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Aircraft manufacturers introduced the reliability movement in the maintenance industry. In the 1960s, aviation professionals needed to improve their maintenance strategies to reduce accidents. As a result, these companies created a system that improved technology and data collection.
A Significant Shift from the Past
Up until this point, the term “maintenance” referred only to repairs of broken equipment. Technicians were brought in when something failed or a breakdown occurred. Reactive or emergency maintenance was the hallmark of the field.
After World War II, competition increased quickly within the manufacturing industry. The race was on to find better and more efficient ways to work, and one big area was reducing downtime on production lines. This effort dove-tailed with the development of the Boeing 747, which introduced reliability to one key manufacturing sector.
A Rapid Move Into the Future
During the next several decades, the reliability movement penetrated many other manufacturing industries quickly. Related technologies have been developed, allowing companies around the world to embrace preventive maintenance efforts and embark on predictive maintenance strategies.
The combination of wireless technology, cloud-based software systems, and internet-enabled devices means that communications between team members are easier than ever. As soon as anyone on the team enters maintenance-related information, it is immediately available to all other technicians. This means that work orders can be generated automatically, and technicians have immediate access to the details, history, parts data, and instructions.
While maintenance tasks are being performed, a technician can snap a photo, message a question, or record the repair with a mobile device. This means the central computer system can constantly have real-time information.
In addition, sensor technology allows management to monitor critical assets around the clock. If thresholds are reached or equipment falls out of an acceptable range, alerts are immediately sent to prevent major breakdowns. As this technology drops in price, it will become a necessary investment for companies around the world, especially those that operate stations or equipment in remote or dangerous locations.
Quality Data to Improve Reliability
As more and more maintenance data is collected over time, including the performance and repair records of critical assets, a company’s central database becomes a goldmine of reliability opportunities. By performing sophisticated analytics, companies can now base future decisions on repairing and replacing assets, as well as upgrading equipment on data-driven evidence. More businesses will approach world-class reliability standards.