Why Preventive Maintenance Is So Important

There are two types of maintenance strategies employed by companies that rely on equipment – reactive maintenance and preventive maintenance. Reactive maintenance goes by the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” motto, a strategy that can sometimes save money short term but often ends up costing even more in the long run. Preventive maintenance, on the other hand, is a carefully designed maintenance program (often using CMMS software) where maintenance tasks are performed routinely in order to avoid larger, costly fixes down the line.Many maintenance professionals have recognized the benefits of preventive maintenance and are now turning to preventive maintenance software for ongoing equipment upkeep. Here is a look at 6 reasons why preventive maintenance is a much better alternative to reactive maintenance.

Cost Savings

Companies that rely solely on reactive maintenance are essentially waiting for a problem to happen, and this can often be a very costly move. Unplanned downtime can result in idle employees, halting the production line, missed deadlines, and – for property managers of hotels, resorts, school campuses and other consumer facing industries – long-term damage to their brand. An unexpected failure can also mean having to pay technicians overtime and having to pay out extra money for overnight delivery of parts. A preventive maintenance program is meant to avoid these problems through long-term maintenance tasks that are planned for using CMMS software.

A preventive maintenance plan can save a company money because efforts will be focused on preventing equipment failure rather than responding to emergencies, and preventive maintenance is usually much cheaper and faster than big fixes. Maintenance managers can use CMMS software to set up a maintenance program, which simplifies the transition from reactive to preventive maintenance and is also very cost effective.

Improved Safety

When equipment isn’t working in optimal condition, it creates many hazards, unsafe working conditions and even emergency situations where workers are injured. Preventive maintenance improves the safety of equipment and therefore the safety of company workers resulting in fewer on the job injuries and accidents.

Want to review the benefits of managing your facility equipment? Read our blog post discussing the 4 Benifits of Properly Managing Facility Equipment.

Read Now

Increased Equipment Efficiency

CMMS software can help plan routine maintenance such as inspections, oil and fluid changes, part replacements and more. These little fixes can help equipment to run much more efficiently. In turn, a company will benefit from fuel and energy savings because equipment will be running at peak performance.

Decreased Equipment Downtime

While almost all maintenance tasks require some equipment downtime, a preventive maintenance program can decrease and optimize that downtime. For example, a company doesn’t experience unexpected downtime as much as if they were to rely solely on reactive maintenance. Companies can also use CMMS software to pre-plan maintenance tasks at optimal times so the downtime experienced is less troublesome. Decreasing equipment downtime is a benefit that saves time in maintenance and day-to-day operations.

Improved Reliability

Preventive maintenance can also help a company to be a more reliable business partner. Customers can count on a company to deliver products, materials, or service on time, without unnecessary delays. A resort with broken air conditioning will not succeed for long. By always offering a reliable product or service, a company can enhance its customer service and improve its reputation.

Conservation of Assets

Most equipment these days is certainly not cheap, but the better a company cares for its equipment, the longer it will last. Preventive maintenance will prolong the life of equipment so a company can get more hours out the equipment, resulting in reduced costs and increased profit.

The numerous benefits of preventive maintenance has caused many maintenance managers to shift from reactive maintenance to a regular, routine preventive maintenance plan meant to prevent problems and optimize equipment. Today’s CMMS software helps facilitate preventive maintenance by helping schedule maintenance tasks and keep organized records of all inspections and fixes. Preventive maintenance is the best option for companies that want to succeed long term, and therefore understand that they need a long term plan for proper equipment upkeep.