Machine Failures: 5 Main Causes and How To Prevent Them

Machine Failures: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How To Prevent Them

If you work in a manufacturing or production environment, you’re well aware of equipment failures. When machinery is central to a business’s mission, it’s understandable that it breaks down occasionally. The key to minimizing these failures is understanding common causes and mitigating them as much as possible.

Let UpKeep help you with this as we dive into the main causes of malfunctioning equipment, explain what you can do to prevent them, and let you know how our top-rated CMMS solution can make this even easier.

What Is Machine Failure?

Machine failure may encompass different levels of severity and scenarios, but in general, it refers to any event where a piece of industrial equipment underperforms or stops functioning in the way it was intended. 

Machine malfunctions can be partial or mean that the entire piece of equipment is broken down. We often think of a critical failure that halts the entire production, but any loss of usefulness in a machine is also a type of machine failure.

It’s crucial to address and try to prevent machine failures because they can lead to an enormous waste of resources and greatly affect the bottom line.

3 Common Types of Machine Malfunctioning

There’s more than one type of machine failure, but they’re all something you should worry about and try to prevent — whether that’s a machine that slowly becomes less effective over time or one that suddenly dies in the middle of a shift. Here are the three most common types of machine failures to look out for.

Gradual Failure

These failures can be seen over time as a machine’s usefulness continually declines. This could include things like:

• Blades dulling

• Pipes clogging with buildup

• A slowly-shredding belt

• And more

Many, if not all, gradual failures can be prevented by keeping up with routine maintenance. Teams should also have a thorough understanding of the expected lifetimes of a machine’s parts and keep track of timelines in a central way.

Sudden Failure

This is probably what most people think of when they hear the term machine failure — an abrupt and unexpected total stoppage of work. This could include issues such as a:

• Melted wire

• Snapped band

• Shattered tool

• Etc.

Intermittent Failure

Intermittent failures happen when a machine is mostly in good working order, but it sputters out and needs help to get back to full force. It may work for a while longer, but eventually, it will fail again. 

These intermittent failures usually happen more and more often on the way to a full equipment breakdown and can usually be addressed with preventive maintenance.

What Are the Main Causes of Machine Failures?

The main causes of machine failure include:

• Equipment aging and usage

• Improper operation

• Lack of preventive maintenance

• Ignoring warnings; and

• The poor culture around the perception of maintenance teams

We’ll discuss each of these in further detail below and talk about ways you can address and prevent these major factors in machine failure.

5 Reasons Equipment Failure Happens and What You Can Do To Prevent It

Problem #1: Aging and Usage

Just like anything else in this world, manufacturing equipment gets old and simply wears out over time. Every piece of machinery has an expected lifespan, which may be shorter or longer than anticipated depending on how frequently the equipment is used and serviced.

If machines are used properly, cared for regularly, and have components replaced before they cause problems, complete equipment failures may be rare. On the other hand, if preventive maintenance is ignored and machines are abused, problems may be more frequent and the entire lifespan of the equipment can be significantly shortened.

Solution: Data Transparency Fuels Better Decisions

Although there’s nothing that can prevent aging and usage, understanding the lifespan and how particular pieces of machinery are used — as well as their key components — can help you maintain and replace components and equipment before failure occurs. Organizations should also accurately track the frequency of usage to make good decisions.

For example, if a company understands the real cost of labor and parts required for regular maintenance, it will become apparent at some point during the lifespan of the equipment that upgrading to a new machine makes more financial sense than continuing to repair the existing machine.

UpKeep’s asset management software provides powerful insights to help you with accurate tracking to better manage the full lifecycle of your assets.

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Problem #2: Improper Operation

When machines are used improperly, it can cause premature damage to the equipment and result in malfunctions and failures. Often, this problem is not intentional on the part of technicians but results from poor training or lack of information at the point of operation.

For instance, if a piece of equipment is constantly run at the wrong speed or a set of tasks is performed in the wrong order, it can stress components and cause premature failure.

Solution: Ongoing Training Protects Equipment

The best solution for this problem is to ensure technicians are properly trained on each piece of equipment and that this education is continuous. This may be accomplished through training at the point of equipment usage, gamification, and other incentives, or periodic checks by trained supervisors.

While courses and manuals have their place, the reality is that training must be on the job to be remembered. Having a mentor system for new employees so that questions can be quickly answered and good habits that can be instilled from the beginning will go a long way in helping technicians properly operate the equipment.

Problem #3: Lack of Preventive Maintenance

Just like a car would end up in the junkyard much more quickly if oil changes, tire rotations, and other regular maintenance tasks were forever ignored, preventive maintenance is key to avoiding equipment failure within a manufacturing or production environment.

Often, the lack of preventive maintenance results from a lack of resources when a maintenance department is always dealing with emergency or reactive maintenance issues. Organizations may be stuck in a catch-22; limited resources must be used to put out the fires of today, leaving no time or energy to prevent the fires of tomorrow.

Solution: Automated Reminders Prompt Action

One of the biggest reasons for the lack of preventive maintenance is that supervisors or technicians don’t know when these tasks were last completed or when they must be done again. Adopting a computerized Asset Operations Management system that can prompt reminders for regular maintenance or inspections after certain periods of time or hours of usage can help organize work orders in an efficient and effective manner.

Problem #4: Ignoring Warnings

Very few pieces of equipment go from perfect operation to complete failure. Unfortunately, many operators and supervisors are too focused on immediate performance and production requirements to take action based on early warning signs.

The attitude is often that the equipment is still doing mostly fine and can complete the tasks and requirements of today’s shift. The short-sighted belief that there’s no time to address unusual sounds, smells, or performance can lead to major breakdowns sometime down the road, which then usually results in emergency maintenance action.

Solution: Incentivize Recording of Potential Problems

The bottom line is that employees respond to incentives. If a production team is being evaluated on its ability to meet daily production goals and technicians’ pay or bonuses are tied to these metrics, these will be the areas that garner the most attention. Taking the time to note or flag warning signs of equipment failures is then seen as only jeopardizing the production goals of today.

Instead, team members should have a bigger picture of their role within the organization. Incentivizing a focus on overall value and rewarding good decisions such as noting and recording potential equipment problems can go a long way toward preventing equipment failures.

Problem #5: Poor Culture

Along the same lines, the attitude of the management and technicians about maintenance in general can contribute to equipment failures. Unfortunately, many companies have a poor attitude when it comes to maintenance.

The maintenance department is often seen in a negative light because they need to be brought in when problems occur. They seem to never work fast enough to satisfy those on the front lines of production. And the department itself may feel like it doesn’t have the resources to meet the demands of the organization effectively.

Solution: Making Maintenance Everyone’s Job

Cultural change is always a difficult task, but ideally, all employees in an organization need to believe they are part of the solution when it comes to preventing equipment failures. Technicians should see their value in not only operating equipment, but also being the ones most intimately involved with a particular machine. This means they are the best people to flag warning signs and problems and can help cause a significant decrease in the malfunction of equipment.

If management works with supervisors and technicians to schedule downtime in response to the advice and counsel of those on the front lines, the atmosphere of the factory floor can change significantly.

UpKeep’s CMMS Can Help You Avert Machine Failures and Keep Your Company on Track

UpKeep has all the tools and features you need to simplify, organize, and optimize your Maintenance and Reliability team and operations. These include applications to help with:

• Parts and inventory

• Preventive maintenance

• Work order management

• Asset management

• Analytics

Explore all the ways UpKeep’s mobile-first CMMS solution can help your company and your bottom line — including preventing machine failures that can bring everything to a standstill. Contact us today to start a free trial or request a demo.