Augos Factory / Learn / Preventive maintenance
Learn · preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance: see what breaks between services.
In short
Preventive maintenance is scheduled work, such as inspection, lubrication and part replacement, done before equipment fails, planned by time or by usage. Its weak spot is evidence: without a record of what breaks between services, the schedule can't be tuned. A stop record per machine and fault closes that gap.
Strategies compared
Preventive, predictive or reactive?
| Strategy | Triggered by | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reactive | A failure | No planning effort | Unplanned stops, overtime, secondary damage |
| Preventive | Time or usage | Simple to schedule | Services parts that are fine; misses failures between services |
| Condition-based | A measured condition: vibration, temperature, wear | Acts only when needed | Needs sensors and someone to read them |
| Predictive | A forecast from condition trends | Plans ahead of failure | Needs history and models; costly to start |
Augos Factory supplies the stop record behind all four: every breakdown timed, by machine and fault. It does not monitor condition or forecast failures.
Tuning the schedule
Three signs your preventive schedule isn't working
The same faults return between services
The interval is too long for that part, or the task doesn't address the failure mode.
Breakdowns cluster just after a service
Something in the service itself, reassembly or settings, is introducing faults.
Maintenance and production disagree about the hours
Work orders record the repair; nobody records how long the line stood. The record needs both.
Run preventive maintenance on the record
Your CMMS holds the work. The line record holds the cost.
A CMMS knows what was serviced and repaired. It rarely knows how long the line stood or how often a fault recurred between services. Nor does it show which interruptions (short stops) point to a part wearing out. A count sensor and a stop reason at the line add that, per machine and per fault.
The sensor also records the hours each line actually ran, by shift and by job. Put those run hours beside the breakdown history for each fault, and the service interval can be set on run time rather than the calendar.
Planned maintenance becomes a planned stop with a standard. Actual time is the standard plus the overrun, so an overrunning service is visible too.
One fault against line run hours
IllustrativeOne fault on one filler over 13 weeks. The part is serviced every four weeks by the calendar.
Breakdowns, sized by minutes lost · 10 · 2.4 h
Run hours since the last service
By the calendar, the fault looks random. By run hours, it returns at about 280 hours every time. In the quiet month the line ran 240 hours, so that service came before it was needed. The interval belongs in run hours, set below 280.
Illustrative stop data, not a customer. A service is a planned maintenance stop logged at the Augos Operator Terminal.
In the toolbox
Where each signal comes from
Six maintenance signals, each from a report
| Signal | Where you see it | What it tells the maintenance team |
|---|---|---|
| The same fault returns | Downtime Report: every reason down to the machine and fault, with its time and number of stops, for any period | Which part outlasts its service interval, and which does not |
| Faults cluster after a service | The fault's event log, beside the planned maintenance stops | Something in the service itself, reassembly or settings, is adding faults |
| Time between failures | Performance Overview, MTBF and MTTR on the technician rail | Reliability and repair speed, without a spreadsheet |
| Run time | The time account: hours the line actually ran, by shift and job | The basis for intervals in run hours, not calendar days |
| A fault tied to one product | Unplanned Stoppage Analysis, Product Analysis | A failure that only shows on one product or pack size |
| Services that overrun | Planned Stoppage Analysis, against the allowed time | Which services take longer than planned, and on which shift |
Downtime Report · an illustrative line · one month
Illustrative| Reason | Total time | % of paid time | Stops | Average stop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + Interruptions | 31h 40m | 4.40% | 6,870 | 0m 17s | |
| + Reboot | 0h 03m | 0.01% | 12 | 0m 15s | |
| − Breakdown | 58h 10m | 8.08% | 277 | 12m 36s | |
| 04. Filler | 18h 55m | 2.63% | 66 | 17m 12s | |
| 03. Premix | 9h 20m | 1.30% | 41 | 13m 40s | |
| 07. Six packer | 8h 15m | 1.15% | 25 | 19m 48s | |
| 06. Pasteuriser | 5h 30m | 0.76% | 31 | 10m 39s | |
| 05. Seamer | 4h 10m | 0.58% | 35 | 7m 09s | |
| 02. Rinser | 3h 15m | 0.45% | 37 | 5m 16s | |
| 09. Conveyor | 3h 05m | 0.43% | 17 | 10m 53s | |
| 08. Tray packer | 3h 00m | 0.42% | 9 | 20m 00s | |
| 01. Depal | 2h 40m | 0.37% | 16 | 10m 00s |
Every reason opens to the machine, then to the fault and its stops. Run the same report month after month, and a machine whose stop count holds steady is telling you its service interval is too long.
Illustrative data, not a customer. Laid out as the Augos Downtime Report: reason, then machine, with time, share of paid time and stops.
Run time is measured for the line, at the bottleneck sensor. For run hours on a single motor, pump or compressor, Augos Sense measures each machine on its own.
Questions
Preventive maintenance, answered
How do you set a preventive maintenance interval?
Start from the manufacturer's recommendation, then adjust with your own history. Use the mean time between failures for that fault, and whether it returns before the next service. Count the interval in run hours, not calendar days, so a slow month does not trigger a service on parts that barely ran.
What is the difference between preventive and predictive maintenance?
Preventive maintenance runs on a schedule. Predictive maintenance acts on a forecast from measured condition, such as vibration or temperature trends.
Does Augos Factory replace our CMMS?
No. It makes your CMMS more accurate. It records how long the line stood and why, per machine and fault, and how long each line actually ran. Through the Augos API, each stop can be linked to its work order. Your CMMS keeps work orders, assets and schedules.
See preventive maintenance on your line.
Thirty minutes with a manufacturing specialist and your maintenance manager.
- Breakdown history per machine and fault
- MTTR and MTBF without a spreadsheet
- Prices in rand, ex VAT
A manufacturing specialist replies within two business hours to set a 30-minute call.