The marketing team here at IRS aims to provide the best educational resources for all industrial repair topics, so that you are informed on not just our repair services, but the industry as a whole. It’s about time we compiled a list of frequently used terms in industrial repair, for the newbies or seasoned readers.  

Here are our top terms for understanding repair processes, equipment specifications, and service descriptions. 

Corrective Maintenance: “The category of maintenance tasks that are performed to rectify and repair faulty systems and equipment. The purpose of corrective maintenance is to restore systems that have broken down” (Upkeep).  

Predictive Maintenance (PdM): “The strategy that organizations use to estimate and plan their operational equipment’s maintenance schedule” (Amazon). Essentially, it allows for repairs to be scheduled at the optimal time, just before a breakdown, and optimizes its lifespan.  

Downtime: “Time during which production is stopped, especially during setup for an operation or when making repairs” (Merriam-Webster). This can be either planned (for Maintenance) or unplanned (due to a failure). 

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): “An organization that makes devices from parts bought from other organizations” (Oxford Languages). Using OEM parts or services for repairs is often recommended to ensure compatibility and quality. 

Root Cause Analysis (RCA): “The formal process of tracing a disruption or issue to its source. RCA seeks to treat not simply the symptoms of an issue, but to eradicate symptoms by finding and addressing the specific cause or causes” (TWI Institute).  

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO): “A safety procedure used to ensure that dangerous equipment is safely shut off and cannot be restarted until maintenance or repair work is completed. This includes anything from shutting down electrical circuits and valves to neutralizing extreme temperatures and securing moving parts” (OSHA). 

Calibration: The act or process of determining, checking, or rectifying the settings or gradations on a measuring instrument or other piece of precision equipment; the resulting condition of the equipment” (Dictionary).  

As you continue to catch up on our blogs, this clears up any possible confusion or technical jargon. On all our repair reports sent back to customers after their item is completed, we often use these terms to ensure full comprehension of our process. That’s why an informed customer is an empowered partner in keeping their operations running smoothly.