Table 2 What should I choose, corrective or preventive maintenance?

Firm size

Small size firms tend to opt for corrective maintenance because they cannot afford high maintenance costs

Large size companies can go for preventive maintenance because they have a higher ability to cover their cost

Cost of machine failure

If the failure of the machine does not have serious consequences for the company, they will go for PM. The machine downtime cost will be less than the periodic maintenance cost

If a machine stoppage has serious consequences for the company, such as delays in production, they will go for corrective maintenance. Therefore, the cost of corrective maintenance will be less than the cost of stopping the machine

Impact of machine failure on production plan

If the failure of the machine has no effect on the production plan in terms of quantity or quality, companies will postpone the production process and go for corrective maintenance⁸⁷

Suppose the failure of the equipment negatively affects the production plan in terms of quantity or quality and leads to the postponement of the production process. In that case, the companies will go for PM because the delay in production will reduce the company’s ability to achieve its production goals and achieve the target quality⁷⁷

Impact of machine failure on safety and working environment

Work environment and worker safety are other important maintenance strategy issue. If the machine downtime and stoppage does not affect the safety of workers and the working environment, companies will choose corrective maintenance⁸⁷

If the equipment breakdown negatively affects the working environment and the safety of employees, it can lead to dangerous situations, accidents and health problems. In order to avoid this situation, the company tends to opt for PM to maintain a safe work environment⁸⁷

Spare parts

The availability of spare parts plays an important role in choosing a maintenance strategy. If the machine’s spare parts are available in the local market or as stock in the company, the maintenance period will be short and will not delay the production plans. For this reason, it is better to choose corrective maintenance⁷⁵

In the event that machine spare parts are not available in the local market, this will lead to an increase in the maintenance period and create additional delays in production plans. In this case companies tend to opt for PM for such machines⁸⁸

Machine age

Machine life is another point a company considers when choosing a maintenance policy. For example, if the machines are new, the chance of them failing will be lower, and the chances of producing low quality products, defective items, and production delays will be minor. Therefore, corrective maintenance is a good choice not to waste company resources⁸⁸

If the machines are too old, the chance of failure will increase for this reason, it is better to go to PM to avoid machine breakdown and produce low quality products, produce defective items, delay in production plans⁸⁸

Production process

Suppose the production of some parts does not depend on the previous step. In that case, the breakdown of the machine will not affect the whole process, increase the ability to produce a low-quality product, and do not affect production plans, so corrective maintenance is a good choice

In some companies, the production process is linked, and the production of some parts is based on a previous step. In this case, a single machine’s breakdown will affect the production process by producing low-quality products or reducing the company’s ability to meet its production plans. In this case, companies must adopt a PM strategy to maintain the level of quality and meet their production plans