Preventive maintenance (PM) is a strategy that can extend asset lifespan, minimize downtime, and reduce maintenance costs. But, some facilities still experience high downtime and low reliability even with 100% PM compliance. How is this possible, and what steps can be done to deal with this issue?
In this article, we’ll discuss the 10 percent rule of preventive maintenance and how PM compliance following this rule can improve asset health and reliability.
What is the 10 Percent Rule of Preventive Maintenance?
The 10 percent rule states that for PMs to be effective, all PM activities must be performed within 10% of their due date. For example, if you give 30 days for your team to accomplish a PM activity, it should be accomplished within 3 (10% of 30 is 3) days of the due date.
How exactly does the 10 percent rule work for reliability? By limiting the range of a PM’s due date, you reduce the variation in the execution of the PM activities. To illustrate, consider the PM of cleaning a machine gasket once a month. You will be PM compliant even when you do this task on the first, second, third, or fourth week of the month.
However, the problem with a wide range of PM schedules is that it causes a significant variation in the period between each PM execution.
In our illustration, if you clean the gasket in the first week of month 1 and in the second week of month 2, you allow more than 30 days to go by between the cleaning sessions. If you clean the gasket on the 4th week of month 3, there would be more than 40 days between the cleaning sessions (month 2 vs. 3). And if you go back to cleaning the gasket on the first week of month 4, there are only less than 10 days between the month 3 and month 4 sessions.
In the illustration, if you apply the 10 percent rule, you would have a consistent 29–31 days between cleaning sessions. This consistency in a PM activity’s execution period makes a significant difference in gaining the benefits of preventive maintenance.
Implementing the 10 Percent Rule
Below are critical reminders when implementing the 10 percent rule in your maintenance program:
Ensure Management’s Commitment to the Rule
Implementing the 10 percent rule on all your maintenance activities will initially result in stricter rules for your maintenance team to follow. Thus, you need your management’s full commitment and belief that this rule will benefit the company in the long run. With buy-in from the top down, your technicians will more easily go along with the new standard.
Provide Clear Instructions or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
For effective and successful implementation, maintenance teams need clear and concise instructions on how to apply the 10 percent rule to all their activities. These SOPs make sure that the PM procedures following this rule are repeatable across different areas, duties, and tasks.
Allow for PM Compliance to Improve
Executing PM activities following the 10 percent rule will not receive 100% compliance immediately. Don’t expect maintenance teams to adopt the rule as soon as mandated. But with time and consistent effort, PM compliance with the 10 percent rule will improve.
Track Performance Indicators
When implementing PM compliance using the 10 percent rule, it is highly recommended that you track essential performance indicators. The positive results will help convince management and your maintenance team of the benefits of applying the rule. In addition, any negative results will help you improve the implementation process. Some performance indicators you can track include PM labor hours vs. emergency labor hours, maintenance costs, mean time between failures, etc.
Start on Critical Assets
Don’t implement the rule on all of your assets all at once. You can start with one or two critical assets first, then work your way to other assets until you’ve covered every asset possible. This way, you can adjust and modify your process as you progress, one asset at a time.
Use a CMMS for Easier Implementation of the 10 Percent Rule
Implementing the 10 percent rule involves diligent and accurate PM monitoring and data gathering. Using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is the best help you can get to accomplish these tasks. A CMMS like Redlist provides easy and hassle-free paperless tracking of PMs. And, its cloud-based data storage and automated reporting let you track PM compliance with the touch of a finger. For more Redlist features and PM compliance benefits, schedule a free demo with us now!
