Preventive Maintenance Service: The Basics & Benefits

SUMMARY: Preventive maintenance is performed proactively to enhance the efficiency and safety of electrical equipment. Learn the basics of preventive maintenance, types of maintenance services, and benefits of a preventive maintenance plan.

Most preventative maintenance falls into these three categories: Regular, predictive, and prescriptive.

Low voltage switchgear is used across multiple industries such as healthcare, industrial buildings, and water/wastewater to regulate systems up to 1 kilovolt. Depending on your facility’s specifications, you can incorporate different product features, including:

1. Regular: Regular preventive maintenance, also known as calendar-based service, occurs at standard intervals. In many cases, a manufacturer determines the best plan for regular service. Inspections are a well-known regular maintenance service.
   
   
2. Predictive: Predictive maintenance happens based on the wear and tear on the equipment, rather than age. Common predictive maintenance services include lubrication and adjustments.
   
   
3. Prescriptive: Electrical equipment is sometimes connected to the Internet of Things through preventive maintenance software. Prescriptive services use data captured from this software to prescribe necessary maintenance on an as-needed basis.

Preventive maintenance makes good business sense. Here are four reasons why a plan can benefit your facility.

• Improve efficiency: Preventive maintenance is known to enhance your machine’s efficiency. Why? For starters, consistent upkeep is known to lessen the stress on electrical equipment. In addition, it often takes less time to perform preventive maintenance than it does to respond to an emergency issue in real-time.
  
  
• Enhance safety: Aging or malfunctioning electrical gear poses a safety risk. An effective way to mitigate this risk is to continually evaluate the health of the equipment to minimize unexpected safety hazards.
  
  
• Increase the lifespan of your equipment: Maintenance can have a positive impact on the lifespan of electrical gear. For example, according to the IEEE Standards Association, switchboards not properly maintained are 62% more likely to fail. Simple measures at regular intervals save you the time and money it takes to order replacement solutions.
  
  
• Lower upgrade and maintenance costs: Costs to correct problems run high — higher than those for preventive maintenance. If you’re operating with a slim budget, it makes financial sense to use proactive, cost-saving measures, such as preventive maintenance.

To experience these benefits, implement a thorough preventive maintenance program. To help fine-tune your plan, download our whitepaper: Service Plans Enhance the Benefits of Preventive Maintenance Programs