You may have heard the popular saying, “Prevention is better than cure.” This saying recommends actively taking measures to prevent problems from occurring, as it is easier to prevent damage than to deal with it.
As a maintenance manager, you can also apply this principle to the maintenance of technical equipment.
Proactively taking care of your equipment and assets and performing routine maintenance procedures via CMMS solution can lead to fewer breakdowns and reduce repair costs. Routine maintenance is usually less expensive than repairing or replacing assets.
For a maintenance manager, this approach is known as a preventive maintenance strategy—anticipating future breakdowns and problems and preventing their occurrence by taking action beforehand. For example, regular cleaning and running antivirus and malware scans serve as preventive measures for laptop maintenance.
Consistently performing these and other similar activities would prevent problems in these machines and reduce downtime, which would, in turn, positively affect productivity and efficiency in the organization.
You need a checklist to implement a preventive maintenance (PM) strategy successfully. This detailed document lists all the necessary steps and procedures for periodic inspections of tangible assets.
A PM checklist serves a valuable purpose. It helps plan and execute maintenance activities thoroughly and systematically. Without a checklist, the process will be more chaotic, and several steps may be left out.
In this guide, we will explore how a PM checklist can improve the health and longevity of your assets, streamline maintenance operations, and explain the steps involved in creating one.
How is a checklist vital to maintenance planning?
Reportedly, 88 percent of industrial organizations leverage a preventive maintenance strategy, and many of them use a PM checklist to help organize and streamline their processes.
PM checklists help plan and schedule maintenance activities, allowing better time and resource management. They enable an effective maintenance scheduling system within your organization. They also help implement safety protocols on time to prevent safety hazards. The checklist includes all safety protocols; if any are missing, maintenance managers can easily add them to the list. This increases equipment reliability, ensures user safety, and extends the equipment’s lifespan.
Using a PM checklist expedites maintenance planning for maintenance managers and technicians and helps them make data-driven decisions. Additionally, it improves adherence to regulations, enhances accountability, and reduces the need for emergency repairs.
A PM checklist is also effective for maintenance managers in tracking asset maintenance history. Such documentation allows managers and technicians to identify and address gaps in maintenance routines on time.
Let’s look at a sample checklist for manufacturing equipment:
- Inspect the machine for any visible signs of wear and tear or damage
- Check and tighten all nuts, bolts, and screws
- Change oil filters and air filters
- Inspect and test emergency stop buttons and other security features
- Conduct a thorough check of the machine to remove all dirt and debris
- Check the machine’s alignment
- Analyze the condition of chains and belts and replace them if needed
- Inspect the machine’s control panel
There are different checklist templates that maintenance managers can customize to enhance ease of use. However, every PM checklist consists of some key elements, including:
- Equipment details: Name, identification number, ownership, location, and vendor
- Maintenance steps: A detailed list of all the steps required to maintain a piece of equipment, including lubricating, repairing, and replacing.
- Safety checks: A plan stating the procedure to ensure the machines are used safely. Checks can include verifying the functionality of safety features, inspecting for potential hazards or damage, and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.
- Parts and materials: A list of parts and inventory needed for maintenance.
- Prioritization of asset repairs: A plan identifying the order in which critical tasks and maintenance activities must be executed.
- Documentation: A section of additional comments and any maintenance aspects that must be addressed.
This information organizes the maintenance procedure and ensures thoroughness. While these are some key elements of a PM checklist, let’s look at the steps involved in creating one.
How to make a thorough preventive maintenance checklist
Creating a thorough checklist and ensuring it includes the proper maintenance activities is critical to achieving optimal equipment performance. Ideally, create a separate checklist for each asset.
Here is what you need to do for each checklist:
1. Assess current equipment condition
To assess equipment condition, schedule periodic inspections so maintenance managers and technicians have thorough information regarding the equipment’s health and any needed repairs. Once you determine your equipment’s condition, you can identify problems or potential problems and their root causes early, preventing extensive repairs in the long run.
Additionally, the assessment optimizes your equipment to run at maximum capacity.
Detailed equipment analysis allows maintenance managers to plan maintenance activities and accurately avoid performing unnecessary procedures. It also enables them to add essential procedures to the checklist according to the equipment’s condition.
A maintenance manager can also conduct a safety check on the equipment, and safety steps can be incorporated into the checklist in the case of non-compliance with safety protocols.
2. Analyze past maintenance trends
Analyzing past trends involves studying historical maintenance data to identify which procedures have been performed on the equipment and which have not.
For example, you can determine the root cause of a forklift’s frequent breakdowns based on historical data on its maintenance routines. Perhaps an essential maintenance step was missing, or certain parts had not been replaced or serviced for several years.
This analysis provides valuable insights that help improve the overall preventive maintenance strategy and evaluate the effectiveness of the past maintenance routines.
Maintenance managers can decide whether these procedures must be performed now or whether additional steps are required first. If certain important procedures have been left out in the past, adding them now may prevent more significant problems from occurring in the future.
By timely analyzing past equipment failures and current maintenance frequencies, you can create a holistic checklist that caters to each aspect of the maintenance procedure. You can then determine if the existing maintenance practices help lower equipment downtime, and if not, your checklist can account for these factors.
3. Set objectives for the checklist
When creating a checklist, beginning with clear and concise objectives is paramount. These objectives guide the procedure’s creation and implementation.
Objectives can include reduced equipment downtime, increased safety, and optimized costs. Maintenance managers can create and use checklists with these objectives in mind so that the tasks listed in the checklist are directed toward achieving these objectives.
For example, a manager schedules a maintenance check for a printer to ensure high-quality printouts and prevent regular paper jams. The primary objective is to improve the printer’s life and reduce repair time.
The checklist for this routine can include cleaning the printhead, filling cartridges with ink, assessing the alignment of the paper tray, and checking cable ports. The maintenance manager can ensure that the printer’s health is maintained by inspecting these aspects and following a goal-driven checklist to detect potential problems.
Also, a maintenance management system can make it easier to assess and calculate the tangible impact of these checks – such as reduced printer reservations for maintenance and decreased downtime.
4. Create and implement the checklist
Once you have set the objectives for your checklist, the next step is to create and implement it. The maintenance manager should seek advice from the senior technician to better plan maintenance activities.
List activities in a sequence that makes sense and allows for maximum efficiency. Break the checklist into categories to divide activities into groups to ensure a particular process is completed.
For example, the laptop checklist may include cleaning, antivirus and malware protection, battery checks, safety protocols, etc. Once all the activities in a category are completed, you can check the whole process off your list.
However, merely writing a checklist is not enough – implementing it is also crucial.
The maintenance manager must decide on a workflow to implement a checklist successfully. This includes finalizing the time and process for inspecting each asset and performing routine maintenance.
It is also important to ensure your technicians and team are familiar with and understand the checklist thoroughly. Ensure your checklist includes any preliminary or sub-steps required to complete larger steps. This ensures a uniform approach and thorough catering to all equipment.
5. Track results
Once a checklist is finalized and implemented, the next step is to track results based on the overall equipment performance. This process includes monitoring the outcomes of maintenance activities and comparing them against benchmarks. Comparing equipment’s performance against each item in the checklist will help determine the effectiveness of the preventive maintenance strategy.
If your checklist cannot yield the desired results, then you can adjust your checklist accordingly.
Different checklists, such as yes/ no and step-by-step, are also used to track results. For example, you can create a yes/no checklist that includes measures to complete an inspection. This step can be added to the asset’s PM checklist if an inspection item is marked ‘no’ in the status category.
Here are some sample items that can be included in your tracking results checklist for a forklift:
- Engine oil level within acceptable limits (Yes/ No)
- Fork is free from cracks or distortions (Yes / No)
- Parking brake effectively holds the vehicle (Yes / No)
- Seatbelt functional and in good condition (Yes / No)
By tracking these parameters, the maintenance manager can assess whether the PM checklist for the forklift was thorough and appropriate.
Using a maintenance management solution makes creating and implementing a preventive maintenance checklist more straightforward. The system allows maintenance managers to access asset details and plan maintenance routines accordingly.
By doing so, they can generate asset-specific checklists directly from the preventive maintenance software and refer to them whenever needed.
Types of preventive maintenance checklists
Different types of preventive maintenance checklists are available depending on the industry, equipment, and specific maintenance needs. Let’s discuss some common types:
Usage-based checklists
These preventive maintenance checklists are triggered only after a certain amount of usage, like mileage or hours of operation, to ensure equipment reliability.
Time-based checklists
These checklists are scheduled based on time or regular intervals to perform routine maintenance tasks. These can be scheduled for daily, weekly, or monthly.
Condition-based checklists
These checklists suggest that maintenance is needed, and they are triggered by specific conditions or performance indicators, such as temperature readings or vibration levels.
Seasonal checklists
These checklists are specifically designed to prepare equipment or facilities for changing seasons. An example would be HVAC maintenance before summer and winter.
Inspection checklists
These checklists are used to visually inspect equipment for signs of damage, wear and tear, or other issues that may lead to failure.
Safety checklists
These checklists primarily focus on ensuring that all safety systems, like emergency exits, safety equipment, and fire alarms, are working correctly.
Compliance checklists
These checklists ensure all equipment and processes within an organization meet industry standards and regulatory requirements.
Examples of preventive maintenance checklists
As discussed earlier, different preventive maintenance checklists are used across different industries and sectors. The hospitality industry uses a hotel preventive maintenance checklist, the automobile industry uses a checklist for cars, trucks, etc., and a manufacturing concern uses preventive maintenance for machines or specific equipment like forklifts.
Let’s look at some examples of preventive maintenance checklists:
Industrial preventive maintenance checklist
1. Mechanical systems
- Check and lubricate moving parts
- Perform checks on belt and chain tension
- Conduct bearing inspections and replacements
- Perform alignment and balancing assessments
2. Electrical systems
- Check electrical connections
- Test circuit breakers and fuses
- Calibrate sensors and gauges
- Inspect power quality
3. Fluid systems
- Inspect oil and fluid levels
- Change filters
- Check coolant systems
- Detect and repair leaks
4. Structural parts
- Perform visual inspections
- Conduct corrosion prevention and treatment
- Examine structural stability
5. Software and Control Systems
- Update and patch software
- Backup and recovery
- Calibrate control instruments
- Test emergency shutdown systems
Hotel preventive maintenance checklist
- Check HVAC system
- Inspect and clean air filters
- Ensure proper thermostat functionality
- Check for unusual noises or odors
- Examine public areas
- Examine lobby and common areas are clean
- Ensure public restrooms are well-maintained and fully stocked
- Inspect for visible damage or safety hazards
- Check the need for painting
- Test Emergency Lighting
- Test emergency lighting and exit signs for functionality
- Replace malfunctioning bulbs or batteries immediately
- Test water quality
- Test water quality in guest rooms and common areas
- Ensure water is clear, odorless, and free from contaminants
- Inspect elevator
- Conduct routine inspections of elevators to ensure proper functioning
- Check for smooth operation, proper door closing, and emergency button functionality
- Perform maintenance as needed
- Inspect guest room
- Inspect guest rooms for wear and tear and other damage
- Test room amenities, including TVs, phones, other electrical appliances, and minibar
- Ensure all fixtures, including faucets and showerheads, are working properly
- Test fire alarm systems
- Inspect smoke detectors and alarms
- Verify that alarms can be heard and seen throughout the hotel
- Arrange regular fire drills and inspections by coordinating with local fire authorities
- Examine roof condition
- Inspect the roof thoroughly for damage or leaks
- Repair any issues to prevent water intrusion
- Clear roof drains and gutters to ensure proper drainage
- Test generator
- Test backup generators to ensure they are working properly
- Check fuel levels and perform routine maintenance
- Service HVAC system
- Schedule servicing of HVAC systems
- Change damaged components and ensure optimal efficiency
- Clean filters, ductwork, and vents for improved air quality
Set up meter thresholds for PM work orders
Advanced CMMS systems like EZO CMMS let you set meter thresholds for PM work orders by automating maintenance triggers based on asset usage. This ensures timely interventions before breakdowns occur.
Also, setting up meter thresholds for PM work orders reduces downtime, enhances asset reliability, and improves overall maintenance efficiency.
Read this blog to understand how to add and manage meters in EZO CMMS.
Create and manage checklists in CMMS
Many CMMS systems, like EZO CMMS, offer enhanced features such as work request management and preventive maintenance checklists, highlighting the importance of work order management. Users can make work requests and update checklists directly without creating new versions and saving time.
Checklists can also be edited while work orders are in the open state, offering more flexibility. This update ensures necessary steps are followed before starting or completing work orders, improving adherence to procedures and work quality. Read this blog to understand how to add and manage checklists in CMMS.
Conclusion
Maintenance operations cannot be executed successfully without precision and consistency. As stated above, a preventive maintenance checklist is one of the most effective ways to achieve this consistency. Without a checklist, a maintenance manager might miss important steps in maintenance activities that could add value to the process. Overlooked steps can translate into higher repair costs and reactive maintenance, which is not a desired outcome.
In short, creating a preventive maintenance checklist is in your organization’s best interest as it significantly increases overall efficiency.
