When is the last time you conducted a cost-benefit analysis on maintenance work, and why should you do it? The answer to the second part of that question is you have limited maintenance resources. You can’t do everything so you must decide what to do. And what not to do.
You need to spend those resources on preventing the highest-cost or most critical downtime first, then use what’s left over on the lower-cost and non-critical issues. Spending two hours a day on some minor equipment that has minor economic impact probably means you're cutting two hours worth corners on more critical equipment.
There’s no single best method for conducting the analysis, but make sure your method aims at maximizing:
1) The revenue or profit goals articulated by the production department (preferably per line or major equipment).
2) Uptime of critical infrastructure, such as HVAC, plant air, and power.
Taking priority over these goals are systems that aren’t “negotiable,” such as emergency systems and those related to safety or the environment.
