After reviewing the planning and scheduling methods, one of the most difficult parts of performing preventive maintenance is writing down the activities that can be done on the equipment and machinery.

One of the challenges of writing activities is the fear of writing or where and what to start from. Reluctance to share work experience and information, and fear of creating extra work are other problems.

Fortunately, all of these issues are solvable, and the results of the implementation of the preventive maintenance system cover all of these issues.

Simplification and Problem Solving

In order to be able to gather good information in this part of the performance, we need to simplify things and start from the starting point.

We can start by examining the list of physical assets (equipment and machinery) and grouping equipment and machinery with similar specifications. After categorizing the equipment, we begin to write preventive maintenance activities for each group.

Given that we have already reviewed the work flow, you can even issue instructions for data collection activities, plan for the set of preventive activities of the equipment group and schedule them and follow-up process of completion.

Usually, the first 20 agendas typically cover 50 to 75 percent of an organization's physical assets. We can use a handwritten form to ensure a comprehensive set of information on preventive activities.

If the equipment and physical assets in the organization do not have a specific group and classification, we can start with equipment or, for example, production lines in factories with a long breakdown and shutdown time.

Select Experienced People

When we plan instructions for writing and collecting activities, we need to select people to gather information correctly based on a set of criteria. Use experienced people who:

• Use the opinions and ideas of others and get guidance.
• Do not worry about sharing information and easily share the experiences with others.
• Are motivated to do the job and have a good understanding of the need for it.

We need to remind those responsible for writing activities to use all available information sources to collect data. These sources of information include:

• Personal experiences of operators, installers and repairmen
• Catalogs and manuals of equipment and machinery
• Advice from equipment manufacturers and vendors
• General and tested technical information applicable to equipment and machinery

We should never underestimate the importance of writing preventive activities. If you are between a highly knowledgeable but somewhat conservative expert and a less knowledgeable expert who is interested in sharing information and getting advice, be sure to choose the second option. The purpose of writing preventive activities is to collect information and personal experiences of the people in the organization and turn it into a general and accessible instruction and encyclopedia for all people in the organization.

If we decide to choose people who have enough expertise and motivation but are not able to read or write or are poor at it, we can help them write ourselves by maintaining respect and courtesy.

Write Down Good Prevention and Maintenance Activities

There are a number of things to keep in mind when writing preventative activities. In a preventive activity with understandable instructions, the following are usually observed:

• Write a list of safety and health warnings to be observed before and during work
• List all operational and non-operational tasks from the beginning to the end of the activity, respectively
• Write all settings and read data related to equipment and machinery
• List all required tools
• Write all materials and consumables, rotating and repairable
• Determine the skills and specialties required to perform the activity with the estimated number and hours

In a good design, it is suggested that an activity includes different periodic intervals, such as weekly, monthly, annual, and each of the intervals are defined separately with a suitable title for the activity.

We can also distinguish activities when equipment is turned off from activities when they are on.

Features of A Good Instruction

Instruction in a preventive activity is a set of operational and non-operational tasks that must be performed from the beginning to the end of the maintenance activity. Each step is in the action or practical instructions to complete the activity. Each step must:

• Start with a verb (adjust, review, clean, repair, etc.)
• Include short details that avoid confusion
• Be simple and purposeful (avoid writing long, multi-linear sentences)
• Identify materials, parts, and human resources for each step