4020 – 09 – Knowing the Elements of RCM
Unlike PdM, RCM technicians know that all machines are not valued equally. A machine that is used and is essential will need more maintenance than a machine only used occasionally.
RCM programs may not use any preventive or predictive maintenance on specific machines. A machine may be ran until it needs reactive maintenance, which is called run-to-failure. Low priority machines may be run-to-fail because downtime won’t harm production.
A lot of RCM need skilled maintenance professionals, which means RCM programs can be very expensive. RCM can lower a company’s costs in the long term.