How can you design mechanical systems for easy maintenance?

The foundation of maintenance-friendly design lies in foresight. Utilizing tools like DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) at the outset enables us to anticipate potential failure modes and their impacts, ensuring that maintenance considerations are embedded in the design from the beginning.

Keep the design as simple as possible, and don’t design major divergences from what has worked in the past. Keep in mind the tools and skills of those doing the maintenance. Most problems I have encountered have been with : - Use of materials (or components) that require special processes/tools to perform maintenance…that the maintenance crews were not familiar with, or did not see in similar applications.

（1）The design should be simple, that is, there should be no redundant design to reduce the failure rate. （2）Simple operation design can achieve multiple functions. （3）Maintenance should be simple, with hidden parts that are not easily damaged, and vulnerable and operating parts should be designed in areas that are easily accessible to workers. （4）Use reasonable materials to increase the life of the machine （5）Design fault detection function （6）Write concise and clear maintenance manuals, avoiding writing nonsense.

Design control interfaces that are easy to operate, reduce the likelihood of user errors. Incorporate diagnostics and self-check features to aid in identifying issues.

Just like the car maintenance and repair, the biggest challenge is on the readily available replacement parts. Without parts ready, nothing can be done to start the maintenance. There are two critical plans need to be put in place during design: 1.Use standard parts and commonly mass produced parts and material. 2. An economical and resilient logistic for the replacement material including parts, fixtures, and process chemicals.

It is very important to simplify and modularize mechanical system. This helps you to carryout inspection, diagnosis and repairs easily also to eliminate errors, failures and other issues.

Engineering teams designed automation systems from scratch utilizing unguided actuators. Many firms sell high-quality standard engineered pneumatically and electrically actuated robotic grippers and guided linear and rotational components. 1. Save time and money: Modular components can save thousands over specialized adapters. 2. Use modular components to size components reliably: Subsystem design is pre-engineered and can be validated using computer software, allowing quick calculations with many input variables. 3. Make adjustments: A genuinely modular system has standardized mounting and positioning features on its components, allowing changes with minimal drawing revisions.

Review it with a maintainer. The folks that are responsible for maintaining the system need to have input into the design. It might shock you how they deal with existing similar systems. And you might be impressed by how they deal with complexity and learning to simplify it and/or find tells or indication of issues. If you can work with them on the design they will better understand what the support concept and they will help support it in the field.

When considering human factors dont just make it "idiot" proof. Experience shows that "idiots" can be very creative / determined. If for for example it is possible to make a connection in several different configurations make sure that they are truly interchangeable. Baulking features should be robust and not easily overriden, forced or modified. Whilst it is tempting to assume a high level of competence of those carrying out the maintenance you cannot control all of the external influences - particularly time and money!

Simplifying and modularizing the design makes it more easier in terms of initiating easier ways to reduce downtime as well as giving the machines other interface to perform at its optimum during maintenance and when in use,.. for instance, a chain driven machine can be modularized to a coupling driven machine by using a motorgear drive attached with coupling which can also give efficiency to that same machine.

It is all well and good designing systems based on models, but without actually going to see the aircraft and physically touching and getting down into the floors and walls you will not really appreciate the problems you may be introducing for the mechanics

This is a key concern in underground roads with a large amount of M&E equipment needing to be maintained at times that are not always aligned with traffic network requirements. Planning for access off line is fundamental in providing necessary maintenance and repair access while not affecting the operation of the asset.

CAD is a great tool, but it can convince you that things are more accessible than they really are. Collision detection during a virtual (dis)assembly can help, but a real physical model, even at small scale, is often the way to identify access problems.

Access & visibility may not be always be possible in complex systems but their maintainability can be improved by providing right sensors and gauges that provide the information on health of the components and/ or functions performed by group of components.

It is also important to mark out and use label to to indicate access and visibility in other to enhance the identification, localization and resolution of issues thereby improving the safety and efficiency of the maintenance team.

I agree but redundancy may not always be the right solution. It depends upon criticality of function being performed and whether any maintenance or repair time will lead to serious loss of service. As engineers we have to provide solutions that serve the purpose at least cost.

I disagree with the idea that redundancy helps in maintenance. Depending on the purpose of the mechanical design, but in general more components means more need of maintenance.

It is important to incorporate backup system so as to reduce the frequency and severity of maintenance intervention as well as improving the system reliability and availability.

Redundancy ensures that if one part fails, the system can continue to operate, allowing for scheduled, non-emergency maintenance. Integrating safety features not only protects the system and its operators but also simplifies maintenance by reducing the risk of damage during repair processes.

Adding safety features and backup equipment when designing a system is key to enhancing the overall life and efficiency of the system.

Quality of technical documentation is vital, I.e. unambiguous & succinct instructions supported by pictures or drawings are absolutely essential. Any possibility of wrong interpretation of information in technical documents can lead to serious consequences.

Clear documentation and standardization are vital. This includes detailed maintenance manuals, standardized procedures, and the use of common parts and tools. It ensures that maintenance procedures are consistent and easily understood, reducing errors and training time.

Add LLM audio I/f function so you can interact like “Hey machine, what’s wrong with you? What should I do now to fix you?” Craft the maintenance LLM model set as part of the product PRD.

When designing similar types of equipment, standardize as much as possible. This ensures maintenance teams won't require retraining every time equipment is updated. If deviations from the standard are necessary, prepare clear documentation informing all that something is different. Even install visual aids on the equipment (e.g. "New type of sensor"). Additionally, consider online aids like QR codes linking directly to manuals. Follow examples from LEGO or IKEA - their manuals enable anyone to complete the job. When creating documentation, involve non-technical people (HR, Finance) and as a fun exercise, ask them to perform tasks using only the manual. The manual is robust if they can complete the job without additional questions.

Building in-product guide is strongly recommended. For example, you can make the product guide an immersive experience. Users can press a button to understand how the product functions. Otherwise providing AI-powered product guide with keyword search capability makes it easier to maintain mechanical systems.

Continuous improvement is a critical aspect of maintenance-friendly design. Regularly reviewing and refining maintenance procedures, based on real-world feedback, helps in identifying areas for improvement, ensuring that the systems evolve to become even more maintenance-efficient.

Review is vital at all stages, from up-front review of requirements, through review at the end of each development phase, to review at the end of the project so that failures/inefficiencies/misses opportunities can be identified and mitigated on future projects.

Designing mechanical systems for easy maintenance is a win-win situation. It promotes sustainability by reducing waste, minimizing resource consumption, and extending equipment life. Additionally, it improves operational efficiency, reduces downtime, and lowers maintenance costs. By embracing these principles, engineers and designers can contribute significantly to a more sustainable future.

Finally, while designing mechanical systems for easy maintenance, it's important to review and enhance the system's design and maintenance performance. Collecting and evaluating data, feedback, and lessons learned from the system's operation and maintenance operations is essential for this. It's also important to find and implement chances for optimization, innovation, and improvement. You may improve the system's efficiency and usefulness while decreasing maintenance costs and hazards by reviewing and making improvements.

I agree as this leads to a standard approach and precise improvement can be done if there are any gaps. The gap will be minimal so there will be reduce cost.

There is no substitute when involved with a design change to getting down to the aircraft surveying the area, and most importantly, talk to the technicians and mechanics that work on the aircraft daily. They will provide invaluable insight to the problems, the challenges they face and their thoughts on the potential solutions. Their ideas may not be elegant, or cutting edge, or innovative, they will however, be pragmatic and workable. Work on the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid, it will bring people onside, far quicker.

Minimize the maintenance, using high quality materials and smart design. Increase the safety factor and the tolerance in case of fault or mistake.

IoT ecosystems - Smart devices for real time data acquisition and edge gateways for transmission and data processing into formats suitable for further analytics using purpose-designed software. Smart test and measurement instruments with onboard machine learning capability for augmented inspection and fault finding which send data direct to designated cloud servers. CMMS platforms that take the guess work out of asset tracking, optimization and prediction of equipment degradation before it results in failures. Networked reliability is a reality and maintenance programs should be asking how best to use the technology that is currently available. Return on investment calculations are already in the domain of late majority adopters.

Yes ,6 a/m points are true and necessary. Moreover , Be human and anticipate mistakes , why ? Live is more complicate than we expect

Include operators into all stages of the design process. Operators will view the design decision trade space in terms of all phases of use and maintenance.