Surely no one would disagree that repair activity is fundamental to any maintenance programme. However, a school of thought that suggests a level of repair to ‘as good as new’ status may not always be the best option is less widely accepted. Welcome to Level Of Repair Analysis (LORA).

Level Of Repair Analysis (LORA) requires that numerous factors, each of which may be inter-related to the others, be taken into account. For example, a thorough evaluation of whether a given set of components should be repaired in situ, in the workshop, or sent offsite for attention by a specialist contractor, may result in the most efficient result even if it is not necessarily the most expensive or time-consuming. 

Maintenance personnel frequently bemoan the fact that they are not allowed time to do a ‘proper job’ because of pressure to return machines to production. The maintenance man’s perception of a ‘proper job’ is typically restoration of the item to a condition that is ‘as good as new’. However, this perception of a ‘proper job’ may be redefined by LORA, resulting in greater plant efficiency.

Experience shows that maintenance effort is often wasted in misguided repair activities. Logically, the correct level of repair for a machine should be defined as part of any detailed Maintenance Strategy Review (MSR), and the formal process through which this is achieved is LORA. In a maintenance context, LORA helps achieve both optimum system effectiveness and minimises costs within the equipment life cycle. Costs are determined by maintenance strategy and repair policies; the design of the maintenance and support infrastructure for a plant; procurement policies and resource requirements.

In LORA, a ‘decision tree’ – a flowchart that helps define and guide decision-making – is used. Within this is a series of stages, such as the decision whether to discard an item (rather than to repair it), based on simple economics. Several methods may be used, taking into account the reliability that might be expected of a repaired item, using simple mathematical formula to make the economic calculation. However, where the decisions are more complex then more sophisticated modelling techniques may be employed to compare the relative costs of various repair options. Using LORA modelling, it is possible to accurately predict the number of such repairs that will be required each month over a period of years, enabling a high level of efficiency in the planning and provision of maintenance and, ultimately, optimised plant costs.

Level Of Repair Analysis (LORA) should not be overlooked as an integral part of a detailed maintenance strategy review. It is central to the whole life cost that is incurred through operation of an asset. LORA can be a complex process, requiring that numerous factors, each of which may be inter-related to the others, be taken into account, but the actual tasks and sub-tasks required for a particular study will be dependent upon the individual goals of the specific exercise.

Using a strategic tool such as LORA, a company can manage maintenance more effectively, ensuring that the complete plant runs smoothly and with minimum total downtime. This can result in significantly increased profitability, either by producing the same output for less cost or, alternatively, increased output for the same cost.