Corrective, risk-based and reliability-centered maintenance
Choose a maintenance strategy from the function that must be preserved, the ways it can fail and the consequences of failure. A machine can need several strategies at once.
Strategy
Decision logic
Corrective maintenance
Restore function after a fault. Deliberately accepting failure is appropriate only where consequences are tolerable and preventive work is not justified.
Risk-based maintenance (RBM)
Assess failure likelihood and consequences, then prioritize effective measures while maintaining the required safety level.
Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)
Describe required functions and coupled equipment, analyse weak points and choose a suitable combination of maintenance strategies.
APPLICATION
A bearing fault affects more than the bearing
For a multi-wire machine, examine how water ingress, lubricant loss or bearing wear can disturb wheel guidance and cutting quality. Use RBM to prioritize the consequences; use RCM to connect each failure mode to a useful task.
Possible tasks include inspection of sealing and drainage, scheduled lubrication and condition checks. Select limits and intervals from the equipment instructions and operating evidence; this example does not prescribe a service interval.
DECISION RECORD
Make the choice traceable
Function and fault: what must the component do, and how can that function be lost?
Consequence and priority: what happens to people, adjacent equipment and production?
Task and responsibility: what action is effective, who performs it and what triggers it?
Evidence: record the observed condition, work performed and functional verification.
SourcesSource basis: Ulrich Fischer et al., Mechanical and Metal Trades Handbook, corrective MRO, RBM, RCM and MRO documentation, PDF p. 295. Machine example: engineering application summary.