10.  Consumables

Consumables are often overlooked in maintenance, and some readers may even wonder what exactly is meant by the term. We know that a factory needs raw materials directly involved in the production cycle, for example a thermoelectric power plant needs fuel, and a cannery needs edibles: meat, fish, fruit or vegetables, and cooking fuel, if it doesn't use electric heating. Maintenance also requires spare parts. But alongside these well-known elements, there is also a very long list of extremely varied products, indispensable to both production and maintenance, ranging from all kinds of oils and greases to countless cleaning products: solvents or detergents, paints and varnishes, and paper or magnetic tapes for recorders, not forgetting a humble but indispensable auxiliary: rags... These products, which we sometimes tend to forget, nevertheless play a very important role in maintaining work...