Preventive Maintenance

preventive maintenance

The routine checking of hardware that is performed by a field engineer on a regularly scheduled basis. See remedial maintenance.

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preventive maintenance [pri′ven·tiv ′mānt·ən·əns]

(engineering)

A procedure of inspecting, testing, and reconditioning a system at regular intervals according to specific instructions, intended to prevent failures in service or to retard deterioration.

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preventive maintenance - (PM) To bring down a machine for inspection or test purposes. See provocative maintenance, scratch monkey.

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Preventive Maintenance 

in technology, a systematic and preventive operation or group of operations for maintaining technical devices or items at a given level of reliability in a serviceable or active state. Preventive maintenance is generally performed at specified intervals that are determined in advance. The procedure consists in an inspection of the item and the replacement or repair of its parts and units. The item is also cleaned, lubricated, and adjusted. Preventive maintenance reduces the likelihood of a sudden loss of operating efficiency (failure) that can result from, for example, the deterioration of the parts of a device or the clogging of its contacts. Preventive maintenance may also be performed at irregular intervals in conjunction with the restoration of the operating efficiency of an item after its failure.