Paper Machine Breakdown Reduction by FMEA and Preventive Maintenance Improvement: A Case Study

FMEA is a widely selected tool for the application of machinery breakdown prevention. This research adopted FMEA technique to reduce and prevent the breakdown of the important equipment of a large commercial paper machine that has capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum located in the Northeast area of Thailand. This research accomplished the improvement of preventive maintenance in other machines for rapid implementation and improved machine inspections. After implementation, the downtime of paper machine belonging to maintenance department responsibility reduced significantly 5 hours per month by average, machine availability, OEE, and MTBF increased 0.46%, 0.51%, and 10 hours respectively. The machine downtime has been on the downward trend.