How a PM Program Eliminates Component Failures

To answer the headline’s question, we first clarify what "PM" means. According to Life Cycle Engineering’s Rx Definitions, it can represent several maintenance strategies that all aim to protect and sustain assets.

These strategies include:

Periodic Maintenance – Scheduled actions or component replacements performed at known intervals, typically based on repair history and current inspection results. Activities include inspection, testing, partial dismantling, lubricating, cleaning, and consumable replacement. These tasks usually require the equipment to be taken out of service for a few hours to a few days, ranging from monthly to annually.

Planned Maintenance – A cost‑driven approach that ensures maintenance is carried out with minimal disruption to operations. It focuses on efficient use of labor and materials while meeting critical production needs.

Predictive Maintenance – Uses real‑time data and analytics—such as vibration analysis, oil chemistry, thermography, ultrasonic testing, and motor current signature analysis—to forecast equipment condition and schedule corrective action before a failure occurs.

Preventive Maintenance – Time‑ or cycle‑based tasks designed to prevent functional failure. These are proactive actions that follow a scheduled restoration or discard plan.

Effective asset care begins by placing each component within its functional hierarchy and determining its criticality to the production process or value stream. This assessment identifies the lowest maintainable component and informs the creation of work orders, bills of material, and reliability analytics.

Next, we evaluate the risk of failure for each component. Depending on the risk profile, we may adopt a traditional Reliability‑Centered Maintenance (RCM) approach, a simplified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), adhere to manufacturer recommendations, or decide that no specific maintenance strategy is warranted for low‑risk parts. If a hidden failure mode is uncovered for a critical component, redesign may be required.

Once dominant failure modes are identified, we establish controls in the form of maintenance tasks. These tasks are then entered into the Task or Asset Activity module of the enterprise asset management (EAM) system, enabling work order generation, planning, and scheduling.

To be truly effective, each task should meet the following criteria:

1. Target a predominant failure mode
2. Be comprehensive and organized
3. Be repeatable and value‑added
4. Have a proper interval and validated duration
5. Include clear skill level and acceptance criteria

A robust business process must provide feedback on component condition, actual task duration, and reliability analytics, ensuring continuous improvement and validation of the maintenance plan.

About the author:
Mike Poland is the Director of Life Cycle Engineering’s Asset Management Services. A Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) with over 25 years of engineering and maintenance experience, Mike specializes in reliability processes, systems engineering, defect detection, and risk‑based inspections. His expertise in risk‑based asset management drives higher asset utilization and lower total cost of ownership for clients. Mike also facilitates high‑impact learning courses through the Life Cycle Institute, covering Asset Maintenance Plans and Predictive Maintenance Technologies. Learn more at www.LCE.com or call 843‑744‑7110.