by Curtis Wilson
Avantis Principal Asset
Management Consultant, Schneider Electric (Invensys)
People are thinking green. Companies that integrate
sustainability into their products, services and operations are well-positioned
to shine.
No matter how sustainable a group of assets may have been in
the original design and construction, they must be operated responsibly and maintained
properly to continue to function as designed. Therefore, the core ideology of
sustainability and maintenance are directly linked.
Since sustain and maintain are very similar from a definition
point of view, it only makes sense that Sustainability and Maintenance should
be closely linked. A company that strives toward World Class Sustainability
needs to have World Class Maintenance practices and technology.
Organizations that established enterprise-wide preventive and
predictive maintenance programs find that maintenance costs can be reduced by >40%
and energy consumption by >10%. Properly maintained equipment also produces
less waste and environmental impact. Safety is dramatically increased when
equipment is properly maintained because it improves employee morale and public
perception of the organization.
Companies that are good corporate citizens are sustainable
for the benefits achieved in all three circles of the Triple Bottom Line.
Energy conservation is critical to sustainability because it heavily impacts
all three areas of the Triple Bottom Line. Many people outside of the
maintenance function fail to recognize that performing world-class preventive
maintenance (PM) and predictive maintenance (PdM) provides more than just
equipment reliability; it also helps to save energy, extend equipment
life, reduce system downtime and increase the overall safety of the facility.
