Risk-based maintenance, RBM, refers to a type of maintenance program that focuses on high-risk systems and machines. These are machines that would incur huge losses if they fail. Thus they are maintained more thoroughly and frequently compared to the low-risk assets. On the other hand, reactive maintenance refers to repairs that occur when the machines or systems break down. The main goal of reactive maintenance is to ensure the equipment is up and running and not to prevent future malfunctions. General maintenance is costly and takes a lot of energy. When deciding between these two maintenance plans, here are some factors to consider;

Cost

From a shortsighted point of view, reactive maintenance is cheaper. It costs nothing to do anything. On the other hand, RBM requires a system that analyses the most susceptible machines and a schedule to maintain them. Thus, it means the company has to spend extra funds. However, in the long run, reactive maintenance is more costly. This is because machines may break down anytime, causing severe downtime. Besides that, you do not have any assurance that spare parts and labor will be readily available when you need to do repairs. Thus you may spend more. RBM may be economical because, instead of wasting time maintaining all equipment, you narrow down on machines that need the repairs.

Time

Risk management Maintenance provides for repair time in the overall production schedule. This means that any interruption during work hours does not have a huge impact. In reactive maintenance, you may enjoy uninterrupted production when the machines are working all right. However, when malfunctions occur, they are unexpected. Since the time required to fix the problem is also unpredictable, you may spend more time with reactive maintenance. Scheduling for repairs offers a massive advantage as you can include them in the low production hours.

Machines’ Life Expectancy

The role of risk based maintenance is more than to fix the problem. It ensures that the machine does not have any other issues that may affect function. In case problems are detected, repairs occur at an early stage, prolonging the first state of the machine. Reactive maintenance restricts your problem detection only when the machine malfunctions. This means that the problem could have started a long time, but you only detect it as it disrupts average production. The problem is now bigger and may cause the state of the machine to deteriorate. A simple issue that constant maintenance would have solved may prompt you to replace the whole device if repairs are not viable.

Energy –Efficiency

Simple activities like oiling the moving parts of a machine reduce the energy consumed. Such measures are part of a risk management schedule. Since machines are oiled frequently, the cost of electricity reduces tremendously. Reactive maintenance does not save on energy as maintenance measures are limited to when the machine breaks down.

Safety

Machines make Work easier but could also threaten the safety of the handlers. In RBM, the overall schedule includes maintenance procedures. Employees have time to analyze whether the machine is in proper condition and how safe it is to work with it. However, with reactive maintenance, employees are in a hurry to start working as the machine’s state is unimportant. They breach essential safety protocols, which makes the work environment a danger zone.

When considering a maintenance plan for your company, it is more beneficial to pick risk-based maintenance compared to reactive maintenance. This will give a lot of control over your equipment as you are always aware of their condition. Maintenance is inevitable, and when you can schedule it, you ensure it stays out of the way during work hours.