Maintenance Practices Based in Reality

In our previous issue, we examined some characteristics of maintenance fads. Now, we’ll take a look at their counterpart — maintenance practices based in reality — which generally possess the following traits:

• They stress the importance of fundamentals, such as proper measurement.
• New terminology, rather than being a smokescreen for dubious concepts, helps take traditional concepts to the next level. New words or phrases tie new concepts to traditional ones. For example, power quality analysis is based on measuring.
• New practices arise from multiple sources. For example, an industry group such as NETA or the IEEE issues a paper or standard based on consensus.
• The new technique or practice solves specific issues (rather than being a "new paradigm" with no focus). Thermal imaging is one of the best examples from the past half century.
• Key people behind the practice are knee-deep in maintenance.