What does the DIN 31051 standard mean?

DIN 31051 is a standard developed by the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) that defines the term "maintenance". The institute defines maintenance as a "combination of all technical, administrative and management measures during the life cycle of a unit that serve to maintain or restore it to its working condition so that it can perform the required function." In this context, maintenance is divided into four basic measures: Maintenance, Inspection, Repair and Improvement.

What are the 4 basic measures of maintenance?

DIN 31051 defines four different basic maintenance measures: Maintenance, inspection, repair, improvement.

  1. Maintenance Measures (care, inspection, adjustment, etc.) to delay signs of wear.

  2. Inspection Measures (testing, measuring, etc.) to check the actual condition in order to identify potential defects and signs of wear and their cause

  3. Repair Measures (repair, replacement, etc.) to restore the functionality of faulty or defective units.

  4. Improvement Measures to increase the quality, reliability and safety of units.

What are the maintenance concepts?

Three different concepts of maintenance are primarily used in industry:

  1. Corrective maintenance Corrective maintenance involves responding to unit malfunctions and failures. As soon as a unit is no longer functional, it is repaired. Although corrective maintenance requires little planning, it can result in unplanned downtime due to inoperable units.

  2. Preventive maintenance In preventive maintenance, data is analyzed to perform maintenance actions before malfunctions or failures occur. Preventive maintenance usually involves more personnel, which increases costs. However, by reducing unplanned downtime, costs can be reduced in the long term.

  3. Predictive maintenance In predictive maintenance, data is collected by IIot sensors, for example, to predict when a unit is likely to become inoperable or fail. This makes it possible to determine at what times maintenance measures need to be carried out to prevent malfunctions and failures. Predictive maintenance initially incurs investment costs to implement the system in question. However, costs can be reduced in the long term by reducing malfunctions and failures.

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