Strategic Maintenance Management of Equipment/ Machinery to Promote Resilient Infrastructure

Abstract

All equipment/machinery are designed to carry out specific function and to last for a period of time called the design life span, but in real sense, they are unreliable as they degrade with age and fails when it no longer has the capacity to deliver required service or product. Failure of equipment/ machinery result not only in productivity loss but also delay of services, cause loss of life and environmental problems. The cautiousness of resilient equipment/machinery maintenance is continuously increasing since they are the fundamental component in the operation of critical infrastructure, but the constraints are in adequate strategic maintenance management and policies, untrained personnel, lack of spare-parts, substandard maintenance workshops, etc. This paper, therefore, examines strategies for effective maintenance management of machineries to promote resilient infrastructures. To achieve this objective, the paper takes a look at the components of engineering infrastructure, the available maintenance strategies and policies, the benefit of strategic maintenance management, the factors affecting equipment/machinery performance and service life and the strategies that promote resilient equipment/machinery life and performance. It also identifies the usual maintenance problems and proffers strategies to tackle them. The study finds that, selecting a successful maintenance strategy requires a good knowledge of equipment failure, behavior and management practice.