Shed Light On the 7 Must-Follow Steps of Autonomous Maintenance

By
IntelligentHQ

Autonomous maintenance (AM) refers to the proactive assignment of maintenance duties to the machine operators. So, instead of waiting for the specialized maintenance technicians to complete these tasks, you should know how you can keep them working. Check out the seven must-follow steps to maintain your equipment autonomously. 

Shed Light On the 7 Must-Follow Steps of Autonomous Maintenance

1. Boost Operator Acquaintance

The first step of Autonomous Maintenance is to educate the operators on operating and maintaining assigned equipment. Provide them with information on how the various sub-units of the equipment assemble. 

So they will know which part of the equipment warrants regular servicing and which part requires special attention in terms of cleaning, greasing, etc.

Training resources, such as manuals, videos, and on-the-job training, can expand their knowledge and make them comprehend practical, helpful information in the shortest time possible.

2. Go for Initial Cleaning and Inspection

After knowing about all the ins and outs of the equipment that are leveraging, they must inspect the equipment and identify any cleaning and maintenance requirements. 

They can better identify any part of the equipment that necessitates dust or dirt removal, to-be-tightened nuts and bolts, oiling and lubrication, and wear & tear to be fixed. 

3. Eradicate the Contamination Causes

Once the equipment cleansing is done and it gets back to its optimal working condition, the operator must know how to retain its work productivity. Another effective way to maintain your equipment’s working order is to eradicate the causes of contamination. 

Good housekeeping practices and keeping the workstation clean not only reduce contamination issues but also ensure a safe working environment for the operators. This includes using machine guarding and adhering to lockout/tag-out (LOTO) measures when cleaning equipment.

4. Establish Guidelines for Lubrication and Inspection

Inspection and some levels of lubrication and maintenance as per the manufacturer’s specifications can help preserve its “like new” quality and better performance. To specify and communicate those standards, tools and processes should be utilized to identify what maintenance work should be done, how it should be performed, and how frequently it should be completed. 

Use checklist tools that can help guide operators on what to perform and how to perform equipment maintenance tasks, as well as notify them to remind them when a task is due.

5. Perform Regular Inspections and Monitoring

To encourage positive practices such as autonomous maintenance, inspection and monitoring are recommended. Operators themselves can call for their equipment for monitoring; then, they may give some details in the form of reports containing photos showing the current state of equipment and tasks accomplished indicating maintenance.

Through these inspections, collected data will be reviewed to confirm that their respective operators are maintaining all the equipment listed here and are in good operating condition.

6. Implement Visual Maintenance Management Procedures

Encourage operators to complete maintenance tasks frequently by using color-coded tags and simple signs or posters that contain instructions that operators and other workers must follow when using or near equipment.

Prepare illustrations of the standards to enable the operators to adhere to them and remind them on how they should maintain equipment and machines.

7. Introduce Continuous Improvement Initiatives

TPM is a maintenance strategy that encompasses six fundamental principles, one of which is improvement. Continuous improvement in autonomous maintenance is not just a necessity but a way to keep the processes and equipment up-to-date and the operators engaged and motivated.

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