Event Recap
RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Preventive Maintenance: Eliminating Data Center Equipment Failures
An Uptime Institute Inside Track roundtable on September 25, 2019, on preventive maintenance (PM) shed light on the benefits of PM programs. Roundtable participants noted that PM programs have the potential to extend equipment life and reduce the frequency of data center incidents. However, as noted by Uptime Institute Senior Consultant Nick Archer, properly configured PM are critical parts of effective operations plans and can help IT meet business requirements.
At the outset, Archer noted that intent of PM is to keep equipment operating in like-new condition, but these programs include many elements, including documentation, procedures, inventory, training and staffing that ensure that maintenance is performed properly and at the right intervals. These principals were well known to the roundtable participants, who wanted to explore methods of fine-tuning PM programs and customizing them to their facilities.
The topic of customization came to dominate the discussion. Several participants noted that PM schedules are often consistent with equipment vendor recommendations, these schedules can be overkill, in many instances. This point led a participant from a US-based financial organization to note that her organization had implemented changes to the frequency of generator testing and maintenance for cost reasons but also to reduce the risk of an incident. Other participants also shared changes to oil and fuel, capacitors and breaker maintenance that organizations made to PM schedules.
Archer said that the customization of PM was not just a matter of convenience. Every data center is different, he said, which has serious consequences for understanding how they operate and how they must be maintained. Business requirements can be different too, which means that performing PM can increase risk by increasing the time when a facility operates at reduced redundancy levels.
According to one participant, formalizing PM procedures in MOPs and SOPs is the best way to incorporate PM into operations. His organization’s CMMS automates the process, issuing work orders so that PM is performed as scheduled.
The final discussion raised the issue of even further automation, as a participant raised the question of AI and predictive maintenance.
At the outset, Archer noted that intent of PM is to keep equipment operating in like-new condition, but these programs include many elements, including documentation, procedures, inventory, training and staffing that ensure that maintenance is performed properly and at the right intervals. These principals were well known to the roundtable participants, who wanted to explore methods of fine-tuning PM programs and customizing them to their facilities.
The topic of customization came to dominate the discussion. Several participants noted that PM schedules are often consistent with equipment vendor recommendations, these schedules can be overkill, in many instances. This point led a participant from a US-based financial organization to note that her organization had implemented changes to the frequency of generator testing and maintenance for cost reasons but also to reduce the risk of an incident. Other participants also shared changes to oil and fuel, capacitors and breaker maintenance that organizations made to PM schedules.
Archer said that the customization of PM was not just a matter of convenience. Every data center is different, he said, which has serious consequences for understanding how they operate and how they must be maintained. Business requirements can be different too, which means that performing PM can increase risk by increasing the time when a facility operates at reduced redundancy levels.
According to one participant, formalizing PM procedures in MOPs and SOPs is the best way to incorporate PM into operations. His organization’s CMMS automates the process, issuing work orders so that PM is performed as scheduled.
The final discussion raised the issue of even further automation, as a participant raised the question of AI and predictive maintenance.
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