Reliability-maintenance maintenance (RMC) using in food vacuum packaging

Abstract

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is an approach that focuses on failure prevention, its consequences generate more serious problems. This RCM method has been used in the management of maintenance in several industrial sectors. In the food sector, vacuum packaging machines play an extremely important role in the production process, as they guarantee the sealing and conservation of products. In this study, vacuum packers have a long history of failures in the company, revealing that the current maintenance methodology does not meet the conditions expected for this equipment. The objective of this work is to apply the RCM methodology in a vacuum packaging machines of a company in the food sector, aiming to improve the reliability, availability and costs. The methodological steps followed the following breakdown: (i) system selection and information collection, (ii) analysis of failure modes and effects (iii) selection of significant functions (iv) evaluation of applicable activities (v) evaluation effectiveness of activities. The application of maintenance centered on reliability allowed improvements to be made in the machine's function exploration, in the use of the sector's history, in the knowledge of failures and to increase the reliability and availability index. Maintenance costs were reduced by around 55%.