November 1, 2024
Sustainable maintenance – an important step towards more sustainable production
An investment in sustainable maintenance of a production plant is an investment in the future of an industrial company, and therefore an important part of a successful production plant. Sustainable maintenance affects the operations of an industrial company in many ways, improving financial performance, reducing environmental impact, and strengthening corporate social responsibility. In addition, sustainable maintenance can help an industrial company comply with standards and achieve sustainable development goals.
– Depending on the process, equipment, and industry, maintenance can help reduce raw material consumption by 5-20%. Likewise, improvements can be made regarding energy consumption. Especially if the energy savings of avoided downtimes are also considered, we can talk about 5–15% lower energy consumption, says Henri Chi, Sales Director, Quant Finland.
Financial and environmental benefits of an industrial company
A properly constructed maintenance strategy supports the long-term goals of an industrial company. Sustainable maintenance contributes to financial benefits with the help of predictive maintenance and efficient processes, through which it is possible to reduce unexpected production stoppages and expensive repair costs. In addition, through life cycle planning, it is possible to influence the service life of the equipment with properly timed maintenance and repair measures, thus also reducing investment needs.
– Nowadays, we more often move from time-based maintenance to usage-based or actual condition-based maintenance, which reduces the need to purchase material. Correctly scheduled maintenance also extends the life cycle of the equipment from a broader perspective. Another thing to highlight is the refurbishing of spare parts, for which production plants rarely have a ready-made process. When, instead of buying a new component, you refurbish, for example, a pump, valve, or motor delivered from the production line for maintenance, you can save natural resources and costs, says Lauri Kaiharju, Sales manager, Quant Finland.
Naturally, when the equipment is reliable and its usability is at a high level, it reduces the amount of waste and contributes to financial benefits.
The most important KPIs in measuring sustainable maintenance
Several different KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can be used to measure the sustainability of maintenance. But the decision about what KPIs to follow up on must be based on the goals and industry of the company. The most typical metrics that we monitor at our customer sites are safety, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), technical availability (TA), proportion of preventive maintenance, energy consumption, amount of waste, and factory yield (tons/pcs/kg).
– The saying “you will get what you measure” is especially true in the development of maintenance. The metrics create the conditions for maintenance development. However, it is good to note that more is not always better in KPI metrics. It is better to choose 6–10 metrics that can be used both in daily and strategic development, says Chi.
Below are a few examples of how the metrics promoted by maintenance have succeeded in making operations more sustainable.
- • Energy consumption was successfully reduced by updating the cooling system of the process equipment.
- • The amount of waste was successfully reduced thanks to the planned and implemented development project for the customer. In addition, the failure interval was significantly extended, also bringing cost savings to the customer.
- • The service life of the equipment was successfully extended by integrating the condition monitoring process and quantPredict into the customer’s daily operations. Already in the first few months, we managed to prevent the engine from breaking down, thus eliminating the need to invest in a new engine.
- • We managed to increase the proportion of proactive maintenance by installing temperature sensors on all devices at our customer site. The change in maintenance operations from reactive to proactive maintenance enabled 99% availability of the equipment.
- • Work safety was significantly improved at the new customer site already in the first year, by investing in training, joint discussions, and monitoring of the most important safety metrics.
Modern technology supports the development of sustainable maintenance
Modern technology plays a significant role in the development of sustainable maintenance processes, when analytics and collected data support companies’ goals in terms of sustainability and responsibility.
– Especially in maintenance, the importance of modern technology is shown by the sensors used to monitor equipment and their connection to cloud-based systems, where the collected data is analyzed and monitored. Trend changes in device vibration or temperature automatically cause an alarm and a work order to check the condition of the device. Staying ahead avoids unexpected breakdowns, as well as unnecessary time-based replacements of parts, says Kaiharju.
The most common challenges in implementation
The most common challenges in implementing sustainable maintenance in industrial companies are related to costs, lack of information, old systems, or resources. We have helped several of our customers on their journey towards a more sustainable maintenance operating model.
