What is Equipment Maintenance?

Equipment managers play an essential role in effective asset maintenance. Equipment managers oversee a diverse range of responsibilities designed to ensure peak asset performance including routine maintenance, emergency repairs, and regular inspections. 

Equipment managers will also coordinate closely with maintenance technicians, contribute to informed decisions about equipment procurement, and take a lead role in ensuring compliance with safety standards and regulatory requirements.

In any industry, the equipment manager will be responsible for ensuring the efficiency, effectiveness, and functionality of production machinery, power tools, warehouse vehicles, and more. This work is especially important in asset-intensive industries like healthcare, manufacturing, construction, and energy production.

Equipment management vs. asset management

Asset maintenance management generally refers to the asset maintenance strategy used to care for all physical assets—both equipment as well as the buildings, facilities, infrastructure, and grounds housing this equipment. By contrast, equipment management is more narrowly focused on the machinery, tools, and systems within your organization’s facilities. 

What is equipment maintenance? 

Equipment maintenance refers to the program and procedures used to keep equipment in optimal working order, prevent breakdowns, perform corrective repairs, and minimize downtime. 

An effective equipment maintenance program will typically include the following core components. 

• Regular inspections to identify potential issues before they result in failures or malfunctions
• Scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) activities, such as cleaning, lubrication, and part replacements
• Corrective repairs when equipment malfunctions, breaks down, or fails unexpectedly
• Predictive maintenance using a combination of historical data and real-time condition monitoring tools to identify issues before they escalate into equipment failure 
• Comprehensive documentation of maintenance activities, equipment condition, completed repairs, and maintenance technicians involved in repairs
• Detailed reporting including insights on equipment performance, utilization, and output

Why is equipment maintenance important? 

Equipment maintenance is important for ensuring the reliability, availability, safety, effectiveness, and longevity of your equipment. Your operation depends on equipment that meets these rigorous standards. An effective equipment maintenance program will ensure your ability to operate with consistency, continuity, and quality control. 

Pitfalls of hands-off equipment maintenance 

Businesses operating without effective equipment maintenance programs often fall back on reactive maintenance strategies, which may be characterized by:

• More frequent breakdowns, increased downtime, and prolonged operational disruption
• Increased costs as a consequence of more severe equipment failures, added maintenance staff overtime, expedited shipping costs for missing parts, and more
• Shortened equipment lifespan due to neglect, wear and tear, and less-than-optimal utilization patterns
• Diminished equipment performance including higher energy consumption, lower output, and longer production cycles
• Heightened safety risks, more frequent workplace accidents and injuries, and greater legal liability

Key benefits of effective equipment management

Contrast the pitfalls listed above with the benefits of an effective equipment management program:

• Optimal equipment performance, enhanced productivity, and improved energy efficiency
• Reduced downtime, fewer operational disruptions, minimized risk of asset failure, and improved on-time delivery
• Cost savings through improved resource allocation, task delegation, and operational efficiency
• Improved safety, enhanced regulatory compliance, simplified audits, and reduced legal liability
• Longer expected lifespan for your critical assets

Types of asset and equipment maintenance programs

Generally speaking, proactive maintenance strategies are considered more cost-effective than reactive strategies. However, it’s also important for your maintenance team to be prepared, with proper standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place, for unexpected maintenance needs.

This is why equipment maintenance programs will often rely on a number of overlapping and coordinated approaches. 

• Run-to-failure is a reactive approach to maintenance. With run-to-failure, your organization will use a piece of equipment until it breaks down. This may be the preferred approach for aging equipment with low corrective repair costs and a high cost of replacement. 
• Preventive maintenance is an approach that applies routine maintenance actions such as regular servicing, scheduled parts replacement, and internal inspections to preempt malfunction or equipment failure. This strategy is noted for reducing the cost, frequency, and severity of repairs.
• Condition-based maintenance (CBM) utilizes sophisticated monitoring sensors to provide real-time insight into the health of your equipment. CBM leverages IoT technology to measure equipment conditions like temperature, vibration, and lubrication, allowing your maintenance team to identify and address issues before they can escalate into equipment failures
• Predictive maintenance (PdM) combines the real-time monitoring of CBM with advanced data analytics drawn from historical equipment performance to help your team better anticipate and prevent malfunction or failure.
  

Equipment maintenance tools

Just as organizations typically rely on a combination of equipment maintenance strategies, equipment maintenance programs will use a variety of tools to manage their equipment maintenance needs including:

• Pen and paper for managing logs, checklists, and print schedules
• Digital spreadsheets (i.e. Excel, Google Sheets) for tracking maintenance schedules, logging completed maintenance work, and managing asset information
• Maintenance logbooks (physical or digital) dedicated to tracking maintenance activities for each piece of equipment
• Mobile apps that allow maintenance teams to log tasks, track equipment status, and access information from the field and remotely
• Barcode Scanner and QR Code systems for tracking equipment as well as accessing detailed information about specific assets
• Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), a maintenance software solution specifically designed to automate and streamline equipment maintenance tasks by tracking work orders, automating PM scheduling, compiling equipment data, generating reports and more
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors for monitoring equipment performance (e.g., temperature, vibration, pressure) in real time and triggering maintenance actions when predefined thresholds are crossed
• Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software for integrating your maintenance programs with asset management, finance, procurement, and compliance processes, ultimately providing a holistic way to monitor and manage the asset lifecycle

Equipment maintenance principles

An effective equipment maintenance program is rooted in the performance of several essential processes. 

• Routine inspections including checking equipment for wear and tear, abnormalities, or signs of malfunction
• Preventive maintenance such as scheduled servicing, repairs, and part replacements
• Work order management including creating, assigning, tracking, and completing maintenance tasks through formal work orders 
• Condition monitoring using tools and sensors to track the performance and health of equipment in real-time
• Corrective maintenance strategies including well-documented processes for restoring malfunctioning equipment to working order quickly and safely
• Inventory management including real-time equipment tracking, visibility into stock levels, and automated reorder triggers
• Documentation including detailed records of inspections, repairs, and preventive maintenance tasks
• Training and skill development, ensuring that maintenance personnel stay up to date on best practices, safety protocols, and new technology
• Compliance oversight including adherence to proper safety protocols, use of proper personal protective equipment (PPE), and alignment with regulatory standards
• Continuous improvement including regular maintenance performance reviews and oversight of key performance indicators (KPIs)

Which industries use equipment maintenance? 

Equipment maintenance operations are of particular importance in asset-intensive industries. Businesses that rely on heavy machinery and costly equipment to operate must have comprehensive and effective equipment management strategies in place. 

• Manufacturing plants depend on the regular maintenance of heavy production machinery including conveyor belts, robotic arms, presses, and packaging machines. Regular inspections, lubrication, and part replacement ensure these assets function without interruption, reducing unplanned downtime and preventing operational disruptions.
• Construction businesses rely on heavy equipment like bulldozers, excavators, cranes, and loaders, which require regular maintenance to prevent failure, eliminate safety hazards, and avoid project delays. Equipment managers will typically use a combination of condition-based maintenance, routine inspections, and real-time monitoring to catch issues early and prevent failure. 
• Healthcare facilities depend on the proper maintenance of medical equipment such as MRI machines, ventilators, infusion pumps, and surgical tools. Effective medical equipment maintenance includes regular testing, calibration, and inspection as well as compliance with strict health, safety, and sanitation procedures.
• Energy production operations rely on effective equipment maintenance programs to ensure the continuous and safe operation of large, complex machinery, often operating under extreme conditions, such as turbines, drilling rigs, and pipelines.

7 steps for establishing an equipment maintenance program

While the equipment maintenance needs of every organization are unique, there are some common steps that every business must take to establish an effective equipment maintenance program. 

1. Conduct inventory review

Create a detailed list of all equipment, including asset type, manufacturer, model, and installation date, and assess the criticality of each asset by determining its impact on operations if it were to fail. You’ll ultimately want to prioritize high-impact equipment and critical assets in your preemptive maintenance strategy.

2. Apply maintenance strategies

Determine the ideal approach for each piece of equipment in your asset portfolio. There are numerous commonly applied maintenance approaches, and the right strategy may differ from one asset to another. For instance, you may wish to apply preventive maintenance strategies like regular servicing and routine inspections for high-priority equipment while utilizing reactive maintenance for non-critical equipment that can be repaired after failure without significant impact on operations.

3. Select your platform

Before you can implement a maintenance plan, you must choose the right set of tools for managing maintenance tasks. Traditional manual strategies of record-keeping can be useful. For larger companies with more diverse and complex asset portfolios, however, implementing a  CMMS or EAM system may be necessary.

4. Train the team

Hire or assign personnel and provide ongoing training to ensure a complete understanding of maintenance processes, safety protocols, regulatory requirements, and equipment management tools. An effective equipment maintenance team should include–and provide role-based training for–personnel such as maintenance managers, technicians (both general and specialized), inventory managers, facilities managers, and reliability engineers.

5. Schedule preventive maintenance (PM)

Create a preventive maintenance schedule based on a combination of manufacturer recommendations, usage data, resource availability, and your criticality assessment. You should also use this step to integrate data monitoring sensors which can trigger maintenance alerts and create work orders when performance metrics indicate the need.

6. Document maintenance activities

Use your selected tools to document all maintenance activities, including inspections, repairs, and replacements. Log work orders, update equipment records, and complete all required compliance documentation to ensure safety, compliance, and individual accountability.

7. Pursue continuous improvement

Conduct regular reviews of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and equipment uptime. Use these metrics to refine maintenance scheduling, optimize inventory management, and refine your maintenance procedures.

Equipment management certifications

Certifications in equipment and maintenance management can provide validation of an individual’s knowledge, skills, and expertise. 

• Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) focuses on maintenance and reliability best practices, asset management, and equipment maintenance strategies.
• Certified Plant Maintenance Manager (CPMM) is designed for plant and facilities maintenance managers and covers topics like equipment troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and managing maintenance teams
• Certified Reliability Leader (CRL) is tailored to individuals focused on asset reliability and covers the entire asset management process, including risk management, condition monitoring, and reliability-centered maintenance.
• Certified Maintenance Manager (CMM) is designed for maintenance managers who are responsible for safety-critical assets

How can Limble help? 

Limble’s CMMS supports equipment maintenance programs with advanced features like: 

• Real-time asset tracking
• Streamlined inventory management
• Preventive maintenance scheduling
• Automated work order generation
• Integration with condition monitoring sensors
• Advanced analytics and detailed reporting 
• Cloud-based mobile app
• A secure, customizable, user-friendly dashboard

Discover how you can leverage these features and drive improvement in your equipment maintenance program with a look at our product tour.