Effective machine maintenance
Machines not can be fruitfully utilised without well conceived maintenance system

By S.R. Majumdar
During the last couple of decades there has been a substantial amount of investment of scare resources running into millions of Rupees in procurement of machine tools, training equipment, laboratory instruments, training gadgets etc by the Government for various central and state funded training centers. This huge investment is meant to upgrade and modernise the practicing and learning platforms for skill development of the future craftsmen and technicians. This investment is certainly a needful social expenditure in order to familiarise the incumbent trainees with the latest system of engineering marvels without which the skill development may not be competitive enough and commensurate with the employment need of the country. However, it is also a fact that many such training equipment cannot always be put into perfect use for training mostly due to lack of their proper upkeep, periodical maintenance and in-time repairs. The basic system of repair and maintenance in our training institutes, as noted often, is either pronouncedly absent or non-operational even if a semblance of maintenance arrangement sometimes exists in some big institutes here and there. Unfortunately, there is no effective maintenance system and appropriate repair facilities created in most of these technical training institutes turning out hundreds of formally trained graduates. With probably only a bit of periodical preventive maintenance or timely simple repairing action by the institute, it might have been enough to change the scenario to a much better frame and could have resulted to be more conducive for the appropriate skilling of trainees to meet the coveted results of high standards.

Standard of Maintenance
Some years back on a personal visit of this author to a training centre under Advanced Vocational Training System (AVTS) scheme being run in a state Government run ITI in a tech-savvy state in the country, it came to notice that a good number of highly sophisticated tool room quality machine tools supplied to the institute under the scheme, not in working conditions.

On enquiry it was pointed out that repairing or maintenance of the machines was not in proper shape due to various reasons – like, non-availability of simple spares, inordinate delay in getting sanction to repair/procure damaged parts as repair or procurement cost goes beyond the financial power of the institute head, lack of timely decision of appropriate action, inability to control damages due to failure of the staff to take simple measures of preventive or predictive maintenance or helplessness of the institute authority to engage any outside agency due to lack of financial power of principal or similar other reasons. Probably here lies the fallacy as governmental rules and regulations are yet to be reformed in such matters especially when financial and administrative powers are in question.

Systemic Training Approach
No training organisation especially if that organisation is engaged in providing skill oriented practical training on real type machines and equipment, should fail to recognise maintenance as a critical performance area. Sophisticated technologies and complex production and control methods in-built into the present day machine tools have enhanced the role of maintenance function to a much greater height than it was earlier with traditional technology system. Today, machine maintenance should be made an integral part not only in the day-to-day operations of the institute but also for long range training plans and policies.

Maintenance of all the precious resources in a training institute cannot be seen in isolation from the training function. If any of the installed machineries are not maintained in the best possible working condition, the first casualty will be the quality of training. Therefore any maintenance system in a training institute cannot but need to be equated at par with that in a production workshop if not in quantification or complexity involved but in methodology applied and priority offered, as also more appropriately, for educational value of it to the young trainees undergoing skill development.

A maintenance system is defined as a composite of equipment, skills and techniques capable of performing an operational role, that is, therefore, a complex grouping and integration of vital resources oriented towards achieving a well defined objective which in a training institute is to keep all such items in readiness to be used as per the need of training. The resources may be in the form of appropriate repairing tools and tackles, required spares and materials, methods applied as in production systems including the maintenance consciousness of the institute authority. A maintenance system is composed of many sub-systems which need to interact with each other. This is equally true in a training institute as in a production place.

Install Maintenance System
In order to develop a system of proper maintenance in all training institutes certain amount of policy decisions are essentially to be adopted without any further delay as with each passing day the skill training is getting increasingly costlier. The major direct cost of training in technical skilling system anywhere in the world is invariably the contribution of the purchase cost of training hardware which consists of machines, equipment and other associated items. It is, therefore, necessary for the higher and institute authorities to think over if such costly equipment could be allowed to degenerate and lie idle or precious training time be allowed to get wasted for lack of maintenance and timely action to repair them thereby reducing their effective life span to a lower level.

On a personal survey by this author some years back it came to light how a major portion of the installed equipment in our training institutes especially in the ITI’s is getting wasted and becoming incompatible to fruitful skill training due to sometimes very simple inaction on the part of the institute management like apathy in machine cleaning, lack of scheduled oiling and greasing of machines/equipment, timely action in tightening of loosened parts and fasteners of the machine tool which not only induce undesirable inaccuracy in the machine tool functions but also may result in subsequent major troubles leading to expensive machine malfunctions and sometimes life threatening failures and accidents in the long run.

Specific Issues
Many problems in machines and equipment in a training institute could be attributed to certain basic issues. The first and the foremost drawback in not developing interest lies on attitudinal bankruptcy on cleanliness and maintenance including certain basic ignorance of types of defects that may develop in a machine tool if not cleaned and oiled regularly. The following issues, need to be taken up to start with for a real change in the present scenario:

• Preparing of realistic preventive maintenance schedule and strict follow up for compliance.
  
• Making routine cleaning, oiling, greasing an integral part of training.
  
• Listing of spares and stocking essential spares.
• Procuring critical spares along with the machines.
  
• Stocking all machine catalogues properly for easy accessibility.
  
• Keeping list of regional stockist handy.

Conclusion
Maintenance is a multi-dimensional system and needs proper understanding, capacity for potential problem solving and analytical power to approach suitable solutions. Machine construction as well as control technology is changing with each day in this ever-changing era of science and technological progress. Along with this there have been changes in machine operation and maintenance procedures too.
One should, however, understand that trends in machine construction, machine controls and machining techniques may change from time to time but maintenance in an organisation is a tradition and tradition, if strong enough, continues perpetually!

All skill-training centers need to develop a strong tradition of maintenance.

— SR Majumdar is former Director of Central Staff Training and Research Institute, Kolkata

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