What is planned maintenance?
Planned maintenance is the proactive approach of preparing for equipment needs before problems disrupt operations. Whether you're preventing failures through scheduled tasks or preparing recovery plans for when equipment eventually breaks, planned maintenance means you have a strategy in place rather than reacting to crises.
This planned maintenance system involves organizing your maintenance activities around documented procedures, readily available parts, and clear workflows. Instead of scrambling when problems arise, your team follows established processes that minimize downtime and control costs.
Leadership teams are recognizing maintenance as a strategic advantage that directly impacts their bottom line. Nearly a third of organizations expect to invest more in maintenance next year, according to our 2025 State of Industrial Maintenance report.
Dealing with critical equipment failure during a busy production period creates chaos. Your team scrambles to find parts. Technicians work overtime at emergency rates. Production grinds to a halt while costs pile up by the hour.
The difference between reactive firefighting and proactive planning represents massive savings. That's why planned maintenance has become essential for any facility that is serious about operational efficiency, cost control, and asset protection.
Key takeaways
- Planned maintenance is proactive scheduling that prevents costly breakdowns instead of reacting to equipment failures after they happen.
- Preventive maintenance works best for critical assets that directly impact production, safety, or compliance, where equipment failures cause the biggest operational problems.
- Planned, unscheduled maintenance helps you prepare recovery plans for non-critical equipment where preventing every failure isn't cost-effective, but you still need quick restoration.
- Modern CMMS platforms have eliminated traditional barriers like high upfront costs, complex implementations, and the need for extensive IT support, making planned maintenance accessible through mobile apps and automated scheduling for organizations of any size.
Why is planned maintenance important?
Machinery, HVAC units, data networks, and other important assets must remain in reliable condition to meet production and service goals. If your organization operates mostly in reactive maintenance mode, fixing equipment as it breaks, you risk costly downtime.
The financial impact of equipment failures far outweighs the cost of preventing them, making planned maintenance essential for protecting your bottom line. According to our 2025 State of Industrial Maintenance Report, 31% of organizations saw unplanned downtime costs rise over the past year.
What are the two types of planned maintenance?
Think of planned maintenance as having two game plans: one to prevent problems and another to prepare you for when they happen anyway.
Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance stops equipment failures before they disrupt your operations.
Consider a packaging line motor that typically fails after 8,000 operating hours. Rather than running it until it fails and shutting down your entire line, preventive maintenance schedules downtime to replace the motor at 7,500 hours.
When you preschedule maintenance, your production continues smoothly, parts are available, and you avoid expensive technician overtime.
Preventive maintenance works best for these types of assets:
- Mission-critical equipment: Production line motors, main compressors, or primary HVAC systems where failure stops operations entirely.
- High-value assets: Expensive machinery like CNC machines, industrial robots, or specialized processing equipment, where replacement costs are significant.
- Predictable failure patterns: Equipment with known wear cycles, like bearings that fail after specific operating hours or belts that deteriorate over time.
- Frequently failing components: Assets with documented failure history that show clear patterns you can anticipate.
- Regulatory compliance requirements: Safety systems, pressure vessels, or environmental equipment that must meet inspection schedules by law.
Planned, unscheduled maintenance
This approach accepts that some equipment will fail, but ensures you're ready when it happens. Think of it as having a playbook for when things go wrong, complete with spare parts on hand and step-by-step procedures to get back online quickly.
Consider a facility with multiple air compressors where losing one unit won't shut down operations. Rather than performing expensive weekly maintenance on every backup compressor, you keep spare parts ready and have clear procedures for quick replacement when one eventually fails.
Planned, unscheduled maintenance works best for these assets:
- Backup or redundant systems: Secondary compressors, spare conveyors, or backup generators where you have alternatives if one fails.
- Non-critical support equipment: Office air conditioning, lighting systems, or cleaning equipment that won't stop production.
- Low-cost or disposable components: Filters, gaskets, small motors, or single-use items where replacement costs less than extensive maintenance.
- Unpredictable failure patterns: Equipment that fails randomly regardless of maintenance, making prevention strategies ineffective.
- End-of-life assets: Aging equipment scheduled for replacement where major maintenance investment doesn't make sense.
- Non-regulated equipment: Assets without legal maintenance requirements, where you have flexibility in your approach.
What are the benefits of planned maintenance?
Planned maintenance delivers measurable advantages that directly impact your facility's performance and profitability, including:
- Preventing costly downtime: Your team catches problems before they cause failures.
- Extending equipment lifespan: Regular maintenance keeps assets running efficiently well past their expected failure points.
- Reducing overall maintenance costs: You avoid expensive emergency repairs, rush shipping charges, and overtime labor costs. Planned parts ordering means better pricing and availability when you need components.
- Improving workplace safety: Well-maintained equipment operates predictably and safely. Regular inspections catch potential hazards before they become accidents.
- Boosting team morale: Less firefighting means less stress. Your technicians can focus on meaningful work instead of constant crisis management, leading to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover.
- Enabling better budgeting: Scheduled maintenance costs are predictable, making it easier to plan expenses and justify maintenance investments to leadership.
What are the disadvantages of planned maintenance?
Like any strategy, planned maintenance has potential drawbacks you should consider, including:
- Over-maintenance risks: You might perform unnecessary tasks on equipment that doesn't need attention yet. This wastes time and resources that could be better allocated to address more urgent priorities.
- Higher upfront costs: Planned maintenance requires initial investment in parts inventory, scheduling systems, and training. The payoff comes later through avoided breakdowns.
- Complexity challenges: Managing schedules, parts, and procedures across multiple assets can become overwhelming without proper systems in place.
- Resource allocation issues: Poor planning can lead to technician bottlenecks or maintenance backlogs that defeat the purpose of being proactive.
What should a maintenance plan include?
A maintenance plan is your blueprint for keeping operations running smoothly. Think of it as the foundation that turns good intentions into consistent action. Some key components include:
Maintenance mission statement
Align your maintenance strategy with your company's business goals. Define how maintenance supports production targets, safety requirements, and profitability. This will help you secure executive buy-in by demonstrating how proper maintenance has a direct impact on the bottom line.
Maintenance tasks
Document every piece of equipment that needs maintenance, from critical production machinery to support systems.
Include serial numbers, locations, manufacturers, installation dates, and service history. The more detail you capture, the better you can plan future maintenance activities.
Work instructions
Create step-by-step procedures for each maintenance task. Your technicians should know exactly what to do, the tools they need, and the necessary safety precautions to take.
Maintenance schedule
Set specific intervals for each maintenance activity based on time, usage, or condition triggers. Plan maintenance windows that minimize production disruption and communicate schedules clearly so production teams can plan around downtime.
Maintenance technicians
Match maintenance tasks with the right skill sets. Group similar tasks together and assign them to technicians with relevant expertise.
Third-party contractors
Define which tasks you'll outsource and which vendors you'll use. Having pre-approved contractors with clear scope definitions speeds up the process when you need external help for specialized work or during peak maintenance periods.
Replacement parts
Stock the right parts in the right quantities. Track usage patterns to avoid both stockouts and excess inventory. Nothing derails a maintenance schedule faster than waiting for parts that should have been on the shelf.
What should a maintenance plan include?
- Maintenance mission statement
- Maintenance tasks
- work instructions
- Maintenance schedule
- Maintenance technicians
- Third-party contractors
- Replacement parts
How to implement a planned maintenance strategy in 7 steps
Every maintenance team faces the same challenge: turning good intentions into consistent action. Here's your step-by-step roadmap to make it happen.
1. Identify equipment failure modes
Analyze each asset’s failure modes, which are the different ways equipment can break down.
A conveyor motor's failure modes might include bearing wear, electrical issues, or belt problems. Understanding these failure patterns helps you plan the right maintenance tasks at the right intervals.
2. Inspect assets
Determine the maintenance tasks required for each asset.
What tools are required? Which parts should you stock? Are there environmental factors, such as heat or dust, that affect the timing of maintenance?
3. Define work processes
Create step-by-step procedures for each maintenance task. Include safety requirements, shutdown procedures, and quality checkpoints.
4. Create priority levels
Not all maintenance is equally urgent. Establish clear criteria for prioritizing work orders. Always handle tasks that return facilities to optimal operations levels ASAP.
5. Schedule and assign work orders
Set maintenance intervals based on manufacturer recommendations, operating hours, or condition indicators.
Assign your recurring work orders for times that will cause the least disruption to in-house operations, procedures, and your customers.
If you run a 24/7 operation, scheduling around production and/or service lines may seem intimidating. However, you don’t need to shut down all production lines to briefly service particular components.
6. Implement an asset management system
An asset management system is a centralized database that organizes all your equipment information in one place.
This system stores asset details, maintenance histories, procedures, and parts lists, allowing technicians to quickly access the information they need for any piece of equipment.
Make important information like asset QR codes, recommended maintenance procedures, and troubleshooting guides easily accessible to technicians. When properly organized, your team can find equipment specifications, service records, and work instructions without delay or confusion.
7. Track KPIs
Key performance indicators (KPIs) help you measure the success of your planned maintenance program and identify areas for improvement.
Common maintenance KPIs include equipment uptime percentage, mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), maintenance costs per asset, and work order completion rates.
The decision to retire machinery often depends on KPI trends that signal declining performance, including increasing breakdown frequency, rising parts costs, longer repair times, and decreased reliability despite regular maintenance. When these indicators consistently worsen, replacement may be more cost-effective than continued maintenance.
What types of equipment require planned maintenance?
Nearly every piece of equipment in your facility can benefit from planned maintenance, but some assets deliver bigger returns on your maintenance investment than others.
Production and operational equipment:
- Conveyor systems: Belts, motors, and rollers need regular inspection and replacement to prevent costly production shutdowns.
- Compressors: Air leaks, worn components, and safety hazards make these high-priority maintenance items.
- Manufacturing equipment: CNC machines, packaging lines, and processing equipment require precise calibration and regular servicing.
Facility systems:
- HVAC systems: Regular filter changes, coil cleaning, and component inspections ensure energy efficiency and air quality.
- Lighting systems: Clean fixtures and replace bulbs before they burn out to maintain safe working conditions.
- Filtration systems: Water filters, dust collectors, and exhaust filters need scheduled replacement to function properly.
Support and safety equipment:
- Precision instruments: Scales, gauges, and measuring devices require regular calibration to maintain accuracy.
- Vehicle fleets: Trucks, forklifts, and company vehicles need routine oil changes, tire rotations, and safety inspections.
- Fire and safety systems: Sprinklers, alarms, and emergency equipment must meet regulatory maintenance requirements.
How can a CMMS help with planned maintenance?
A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) transforms planned maintenance from scattered spreadsheets and paper records into a centralized, automated digital process, helping you to:
Streamline your maintenance schedules
Gain a centralized view of all maintenance activities instead of juggling multiple systems. Modern CMMS platforms automatically create work orders, notify team members when tasks are assigned, and track work progress in real time.
You can include standard operating procedures directly in work orders to ensure consistent quality. As your system collects more data over time, you gain insights into bottlenecks and can adjust maintenance priorities based on actual performance rather than guesswork.
Optimize asset performance and longevity
Instead of waiting for critical assets to fail, a CMMS helps you stay ahead of maintenance needs. Scheduled tasks get completed proactively, improving overall asset health and extending equipment life.
Detailed reporting and live data, including integration with IoT sensors, provide clear visibility into asset performance. This helps you focus resources where they'll have the biggest impact and make data-driven maintenance decisions.
Enhance team productivity with mobile access
Mobile apps eliminate time-wasting trips between the office and equipment locations. Technicians access everything they need from their phones: work order details, procedures, asset history, and real-time notifications when new tasks are assigned.
Built-in messaging and collaboration tools enable field technicians to receive instant help from team members across different locations.
Ensure compliance with automated documentation
Regulatory compliance becomes straightforward when you automatically document every maintenance action with timestamps, photos, and completion details. Generate audit reports instantly, rather than searching through paper files when inspectors arrive. Automated documentation also eliminates the risk of lost records.
Proactive asset maintenance starts with planning
When you shift from reactive repairs to proactive maintenance, you gain control over your operations, reduce costs, and create a safer, more productive workplace.
Ready to build a planned maintenance program that delivers real results? Learn more about preventive maintenance strategies that can transform your operations.
FAQs on planned maintenance
Unplanned maintenance happens when equipment breaks down unexpectedly, forcing you to drop everything and fix it immediately. This creates the worst-case scenario: emergency repairs during production time, rushed parts orders at premium prices, and technicians working overtime. The key to reducing unplanned maintenance is understanding how your equipment typically fails so you can catch problems before they shut down operations.
Planned maintenance tasks can include routine inspections, lubrication, cleaning, adjustments, calibrations, parts replacements, and software updates, among others.
The frequency of planned maintenance depends on various factors, including equipment type, usage patterns, manufacturer recommendations, and environmental conditions. It can range from daily to weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Yes, modern computerized maintenance management software like MaintainX can automate planned maintenance task assignments using asset usage data.
The system tracks equipment operating hours, cycles, or other usage metrics to automatically trigger preventive maintenance tasks when critical assets reach predetermined thresholds. This lets maintenance teams perform maintenance based on actual asset performance rather than fixed time intervals, optimizing both scheduling and effectiveness.
Transitioning from reactive maintenance to planned and preventive maintenance requires a phased approach that protects operational efficiency.
Start by implementing planned maintenance tasks for your most critical assets during existing maintenance windows. Focus on high-impact preventive maintenance activities like routine inspections and equipment reliability checks.
Use your maintenance management system to schedule maintenance tasks during planned downtime periods when the entire production team expects equipment to be offline. Gradually expand your planned maintenance program to include more assets and longer maintenance activities once you see positive results in your KPIs, like reduced downtime, lower emergency repair costs, or improved equipment reliability.
Standardizing planned maintenance workflows begins with documenting your maintenance process and creating consistent standard operating procedures for all locations.
First, establish a unified planned maintenance system that all sites can access, ensuring maintenance teams use the same computerized maintenance management software and maintenance strategies.
Develop standardized preventive maintenance plans that define specific maintenance activities, required maintenance tasks, and performance indicators for each asset type.
Create consistent maintenance schedules that account for different operational needs while maintaining core preventive maintenance tasks across all facilities. Train maintenance personnel on standardized procedures and implement regular audits to ensure compliance.
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