Maintenance, Repair & Operations

Keeping Temporary Repairs Temporary

March 6, 2018

To avoid catastrophic equipment failures, assign an expiration time to any temporary repair and post it at the equipment.

Mark Lamendola

If you’ve performed repairs in an industrial setting for even just a short time, you’ve gone the spit and bailing wire route just to get something running again. It’s not a proper repair for some reason (e.g., correct spare part not on hand or the plant expert on this equipment is on vacation). Nonetheless, it’s good enough for the immediate situation and will allow production to get a critical order out the door.

What often happens, however, is the equipment appears as if it “ain’t broke” so “it don’t get fixed.” Maybe production won’t agree to the downtime needed to properly repair it. Or maybe the maintenance system shows the trouble call was answered and the equipment has been repaired. The equipment continues to run until it fails spectacularly.

To prevent temporary repairs from becoming failure time bombs, assign an expiration time to any temporary repair and post that time at the equipment. When that time expires, shut the equipment down. And any time a temporary repair is done, create a work order for the permanent repair that “would have” been done.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.