Maintenance plan: foundation for regular maintenance work

23. July 2024 | Author: Emily Heinig | Reading time: 6 min

Did you know that with regular maintenance and repair measures you can avoid around three to five times the follow-up costs of a malfunction? After all, maintenance ensures that your machines and systems remain functional in the long term. An essential tool here is the maintenance plan, which you can use to keep track of the intervals and inspection aspects of maintenance.

Below, we answer the five most important questions about using a maintenance plan. We show you the advantages of using one and what the plan should include. We also give tips on how to create one and explain how a digital maintenance planner can help you. You can find out more information about electronic maintenance management and working with HSQE software in our comprehensive ebook.

Why a maintenance plan?

According to DIN 31051, machine maintenance is an essential maintenance measure. The aim is to maintain a system’s target condition. Maintenance, therefore, ensures functional reliability over a longer period of time. It includes tasks such as adjusting, cleaning, replacing, releasing, and lubricating components.

Timely and effective maintenance enables smooth production operations. Maintenance plans ensure this. A maintenance plan – often also called a service plan – tracks the necessary maintenance and repair measures in the company. It can be used for machines, production systems, and building technology. This ensures that regular inspections of the equipment are conducted.

The maintenance plan specifies the intervals at which maintenance is due and what exactly you need to check. It is particularly important to continually maintain the maintenance plan carefully and efficiently. This way, you can save costs and ensure that you are using technical systems at optimum performance.

Finally, the maintenance plan also forms the basis for a system’s maintenance program. Good planning ensures that each machine receives the right treatment and the correct spare parts.

What are the benefits of a maintenance plan?

Regular maintenance allows you to identify equipment problems in advance and avoid unexpected breakdowns. At the same time, you ensure the longevity of all machines and thus increase productivity and ensure sustainable production.

From a business perspective, it is also important to reduce costs. Cost factors include, for example, the repair or replacement of broken machines. To ensure that you can cover the costs, you should definitely carry out regular maintenance measures. Another positive aspect is that you reduce disruptions in everyday work and optimize operational processes.

In addition to ensuring operational processes, one fundamental aspect should be remembered: reducing risks for your employees. After all, by constantly monitoring machines and tools, you ensure they are in perfect condition. This significantly reduces accidents at work because maintained machines are also safe machines. Regular maintenance is, therefore, an essential part of occupational safety in your company.

Closely related to these advantages is the use of a maintenance plan. After all, this is the basic prerequisite for efficient maintenance processes. The maintenance plan thus enables (excerpt):

• precise planning of maintenance measures
• a checklist for the maintenance officer
• proof of the implementation of maintenance measures
• monitoring the success of maintenance
• detailed planning of production and maintenance
• a training tool for external maintenance service providers and new service employees

What needs to be included in a maintenance plan?

Basically, you have to note down all the key data required for maintaining the machines in the maintenance plan. This includes, for example, the name of the system, the type and location, the age or date of purchase, the type of use, and the required spare parts. We will take a closer look at the most important content below.

Objects: Of course, you must record the objects to be maintained, such as systems, equipment or components, in detail. It is helpful to group the objects. For example, the “machines” category consists of grinding, turning or milling machines.

Tasks: The specific tasks involved in maintenance are just as relevant. Therefore, you should document exactly which activities must be carried out on the machine. Also, note the order and priority of the necessary measures.

Time: When specifying the time, you should consider both the start and end dates and the duration of the maintenance task. The maintenance intervals are also important here. If these are too short, there is a risk of downtime and unnecessary costs. You should also think carefully about the timing of the maintenance so as not to disrupt the work process. Remember to inform employees who work on the equipment about the maintenance work periods.

Maintenance managers: It is advisable to specify the complexity of each maintenance task. This way, you know the skill level required and can determine who to entrust with the maintenance. Maintenance managers can be your own employees or external service providers.

Instructions: Ideally, you should also include standardized instructions in the maintenance plan that serve as a guideline for all maintenance personnel. The manufacturer’s operating or maintenance manuals are ideal for this purpose.

Resources/spare parts:

In this category, record all tools, auxiliary and consumable materials, measuring devices, or lifting platforms necessary for carrying out the maintenance. You should also consider spare and wearing parts. You must estimate the quantity and extent of the materials required in advance.

There are also other reasons for including certain content in the maintenance plan. These include legal requirements, ecological and hygienic aspects or company-specific requirements.

Digital support for maintenance: The maintenance planner

A digital maintenance planner maps maintenance plans for you. It usually includes managing inspection dates and organizing recurring maintenance work or planned repairs. Therefore, the maintenance planner is primarily used for preventive maintenance.

A maintenance planner primarily contains the following information:

• Which system must be tested according to which test specification?
• When was the system checked, and when is the next maintenance due?
• What are the measures or results of maintenance?
• Who carried out the examination?

Companies often use maintenance software in addition to the maintenance planner. The difference is that maintenance software usually makes it possible to map all the necessary maintenance activities. The service portfolio includes not only the pure planning of maintenance measures but also the management of organisational maintenance tasks.

Whether you opt for a separate maintenance planner or rely on holistic maintenance software, a digital solution will always help you manage your maintenance plans better, faster and more efficiently. The reason for this is automated processes that relieve you of a large number of organisational tasks.

With our software solution, iManSys, you can record all machines, systems, and tools in your company, and different locations are taken into account. In addition, the required maintenance instructions canbe stored directly in the system. Our integrated document management guarantees you comprehensive legal and audit security at all times. You can then set individual maintenance intervals for your systems and have yourself automatically reminded of the deadlines. You can also link all responsible employees to the maintenance task or the system. Finally, it is also possible to derive measures before or after maintenance.

With iManSys, you ensure the effective organization of maintenance plans and never forget any maintenance. Our free ebook summarizes further advantages of our maintenance software and information on its interaction with other HSQE areas. We hope you enjoy reading it!