Integration of maintenance strategies for improved asset reliability and availability

The simplicity and ruggedness of erstwhile `equipment sufficed maintenance´ used to revolve around preventive and run-to-failure methodology. With advancement in technology and arrival of complex machinery, the operational and maintenance philosophies have changed. Many maintenance management concepts, such as Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Total Quality Management (TQM) each having its own merits and demerits, have emerged. This necessitates the development of an integrated maintenance strategy which combines the available methodologies to arrive at the right combination which will give maximum returns in the form of increased safety, reliability & availability at optimum cost. This paper deals with the integration of various maintenance methodologies to arrive at an integrated maintenance strategy with a case study of a vertical integrally geared high speed pump.