The Impact of Maintenance on the Quality and Reliability of Production Processes in a Company

The purpose of the diploma thesis was to demonstrate what impact maintenance has on the quality and reliability of production processes in a company. Due to rapid technological development, there is an increasing amount of high-tech equipment present in companies. For technologically demanding work equipment, preventive maintenance is the optimal method of carrying out maintenance. This has been proven through practice in various industrial sectors. Based on the results obtained, measures must be prescribed to reduce risk. The risk assessment and planned measures must be repeated as many times as necessary until the desired level of risk is achieved.

Problem

The purpose of the diploma thesis was to demonstrate what impact maintenance has on the quality and reliability of production processes in a company.

Solution and Method

Due to rapid technological development, there is an increasing amount of high-tech equipment present in companies. For technologically demanding work equipment, preventive maintenance is the optimal method of carrying out maintenance. This has been proven through practice in various industrial sectors. The risk-based maintenance method is one of the latest stages in the development of preventive maintenance. The goal of risk-based maintenance is to predict failures and prevent stoppages through timely action.

Unexpected prolonged stoppages due to breakdowns and various additional adjustments have a strong impact on the availability of work equipment. With proper maintenance, such stoppages can be avoided. Insufficient maintenance of work equipment can result in reduced production speed and frequent short stoppages.

Only optimally maintained work equipment can achieve planned speeds and thus capacities. Properly functioning work equipment has a significant impact on product quality. The proper functioning of machines and equipment is also ensured through the maintenance process.

Availability, capacity and quality are indicators by means of which we calculate the overall effectiveness of work equipment. This is where the cause-and-effect relationship between maintenance and the quality and reliability of production processes is evident. If a company decides to implement risk-based maintenance, it must know the advantages and disadvantages of such a method of working.

For successful implementation of risk-based maintenance, thorough prior preparation and employee awareness are required. Based on experience and equipment manufacturers' recommendations, a detailed schedule for lubrication and cleaning of work equipment must be prepared. A risk analysis must be carried out for all equipment.

Results

Based on the results obtained, measures must be prescribed to reduce risk. The risk assessment and planned measures must be repeated as many times as necessary until the desired level of risk is achieved. Custodians must be appointed – those who carry out lubrication and control inspections for individual work equipment. The human factor is one of the major weaknesses of risk-based maintenance. For this reason, special attention must be paid to maintenance personnel.

Professionally trained and highly motivated maintenance teams play a key role in risk-based maintenance. Maintenance personnel must be particularly instructed about the importance of accurately and conscientiously performing assigned tasks. Additional training must be made available to them.

It is important that we continuously present results to maintenance personnel, so they can see that their work is not in vain. With motivated and superbly trained maintenance personnel, we avoid the influence of the human factor. By archiving forms with recorded faults, we create a database.

This database helps us predict breakdowns based on detected faults. In the case of major faults and new findings, the risk plan must be amended. The time delay between recorded information and implemented action must be as short as possible.

This is achieved through up-to-date analysis of recorded faults. Risk-based maintenance was initially adopted primarily for economic reasons. However, the safety aspect is increasingly coming to the fore.

Safety refers to both worker safety and environmental safety. Environmental pollution, which can occur during major breakdowns, has given maintenance even greater importance. Modern companies that are aware of the impact of maintenance on business results also invest heavily in maintenance.

Due to the great impact of unexpected stoppages and breakdowns on company performance, the maintenance department is involved already at the planning stage of production lines and processes. The risk-based maintenance process requires the maintenance department to continuously and actively monitor and adapt maintenance procedures. In the future, the risk-based maintenance system will be upgraded with new maintenance systems that are currently still being developed.