Periodic asset maintenance: what is it and what are the benefits?

Periodic maintenance is performed on assets at predetermined time intervals. Find out what benefits it has and how to implement it

If you work in the Operation and Maintenance field, or if you are approaching this laborious step of asset lifecycle management now, you have certainly heard of periodic maintenance. The reasoning behind this type of maintenance lies in the planning at predetermined regular intervals of maintenance activities.

A maintenance management system can certainly make the planning phase much easier and faster. Therefore, I recommend a facility management software that allows you to manage everything you need to plan, thanks to the monitoring and analysis of maintenance data.

This being said, this article will cover the topic of periodic maintenance, the difference with other types of maintenance and the strategies and tools useful to implement it in our maintenance plan.

What is Periodic Maintenance?

Periodic maintenance is the approach based on interventions performed at preset time intervals.

The key objectives are

• increasing the durability of an asset or part thereof;
• reducing intervention times and interruptions in the use of the asset.

Within this mode of intervention we identify two types of maintenance.

1. Time Based Maintenance, TBM, which intervenes according to the lifecycle or deterioration of the various components of the asset, without disassembling the system;
2. Maintenance upon inspection which consists of periodically dismantling the components of the asset and controlling one by oneto detect worn parts.

Periodic maintenance workflow

Examples of periodic maintenance

Broadly speaking, we can say that periodic maintenance is performed in numerous sectors. Some of the most common are:

• maintenance of equipment;
• automotive maintenance;
• property management;
• maintenance and cleaning of HVAC systems.

How to implement periodic maintenance?

It goes without saying that there is no universal operating mode. Much will depend on the property and the general conditions, but in a nutshell good results and efficient maintenance are possible by following the steps listed below:

1. asset choice, that is identifying which asset would obtain greater benefits from the application of this type of maintenance;
2. analysis of the producer guidelines and other available data. It aims at defining the type of intervention to perform and how often to do so;
3. defining how frequently to perform maintenance: according to the indications and specific needs, timeframe and type of maintenance are defined.
4. planning maintenance activities: in this phase it will be essential to make use of special facility management software for maintenance planning, activity tracking and management of any problems;
5. execution of maintenance and monitoring of the asset: the maintenance technicians will perform the interventions as per pre-set timeframes and will notify the updated status of the asset.

What is the difference between periodic and predictive maintenance?

In a previous article we talked about predictive maintenance and although the names can confuse us and lead us to think that predictive and periodic maintenance are two ways to indicate the same operating mode, this is not exactly the case.

The fundamental difference between the two types of maintenance lies in the reasons that lead to intervention on the asset.

• Predictive maintenance, after collecting and analyzing data on the performance and condition of the asset, identifies possible anomalies and intervenes to prevent the occurrence of expected failures;
• Periodic maintenance requires interventions at predetermined timeframes to prevent the occurrence of unexpected failures.

Differences between periodic and predictive maintenance

What are the benefits of periodic maintenance?

The advantages given by the implementation of periodic maintenance, also combining it with additional maintenance types, are impressive. Below there is a list of the top 5 benefits of this approach:

1. longer asset life. Periodic maintenance is an effective activity to efficiently manage an asset throughout its life cycle;
2. performance optimization: it can happen that a system runs slowly, even if doesm’t show signs of failure or malfunction. This depends on small components that are wearing out or interventions that are not yet essential but that would improve the overall performance of the system. In this sense, periodical interventions optimize the performance of the assets;
3. reduction of downtime: periodical interventions keep the assets always in excellent condition and avoid the occurrence of breakdowns and periods of inactivity;
4. economic convenience: periodic maintenance has turned out to be a financial maintenance approach. By maintaining the asset as much as possible, it is possible to avoid most of the expenses for the repair of unforeseen faults;
5. reduction of the probability of failure: as we have seen, periodic maintenance intervenes with the aim of avoiding the occurrence of unexpected failures, thus reducing the probability of them occurring.

The world of facility maintenance always presents us with new challenges. In order not to be found unprepared, the best way is to always keep abreast of the technologies and software that can support us and make our work more effective and productive. For this reason, if you deal with asset management and maintenance, I recommend you try the professional and updated facility management software that will allow you to simplify all types of facility management.