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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

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Preventive and condition-based maintenance

Preventive maintenance acts on a calendar; condition-based maintenance acts on measurement. Combining the two holds equipment availability while concentrating resources where wear is real.

Two complementary logics

The preventive plan handles what wears predictably: lubrication, replacement of wear parts, regulatory checks. It is sized on manufacturer guidance and site history. Condition-based maintenance observes actual state — vibration, temperature, electrical measurement — and triggers intervention when a threshold is crossed. It reserves shutdowns for the machines that need them, and turns an unplanned stop into a scheduled one.

  • A preventive plan built on guidance and site history
  • Condition measurements taken at regular intervals
  • Alert thresholds defined per equipment, revised with experience
  • A spare parts store sized on real criticality
  • Availability indicators tracked per production line

The three measurements that anticipate failure

Vibration analysis

It reveals a bearing fault, an imbalance or a misalignment long before the ear can hear it.

Thermography

A hot spot on an electrical cabinet signals a loosening connection, therefore a failure ahead.

Electrical measurement

The current a motor draws tells its real load and insulation state, with no production stop.

The maintenance programme, block by block

From mechanics to automation, from diagnosis to organisation, with a block devoted to energy and efficiency. The final workshop produces the complete maintenance plan of a real machine.

Teaching blockYearHoursCredits
Mechanics and power transmission1220 h22
Electrical engineering and automation1220 h22
Diagnostics and condition monitoring2200 h20
Maintenance organisation2160 h16
Energy and efficiency2160 h16
Cross-curricular base1-2120 h12
Workshop and placement2120 h12

Shop-floor questions

Which equipment should I start with?

With the one whose stoppage costs production most: criticality is computed by crossing the impact of a stop with the observed failure frequency. The maintenance organisation block builds that rating on the participant's real equipment fleet.

What place for energy efficiency?

A whole block of 160 taught hours: energy audit, standby generators, photovoltaics, storage and power factor. Maintenance and energy are steered from the same readings.

How do I build a useful spare parts store?

By starting from the most critical equipment and the parts whose lead time exceeds acceptable downtime. That crossing yields a short, quantified list that stands up to the finance department.

Preventive and condition-based maintenance — Resources | IHETC — IHETC