Will Your Maintenance Program Win the Lottery

Quality Control By Bonnie Biegel

An effective Preventive Maintenance Program satisfies plant, equipment, and customer requirements and properly documents maintenance activities to ensure that they are not a source of product contamination.

Will Your Maintenance Program Win the Lottery? T

he ten o’clock news is over and once again you don’t have a lucky Powerball ticket, so you go to sleep and get ready for another normal work week. But, much to your surprise, the next morning is about as far from normal as you can imagine. The entire first shift maintenance department called in RICH! The lottery pool they’d been running for so long finally had the winning numbers. As their manager, now what do you do? You will quickly learn if your maintenance program is well-defined and documented when you train their replacements. And when the customer auditor arrives next week, you will see if your program meets their requirements. An effective Preventive Maintenance (PM) Program satisfies plant, equipment, and customer requirements and properly docu-

ments maintenance activities to ensure that they are not a source of product contamination. A PM Program schedules maintenance activities that are carried out on a routine basis to maintain equipment in good working order, prevent breakdowns, and ensure that a safe and wholesome product is made. Most programs assign scheduled activities to employees who are then required to document their actions. Tasks must be documented and tracked to verify that they were completed and that appropriate time and resources were allocated. MANAGING A PM PROGRAM. Preventive Maintenance Programs are managed in different ways. There are computer programs, such as MP2, Maximo, and SAP, which were written specifically AIB QUARTERLY

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Quality Control to manage maintenance programs. These programs allow input of equipment names and identification or asset numbers, and allow maintenance personnel to enter the frequency of required repair. A perpetual calendar of maintenance activities is maintained and, if set up properly, will automatically flag equipment that is due, and allow work orders to be printed to document routine service. These computer programs allow maintenance personnel to manipulate data to determine what repairs are due, when they are due, and what kind of parts or time/personnel will need to perform the scheduled maintenance. Search functions allow the data to be manipulated to aid in planning maintenance activities. The data entry phase of this process typically requires considerable time for these programs. The time it takes to set up a program is impacted by several factors, including: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

The size of the facility The amount of equipment The level of detail required in the servicing instructions Designation of parts requirements Parts inventory tracking Lubrication points and required lubricants Supervisor sign-off Parts and tools accountability Sanitation review Other activities defined by plant or customer requirements

Initial startup is also dependent upon the amount of information to be tracked by the system and the level of sophistication. Not all PM Programs are tracked with a specialized database. Some facilities use simple computer programs that are not specifically designed for preventive maintenance. Others manually track and schedule maintenance needs with CardEx files or calendar schedules. No matter which method is used to track and document these activities, there are elements that should be considered when establishing the program. PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS. When setting up a PM Program, begin by referring to the equipment manufacturer guidelines. Equipment manufacturers provide videos, CDs, and manuals detailing maintenance requirements and scheduled frequencies to assure that equipment remains reliable and runs at peak efficiency. Frequencies for repair and replacement of parts, lubricant requirements, filter specifications, and repair schedules are included. These guidelines are also invaluable when defining step-by-step work instructions if the proper repair steps are followed. This information includes parts lists, item numbers, and suggested quantities to maintain adequate inventories of replacement parts to facilitate both regular maintenance and emergency repairs. Many software programs automatically adjust inventories and send reorder requests for replacement parts as maintenance activities are executed. They are defined as preset stock reorder inventories. REPAIRS. Even with the best documented and defined programs, equipment breakdowns occur. Establishing the critical nature of equipment in advance helps set repair priorities, determine the 12 WINTER 2006 AIB QUARTERLY

amount of time and resources needed, and prioritize emergency repairs. Many sites have added the criticality ranking to the PM Program and as part of the work order assignment for emergency repairs. From critical equipment repair assessments, priorities may be evaluated and assigned so that appropriate resources and a completion deadline can be justified. Repair assessments also allow less critical repairs to be scheduled when more time or resources are available. A predetermined urgent repair level justifies timeframes to better manage maintenance workloads. This allows more efficient scheduling of non-critical repairs based on risk to the product and personnel. There are also times where a temporary repair is necessary until adequate time or materials for a permanent repair are available. A documented program should include a policy defining when and where temporary repairs can be applied, as well as which materials can be used. The policy should also state that the repair must be dated and identified on a work order or maintenance log so that a permanent repair can be scheduled. Sometimes equipment requires an immediate repair or may be need to be moved to the shop for repairs that require grinding, welding, or other activities that could create foreign material concerns. Documented policies should be in place to define the protocol that will ensure equipment is not released back into production until any potential contamination issues have been evaluated and addressed. The PM Program should include a review of equipment and sign off by appropriate personnel to ensure that repaired equipment is suitable to be placed back into service. Many repair programs and audit schemes require a review and sign off that all parts and tools have been accounted for. Others require sign off by the Sanitation or QA Department to ensure that grease marks, metal shavings, and other materials have been removed and that equipment has been properly cleaned and sanitized. Some customers may require operations personnel to verify that pre-operational inspections are completed prior to startup. Some facilities take additional steps to enhance product safety by discarding the first product produced on a line after a repair. The self-inspection program can be used to verify the effectiveness of the PM Program by documenting any loose parts, metal shavings, or other evidence of repair. LUBRICANTS. Equipment requires lubrication. Maintenance procedures should define the lubrication point(s) for all equipment and include the type (food grade or non-food grade) of the designated lubricant. Many facilities designate which lubricant is to be used on the work order for each PM activity. Typically, manufacturer guidelines suggest the type of lubricant to use in order to meet warranty requirements and prevent premature wear of equipment parts. Other facilities have personnel that are solely responsible for lubrication activities. No matter how the program is managed, each lubricant used at the facility should be clearly defined as to its type (food grade or non food grade) and the area of use or application. This will help ensure that only food grade lubricants are used in areas where there may be a possibility of incidental food contact.

Quality Control TRAINING. Customers often ask you to demonstrate that your maintenance personnel are qualified. The PM Program must include training programs for specific job requirements. Pre-hire qualifications may be used to determine entry-level skill requirements. There are many technical training programs in place that provide basic skills to meet entry-level requirements. From there, the facility must consider how it will expand training programs to ensure that personnel servicing equipment have the appropriate skills and are educated about changes in technology. Many companies offer job progression skill sets which include courses or training modules that allow personnel to increase their qualifications. Other companies send employees to off-site training or offer continued education to meet licensing requirements for tasks such as boiler operation or electrical. PM PROGRAM EVALUATION. PM Programs also use trend analysis to determine the effectiveness of the program. A record retention policy may be developed to allow an adequate data sample to determine trends and provide a historical representation. Trend evaluations to consider include overdue work orders or those that have not been completed, equipment breakdowns, and PM frequencies that cannot be met to determine if breakdowns are due to inadequate PM schedules or caused by a specific part. Predictive maintenance tools are another evaluation method that may be used. Ultrasound has been used to gauge wear and pinpoint when problems may develop or replacements may be needed. Infrared technology has been used to examine roof structures for leaks, determine air leaks in the facility, and evaluate electrical panels. Many facilities schedule these predictive maintenance activities to evaluate how well the program functions. PARTS AND TOOLS. The PM Program should also include a policy to manage tools and parts to ensure that they do not become a source

CRITICAL REPAIR CHECKLIST Critical repair assignments can be ranked by a number of factors. There are typically three issues that elevate the urgency level assigned: ● ● ●

Does this affect the food safety of the product? Could this be a personnel safety issue? Will this cause a plant or line shutdown?

of product contamination. For example, if a wrench that was used to repair a sewer line is then used to repair a food contact surface, cross contamination can occur. Facilities that produce high risk products often dedicate parts, tools, tool carts, and even personnel to specific areas to reduce the risk of cross contamination. Determine what kind of cross contamination could be caused by tools and equipment at your facility and make sure you have a program for cleaning and sanitizing tools used to repair product zones. Static product buildup in toolboxes and carts may encourage insect infestation. Your PM Program should ensure that pests are not brought into production areas every time a piece of equipment is repaired. CONCLUSION. Though it is unlikely that your entire maintenance crew will resign at once, there is a very real need for a well-structured Preventive Maintenance Program to meet customer and consumer demands and ensure the safety and integrity of your products. That way, if your staff does strike it rich, you have established programs in place to demonstrate adequate training, documentation of activities, and assurance of food safety if your customer walked in the door. AIB Bonnie Biegel is Director of Product Development, AIB International.

Stick’em (continued from page 8) to evaluate the impacts of sealing is not as well understood. Insect monitoring is more labor intensive than blind insecticide applications, but the fruits of such a program are better management and the ability to detect and respond to situations before they become a problem. Prevention of pest problems requires a better understanding of pest populations and behavior and is a continuous learning process that requires good information. Fortunately, relatively simple tools such as visual inspection, pheromone trapping, and glue traps can provide the necessary information. The key is to use them effectively. For more information on this topic, including reprints of related articles and poster presentations, please visit our Web site at www.ars.usda. gov/npa/gmprc/bru. AIB M.D. Toews and J.F. Campbell are with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Grain Marketing and Production Resource Center.

Inexpensive rodent glue traps were used to capture insects entering the food processing facilities. AIB QUARTERLY

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