We explain what preventive maintenance is, what it is for and what types exist. Also, its function in computing.
What is preventive maintenance?
When we talk about preventive maintenance or prior maintenance, we refer to the set of maintenance actions review and cleaning of equipment and facilities, which allow us to anticipate any type of failure or inconvenience through the conservation of its optimal state of operation.
In other words, preventive maintenance covers the different measures that can be taken in anticipation of damage to equipment and machinery, instead of waiting for it to occur and then fixing it. This is its fundamental difference with corrective maintenance, which would be what is done to equipment that already has damage or malfunctions.
Preventive maintenance It usually consists of various methods of preserving components and their functionalityoften recommended by the manufacturer of the device itself, or on the advice of specialists and experts in the field.
See also: Infrastructure
What is preventive maintenance for?
As its name indicates, the primary objective of preventive maintenance is prevent the damage, or at least delay its appearance as much as possiblethus avoiding or at least mitigating its consequences.
To do this, the replacement measures (change of worn parts, burned lubricants, etc.), addition (incorporation of missing substances, etc.) or cleaning (elimination of waste, etc.) measures that are necessary must be taken to Extend the life of equipment and toolsespecially when it comes to sophisticated material.
Types of preventive maintenance
Three possible types of preventive maintenance are usually distinguished, depending on their specific performance criteria:
- Scheduled maintenance. It refers to the maintenance tasks that must be carried out when a certain milestone or limit in the operation of the equipment is met. For example, an oil change is recommended for cars every 10,000 kilometers traveled.
- Predictive maintenance. It is one that is dedicated to evaluating the condition of the parts or components of a piece of equipment, in order to determine when and how preventive maintenance tasks should be carried out. For example, computer inspection and maintenance programs.
- Opportunity maintenance. In this case, maintenance occurs when the equipment is not in use, that is, taking advantage of moments of free use. For example, if we take the car to the shop for a repair, it is likely that the opportunity will be used to do other essential maintenance tasks.
Preventive maintenance in computing
In the case of computing, preventive maintenance covers both the operation of the software and the hardware of the computer, given that both aspects have a decisive influence on the operation of the system, which in turn translates into the speed and agility of the system. .
- Regarding softwarethere are preventive maintenance programs that scan the system to determine and correct errors and debris left behind by everyday use, such as invalid registry entries, non-existent shortcuts, and other similar details. Computer defragmentation is also common, which consists of reorganizing the information on the hard drive in such a way that reading it does not take more time than is strictly necessary.
- Regarding hardwareHowever, the preventive maintenance of this equipment is reduced more than anything to cleaning the exterior and surroundings, to prevent the accumulation of dirt and dust inside the equipment and its peripherals. The internal cleaning of the computer is usually carried out by specialized technical personnel.
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References
- “Preventive maintenance” on Wikipedia.
- “Preventive maintenance, what it is and how it should be done” at Einatec.
- “What is preventive maintenance?” at BSG Institute.
- “Preventive maintenance vs. corrective” in Datadec.
