How to establish a preventive maintenance plan in 5 steps Set objectives and priorities, make an asset inventory and a to-do list, manage priorities and resources, create KPIs for the preventive maintenance plan, review and improve. Instead of waiting and dealing with an unscheduled breakdown, preventive maintenance requires a proactive approach that keeps machines running in optimal condition while significantly reducing unplanned downtime. In fact, a well-structured preventive maintenance program helps organizations reduce operating costs by 12 to 18%, making it an effective way to save money. Preventive maintenance reportedly saves companies between 12 and 18% on overall costs, and every dollar spent on preventive care pays off at least five dollars later.
From there, you can add a set of instructions and a preventive maintenance checklist for technicians to cross out while performing maintenance. A successful preventive maintenance program requires more than a large maintenance team: it also needs the right resources to be able to plan and carry out the necessary tasks. A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) helps ensure that all assets are monitored and receive the maintenance they need to function optimally, minimizing the risk of accidents or injuries due to equipment malfunction. Maintenance managers rely on maintenance metrics to discover actionable information to guide decision-making.
on improving business processes. With the right maintenance programs and preventive maintenance plan, you can reduce equipment downtime, increase productivity, and even increase long-term customer satisfaction rates. Even if a maintenance technician completed that task or inspection on September 5th instead of September 3rd, when the month of October arrives, maintenance will be scheduled for the 3rd. Reactive maintenance includes performing maintenance or repair tasks after an asset breaks down unexpectedly.
It also allows administrators to identify and implement the best maintenance strategy for a company based on their maintenance needs. In this way, the focus is on planned maintenance, which often consumes fewer resources and is less expensive than reactive maintenance, leading to overall cost optimization. Maintenance planning and scheduling are two interrelated activities, each of which depends on the other to execute business operations effectively. The primary objective of a preventive maintenance program is to keep equipment operating at peak performance with regularly scheduled maintenance and repairs. Leveraging a dedicated maintenance management software solution helps drive more effective inspections, seamlessly plan maintenance sessions, and improve the overall efficiency of your assets. This occurs when companies do not have a precise maintenance plan to execute maintenance activities efficiently.
Establishing a preventive maintenance program requires a maintenance manager or maintenance supervisor to balance the needs of facilities and assets with available resources. Regularly scheduled preventive maintenance reduces the need for reactive or emergency repairs, allowing maintenance personnel to focus on daily activities instead of downtime planned.