Maintenance systems are classified according to the nature of the tasks they perform. These include the following:

• Predictive Maintenance Systems: These constantly monitor and report the operational capacity and status of mechanical or digital installations through the values of specific variables. To apply a predictive maintenance system, identifying physical variables such as vibration, temperature and power consumption is required. The variation itself indicates problems that may appear later on the installed equipment. These maintenance systems being the most technical, require strong physical and/or mathematical knowledge.
• Preventive Maintenance Systems: A preventive maintenance system maintains a certain level of service on equipment and programs their interventions at the most appropriate time. It has a systematic character, which in other words is, inspecting the equipment even when there are no signs of any apparent problems.
• Corrective maintenance system: This system corrects defects that are found in equipment by trained personnel from the maintenance department.
• Zero Hour Maintenance or Overhauling: This task set reviews all equipment at periodic, pre-determined intervals to detect any failure when predicting production capacities becomes difficult due to the equipment’s decreased reliability. The review is based on the assumption that this type of equipment is new and all items that may wear out are replaced or repaired accordingly.
• Periodic or Time-Based Maintenance Systems: This particular system comprises a set of basic tasks like visual inspection, data collection, cleaning and lubrication that require no specialized training and is based on total productive maintenance.

Functions of Maintenance Systems

Maintenance systems are inextricably linked to costly heavy machinery and other assorted equipment to keep them in perfect working order and to ensure prevention of breakdowns and overall safety.

This is particularly applicable to large machinery that has multiple operators and needs to be inspected immediately before it’s purchased. Usually, operator training is done at this point, which needs to be continued as employees may change, skills may become rusty and poor operations could lead to unwanted breakdowns.

Moreover, for machinery that’s being operated 24×7, maintenance systems ensure that proper lubrication is done to reduce friction, particularly in moving machinery parts.

This also prolongs the life of large equipment and their parts. It is also for the maintenance system to constantly check for signs of wear and tear by way of vibration, high temperatures, shock, age, and friction that all contribute to breakdowns. These in their totality, also lead to a healthier and a more productive and systemic work environment.