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Last Updated: February 1, 2019 | Greg Arbour |   5 min read

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Maintenance strategies: Which one should you choose?
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Breakdown Maintenance cale

If you spend any time reading about industry trends, you’ll know that predictive maintenance is getting more
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popular every day. The rise of the industrial internet of things (IIoT) is making it possible for organizations to
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use intelligent maintenance software to collect data and integrate with connected devices to get smarter
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about manufacturing.
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While this particular type of maintenance has been gaining popularity, it’s far from the only solution Future Thinking GPS

available to equipment-heavy organizations. There are a host of other maintenance types that work well for Guest Requestor Hyperlinks

all kinds of organizations, from small shops drowning in paper work orders to data-driven enterprise Industry News Info-Tech In

operations for whom predictive maintenance is a reality. Let’s compare these types of maintenance to see Inventory Inventory Managem

which ones work best for di erent scenarios. Maintenance management

Maintenance Metrics
Table of contents
Maintenance Strategies

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1. Types of maintenance
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a. Run-to-failure (breakdown maintenance)
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b. Preventive (scheduled) maintenance
Preventative Maintenance
c. Predictive maintenance (PdM)
Preventive maintenance
d. Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)
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2. Comparing maintenance management strategies
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We spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of preventive maintenance, but it’s far from the only rebrand Research Laboratory

maintenance strategy out there. There are many di erent approaches that you can mix and match, Series A Tips & Tricks Wor

depending on your assets, your industry, and the size and experience of your maintenance team. Today
we’re going to compare the four most common types of maintenance strategies, their pros and cons, and
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when they are most e ective.
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This article covers the most common strategies, but it’s hardly an exhaustive list. For more ideas, head over whys method
to our maintenance strategies and planning resources page.
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Types of maintenance you need to know from Fe
2019
1. Reactive maintenance (breakdown maintenance)
Also known as breakdown or run-to-failure, reactive maintenance is pretty simple: x things when they Troubleshooting for main
break. Since repairs are not planned, it’s a good method to employ for equipment that is not essential for More than just trial and e

operations or has a low cost (think anything that’s rarely used or duplicates the function of other
How to make condition-b
equipment).
maintenance more e ect
For example, think of a $1000 belt feeder, whose lifetime value can be extended by 10% by servicing it every 3
months. How hard are you willing to work to save $100? For a non-critical piece of machinery, the answer

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3/16/2019 Maintenance Strategies: 4 Approaches to Asset Management | Fiix

should be “not hard”.”

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Interval
While it requires minimal planning, the drawbacks of reactive maintenance can be substantial if it’s not
carried out correctly. If the approach is used for all equipment, there can be huge delays in production when
a critical piece of equipment fails. Further, if you don’t have the right parts and supplies on hand, the costs Categories
for rushed shipping can become signi cant. In short, reactive maintenance often means more downtime
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and higher maintenance costs when it’s not used strategically.

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2. Preventive maintenance (scheduled)
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Also known as proactive maintenance, this method involves periodically taking assets o ine and inspecting
or repairing them at predetermined intervals (usually time or event-based triggers). The goal of this Maintenance industry new
approach is to extend the useful life of an asset and prevent breakdowns from occurring.
Maintenance metrics
Many organizations employing preventive maintenance use CMMS software to trigger work orders when a
PM is due. This allows a facility to automate much of its scheduling e orts, which is a key ingredient of this Maintenance strategies

preventive approach. Because planning is done in advance, it’s much easier to have the right parts and
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resources on hand to complete each task.

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As with all maintenance types, there are potential drawbacks to relying solely on preventive maintenance. If
the PM schedule isn’t regularly monitored, audited, and improved, “PM creep” can occur. This is when
Preventive maintenance
technicians get bogged down by unnecessary tasks and cost the organization time and money.
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Similarly, performing too many PMs can open the door for post-PM breakdowns. There are a number of
ways to prevent this, but the risk gets higher as PMs get more frequent. The bottom line is, if a preventive TPM
maintenance program is used, it should go hand in hand with PM optimization.

3. Predictive maintenance (PdM)

Predictive maintenance (PdM) aims to predict failures before they happen so maintenance can occur at just
the right time. PdM uses data from machine sensors and smart technology to alert the maintenance team
when a piece of equipment is at risk of failing. For example, a sensor may use vibration analysis to alert the
maintenance team that a piece of equipment is at risk of failing, at which point it will be taken o ine,
inspected, and repaired accordingly.

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3/16/2019 Maintenance Strategies: 4 Approaches to Asset Management | Fiix

It is possible to carry out PdM via visual inspections of equipment, but the easiest way to establish a
predictive maintenance strategy is by using a CMMS to Products Pricing
track meter Solutions
readings. Resources
The advantage Support
of PdM (over Company Login Free tour Book a de

PM) is the potential for cost savings from reduced man-hours spent on maintenance, and more insight as to
the performance and potential issues arising with the machine. Additionally, a reliance on data and sensor
information means maintenance is determined by the actual condition of equipment, rather than a best-
guess schedule or gut feel.

Of course, relying so heavily on data means that there is a higher up-front cost to ensuring this maintenance
approach can thrive. Another thing to keep in mind with predictive maintenance is that you have to walk
before you can run. For an organization coming from a pen-and-paper or Excel-based maintenance
program, you have to rst build on the processes and insights that preventive maintenance provides in
order to build an e ective predictive maintenance plan.

4. Reliability-centred maintenance (RCM)

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) addresses the fact that failure is not always linear. RCM is a highly-
involved process that seeks to analyze all the possible failure modes for each piece of equipment and
customize a maintenance plan for each individual machine. The ultimate goal of RCM is to increase
equipment availability or reliability.

RCM is considered complex because each individual asset must be analyzed and prioritized based on
criticality. The most critical assets are those that are likely to fail often or will result in large consequences in
the event of failure. Because each piece of equipment is analyzed on its own, it’s possible that the end result
of embarking on an RCM e ort is having as many di erent maintenance plans as you do pieces of
equipment.

RCM is very sophisticated, to the extent where it is not a realistic or necessary technique for every
organization. It’s requires a very mature maintenance team that has mastered prevention, basic inspections,
predictive maintenance, and has access to lots of existing data on their assets.

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Maintenance management strategies comparison chart

Need a quick comparison of these four strategies? Check out the chart below for a quick rundown of each
approach.

Maintenance strategy comparison chart

Strategy Summary Cost to Implement Pros Cons

Reactive Fix it when it breaks Low Ideal for low-priority Can lead to runaway
equipment repair costs

Preventive Maintenance on a Average Best strategy to Without

predetermined implement without optimization, “PM
schedule expertise creep” can occur

Predictive Condition-based High Timely and informed Can be expensive to

monitoring monitoring. More set up
triggering work insight into causes
orders of breakdowns

RCM Investigation of Highest If executed properly, Requires time, skill

failure modes to provides the most and nancial
determine best e cient resources to be
maintenance maintenance e ective
strategy schedule

The bottom line: There is no “one size ts all” approach to maintenance

As you can see, each type of maintenance has its own unique bene ts and shortcomings, depending on
which asset we’re talking about, what stage of the reliability journey your organization is at, and the impact
of downtime at your facility. Our recommendation is to start at the place that makes sense for your set of
circumstances and keep growing from there. Eventually, you’ll get to a place where you can use a balanced
maintenance program that takes all methods into account.

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