All About Breakdown Maintenance (Types, Examples & Benefits)

Breakdown maintenance is the process of performing maintenance on equipment that has broken down, is faulty, or is for any reason not working or operating. The goal of this process is to fix the problem that is leading to the malfunction of the equipment. On the other hand, Preventive Maintenance is done to keep things in order or running smoothly.

When a machine breaks down suddenly but there is a need for it to be working again soon, we need to operate it as soon as possible. This is an unplanned event. On the other hand, we can plan Breakdown Maintenance sometimes, which we even call as “good” breakdown maintenance.

Let us now understand about the two types of Breakdown Maintenance:

Planned Maintenance:

By Planned Maintenance, we understand that the breakdown is expected to happen; it is not all sudden. The equipment works until it is on the verge of breakdown, which then leads to the initiation of a run-to-failure (RTF) trigger. RTF triggers are unplanned; breakdown maintenance uses RTF as a way to lower the cost of maintenance, which eventually helps the organization.

These kinds of serious plans for breakdown maintenance are supposed to be rigorously documented and controlled. It is important to know which part of the machinery is damaged and what needs to be taken care of under Preventive Maintenance. Without this clear data, it would be difficult to know which part is damaged.

Unplanned Maintenance:

Unplanned breakdown maintenance occurs suddenly with no prior information regarding the breakdown. It is also known as an unplanned downtime event. It is possible for not all facilities to use planned maintenance as they require resources for planned maintenance. Even in the case of unplanned maintenance, resources should be there to take care of the sudden breakdown that happened in the organization. It is normal for any equipment to break down at some point in its life.

5 Examples of Breakdown Maintenance:

It is a very different application, which is used in different ways in different industries with different sets of products, especially the ones which involve health and safety. This brings us to the conclusion that it is used when the parts are non-essential or not that costly.

Let us now know about a few examples in which we can apply Breakdown Maintenance:

1. One is not able to repair the equipment at all.

2. Assets contain something which consists of inexpensive parts.

3. There are non-critical pieces in equipment.

4. Equipment are meant for disposal as they are made to be replaced at the end of their life cycle.

5. Some assets are short-term.

From these examples, it is very clear that there is no inherent safety risk when a piece or part of equipment is broken. Let us understand it with the help of an example: consider a light bulb in some facility. If the light bulb is not connected to the safety feature present in the organization, then it makes no sense to replace it before the bulb has burned out as it is working all fine.

However, there are times when people's lives can be at stake because of a product breakdown. Let us understand it with the help of an example: in the aviation industry, they cannot have a broken part in their equipment as it is way too dangerous. There is a direct threat to the safety of people. When a person’s life is involved, it is good to rely on preventive and predictive maintenance.

Pros and Cons:

Let us now learn about the Pros and Cons of Breakdown Maintenance.

Pros:

1. Failure in equipment can lead to dangerous consequences, but if we have a clear and documented maintenance plan, it can lead to many significant benefits for an organization.

2. Maintenance cost is reduced by cutting out unnecessary maintenance.

3. We can lower the cost of equipment that we replace again and again (for example, bulbs, hand tools, etc.).

4. Downtime for all the repairs that we are conducting can be consolidated.

5. The staff need is also reduced as manual labor is reduced.

6. It is easy to see that the equipment requires maintenance.

Cons:

1. The downside of breakdown maintenance is also important to look at when we are dealing with the nature of the maintenance plan. For example, breakdown maintenance should not be used with safety equipment as a single downtime of this asset would lead to a major lapse in the whole organization. It is also dangerous for the lives present in the facility if there is some breakdown in any safety equipment.

2. Piled-up waste in a manufacturing facility.

3. Occurrence of safety issues because of unplanned failures.

4. Greater cost depending on parts that fail.

5. Careful execution of breakdown maintenance.

6. It can be difficult to realize what is wrong with the equipment.

Breakdown vs. Corrective Maintenance:

It is obvious to wonder what the difference is between breakdown and corrective maintenance. They both work with equipment that is faulty, not working properly, or broken. But these two terms are not at all the same.

Above we learned about breakdown maintenance, which is performed on equipment that is broken or not working properly. It may have stopped working in the manner it was supposed to work. Corrective Maintenance, on the other hand, is focused on repairing the broken equipment; it is more about the correction work.

They might look similar to one another, but if we dive deep in, we come to know the major difference, which then clears up the whole confusion.

Now let us understand how these two types of maintenance differ:

1. One of the major differences is that breakdown maintenance works on equipment that is non-operational. Corrective maintenance is done on equipment that is still working but will not function to its maximum in a while. Hence, it becomes very important to maintain them.

2. Corrective maintenance may be different with respect to different machines or equipment. Breakdown maintenance may happen in an extremely short period of time, particularly if the system in question is essential.

Both types of maintenance typically happen to equipment that is still in place or in use, which can be edited. Also, both types of maintenance may be classified as emergency maintenance, depending on the situation.

Conclusion:

Breakdown maintenance is not for every industry. Industries that have a direct relation to the lives of people should never use breakdown maintenance. It is okay if we are using breakdown maintenance for cheap assets or asset parts.

One thing to always remember about maintenance is that it requires planning and coordination. Any organization should not allow maintenance to be exploited; there should be proper usage of it always.

‍