title = "Maintenance Strategy: Reactive, Preventive, Predictive"

content = """
Equipment maintenance strategy at Ridgecrest Metalworks is built on three complementary approaches: reactive, preventive, and predictive maintenance. Understanding the strengths and limitations of each approach — and how they are combined — forms the basis of an effective maintenance program.

Reactive maintenance (run-to-failure): The machine is operated until it fails and then repaired. This approach is cost-effective only for low-criticality, easily replaced, non-production-critical assets where the cost of failure is low (downtime cost + repair cost) and the failure mode is safe. Examples: small fans, bench grinders, non-critical lighting. Relying on reactive maintenance for critical production equipment is expensive — unplanned failures cause emergency repair premiums, idle production crew costs, and potential quality escapes if product was running when the failure occurred.

Preventive maintenance (PM): Time-based or usage-based maintenance activities performed on a schedule before failure is expected. PM tasks are defined in manufacturer recommendations and operational experience: oil and filter changes at defined intervals, belt replacements, seal replacements, bearing lubrication, and functional checks of safety systems. PM ensures equipment is consistently restored to a known condition and reduces unexpected failures. Its limitation is that PM tasks are performed even when the equipment may not yet need them, which can consume maintenance resources on unnecessary work or, paradoxically, introduce failure through the maintenance act itself (re-assembly error, incompatible lubricant).

Predictive maintenance (PdM): Condition monitoring techniques are used to assess the actual health of equipment and schedule maintenance only when evidence of deterioration is detected. PdM eliminates unnecessary PM tasks and catches developing failures before they cause breakdown. Key PdM techniques at Ridgecrest include: vibration analysis on rotating machinery (motors, fans, pumps), thermographic imaging of electrical panels and couplings, oil analysis for metal wear particles, and ultrasonic detection of leaks and bearing defects.

The Ridgecrest maintenance strategy assigns each asset to a maintenance category based on its criticality to production, safety, and quality. Critical assets (CNC machining centers, welding power sources, overhead cranes) receive a combination of preventive and predictive maintenance. Non-critical assets are maintained reactively or with minimal PM.
"""

version = "0.0.1"
