechanics
A machinery mechanic keeps the construction equipment fully operational by performing necessary maintenance. They repair and maintain various forms of equipment but they are not typically involved in advance diagnostics. If however, they perform any diagnostic works, it is by visual inspection.
Maintenance technicians.
A technician differs from a mechanic in that they focus more on the diagnostic side of the equipment. They examine equipment using computers and instrumentation to determine why it’s malfunctioning, then prescribe a solution to the problem. They might perform the repairs themselves, or a mechanic might be assigned to the task.
Millwrights.
A millwright is a high-precision craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. Millwrights have a wider occupational focus than machinery mechanics. While they do repairs and perform maintenance work, they also install, assemble, dismantle, and move assets within the facility.
Manufacturers.
Manufactures and distributors of tools and equipment may provide certain services to their customers to aid in the maintenance. These services include;
- Full maintenance service as part of the purchase contract.
- Back-up service with respect of field inspection.
- Workshops overhauls e.g. during the warranty they offer free checks.
- Stocking of spare parts
- Maintenance tools- Spanner, wheel-spanner, jack etc.
The qualities that the maintenance personnel should to possess are;
Realistic.
Maintenance is a realistic occupation that involves work activities that include practicals, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative.
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally. A maintenance personnel should be keen on noticing defects in equipment early enough to prevent further damage.
Conventional
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
- The critical areas they inspect during maintenance.
Movable parts.
The movable parts of equipment should be checked from time to time because these parts are most susceptible to wear and tear due to friction. To prevent this, they should be well lubricated. The tension of the bolts and nuts in movable parts should be also adjusted. Unusual noises should also be inspected.
Engines.
The engines are critical parts of an equipment because they are the central point of powering. The oil levels in the engine should be regularly checked especially during daily servicing by the operator. Ensuring the correct type of engine oil is put also prevents knocking of the engine. Unusual noises in the engine should also be checked.
Wheels.
The wheels of an equipment should be regularly checked to ensure that there are no burst tyres, worn out treads and little pressure.
Fans.
In- built fans in an equipment are used for cooling purpose to prevent damages caused by overheating during the working of the equipment. The fans should be checked regularly to ensure that they are in perfect shape and condition.
Motors.
The motors in equipment are used to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy to enable moving parts to move. The vibration analysis should be done on motoes to detect any faults.
Other components of the equipment that should be checked include;
- Roll-over protection structures, including seatbelts
- Gauges and lights
- Battery
- Safety features such as deflectors and sweeps
- Steering components
- Brake systems
- Exhaust system
- Cooling system
- Radiator guards
- Transmission function
- Tracks and rollers
- Glass and mirrors
- Undercarriage
- Hydraulic system
- The items used during servicing.
To service equipment and plant, there are many items used including spare parts, accessories and tools. These should always be available at the workshop for maintenance.
- Pliers
It is a hand driven tool, used to firmly hold and position items prone to bending, and additionally to cut metallic elements. They are mostly used during servicing of equipment for example cutting wires on electric parts and repairing brakes.
- Hammers
This is a tool consisting of a heavy and rigid head, fixed on a handle (metallic or timber), that is swung and delivers impact when struck on a surface. It can be used for shaping metallic parts of an equipment.
- Screwdrivers
These are instruments used to drive in or drive out screws through given surfaces. By doing so, they open up or tighten parts of an equipment. They are majorly classified regarding their tiop size and shapes.
- Torque wrench
This equipment allows an operator to fasten nuts or bolts accurately at the manufacturer-specified torques. It is useful where screw tightness is critical.
- Brake Bleeder and vacuum pump
These two items are essential in circumstances where need arises to flush and replace old and new brake fluids respectively. The brake bleeder has a kit that comes with a testing and servicing gauge for a number of pressurized systems.
- Jack
This is a device either mechanically, pneumatically or hydraulic powered to lift very heavy equipment mainly for shorter heights so as to enable easy operation of equipment whose access can only be possible from beneath the equipment.
- Radiator pressure tester kit
This aids in testing for radiator system leakages and when it becomes essential to change the coolers. It’s crucial for failing coolant circuit diagnosis as it pressurizes the system, while using the gauge to confirm if the pressure is sustained.
- Laser thermometer
This is an important tool used to diagnose the following: refrigerator systems, circuit overheating. It’s also used for troubleshooting the available air conditioning systems.
One of the important things to be considered in maintenance performance is having ready all the items for performing maintenance work and ensuring they don’t get lost from the toolbox.
Important maintenance tools must not always necessarily be wrenches, screwdrivers, compressors, impact wrenches, flow metres and torque, (Sitek, 2010). They are the firm’s service trucks, records, tool control systems, and oil analysis and software programmes, just to mention. An equipment management program has a very major importance and it’s almost impossible to set achievable goals without one. Maintenance programmes are service and periodic inspections based. Since most programmes use hours to schedule service periods, the maintenance team can use a calendar to set routine services in case it’s a daily activity.
Another method is fuel consumption based and for this method takes advantage of the amount of fuel consumed by the equipment. It’s non-technological and most accurate method. Reason for this is since it majorly considers the amount of work performed by a machine and not hours a machine is in operation.
Technology has for a long time offered simple ways for monitoring the equipment health critically. The equipment manufacturers often offer real time monitoring programs that alert the maintenance team whenever a problem is developing or has developed.
Example:
Caterpillar has a Product Link and Equipment Manager, which is accessed via the website manager in charge and can flow with the field machines. It helps trace the location of equipment, hours in operation; and it maximizes uptime hence one can easily control the operating and owning costs.
(iv) And (v) Documents Prepared and their importance.
- Equipment inventory
This is an essential document for maintenance as it provides the operator with all the necessary information on the details of the equipment owned. It is important to have an equipment inventor since during calculations, one is able to calculate affordable operational rates. In this way the owner or operator avoids doing under estimations or over estimations, hence the budget can be accurately planned.
It is also important as it enables one to develop a realistic future plan since the current equipment situation is clearly known and no need arises to spend further finances on procurement of new equipment. Replacement can be done to the existing items.
An equipment inventory is also important in planning maintenance activities, implementing equipment replacement, purchasing and disposal policies and also calculating the new value of your equipment stock, using up to date prices, which will be used for calculating budgets.
- Spare parts inventory
This documents enables the operators to ensure that spare parts are in adequate supply (one does not run out of them). There should be an inventory of spare parts for each equipment. There records should contain the name, cost, number, average use as well as the package dates for the spares. Each remaining spare part should be quantified and the amount clearly put in the inventory records.
- Equipment maintenance schedule
It is a requirement for plant owning firms to have a schedule for monitoring and maintenance of all major clinical equipment. Battery or electric powered equipment and calibration-requiring equipment need to be regularly serviced to keep in good working condition. Dates for equipment checking, testing outcomes and the operators signature and names should be included in this document. The date for conducting reviews should also be indicated and staff should advise and ensure that the workshop monitoring and servicing schedules are adhered to.
Schedule for maintenance task to be done for each plant.
To indicate details on the exact maintenance task to be done for each plant. Also it gives details on the details, routine and the methods to be used
- Register of all the plants
To give details about the plant type, classification, purchase price, life, location, value, age and condition.
- Program of maintenance tasks
To define the frequency of the maintenance activities done and those to be done.
- History record for each plant
To ensure the maintenance done has been performed on schedule and in the right way. Furthermore, it details weekly return of hours operated, distance travelled, fuel used and maintenance work done.
- Cost recording system
To facilitate managing the effectiveness of the maintenance effort measured against the budget.
- Color coding and safety document
Maintenance practises require safety programs and for this, implementation of colours is necessary to warn of potential hazards. This way, safety standards are improved and similarly their importance and urgency conveyed.
Orange is used to make tags to warn personnel for unguarded hazards, moving parts or dangerous equipment.
Green signifies safer areas at the workshop. Can also be used on first aid equipment or safety equipment whose use is for reasons other than fire prevention.
Blue is used for marking equipment either under or in need of repairs. This prevents further damage to the equipment as well as harm to the workers.
- Maintenance Audit report
The aim of this document is to clearly assess existing maintenance problems from both the organisational and the strategic points of view. Through this solutions are proposed and the recommended measures taken after determining priorities so as to set up action plans for further maintenance activities.
References
Sitek Greg, Equipment Maintenance Tools, 28th September 2010