Facility and maintenance teams are under increasing pressure to do more with less, including managing aging infrastructure, meeting efficiency goals, and responding to unexpected equipment failures. In fact, 56% of facility managers expect work order volumes to increase, while 43% report being understaffed, according to JLL.
Many organizations are implementing AI-backed workflows to streamline operations and introduce smarter, more strategic strategies, including implementing a prescriptive maintenance plan.
Key takeaways
- Prescriptive maintenance leverages AI and machine learning to predict equipment failures and recommend specific actions to prevent them: It also factors in real-time data, operational context, and cost implications to guide optimal maintenance decisions
- Implementing a prescriptive maintenance plan can lead to significant benefits: Teams can maximize uptime, save on costs, improve safety and compliance, extend equipment lifespans, and optimize operational efficiency
- Setting up a plan is a multistep process: identify critical assets, gather data, define maintenance goals, set up monitoring and alerts, develop actionable protocols, train your team, and continuously monitor and adjust the plan
Prescriptive maintenance uses advanced analytics and AI to predict when equipment might fail and recommend specific actions to prevent those failures. It helps teams factor in more variables than traditional preventive strategies, including real-time data, operational context, and cost implications to guide optimal maintenance decisions.
What are the differences between prescriptive maintenance and other maintenance strategies?
The best way to understand prescriptive maintenance is by comparing it to other maintenance strategies.
Preventive maintenance vs prescriptive maintenance
Preventive maintenance is schedule-based, involving routine inspections and servicing at fixed intervals, regardless of the actual condition of the equipment.
Routine, scheduled maintenance plays a critical role in reducing the risk of unexpected failures. However, it can also lead to unnecessary interventions, often referred to as “over maintenance,” which can drive up operational costs due to frequent part replacements and increased labor hours.
It often also means scheduled downtime that may not be required, pulling equipment out of service when it could otherwise remain productive. These interruptions can affect overall efficiency and strain resources.
Each maintenance activity carries a small but real risk of human error. Technicians, even highly skilled ones, may inadvertently misconfigure parts, introduce contaminants, or overlook small, subtle issues.
Predictive maintenance vs prescriptive maintenance
Predictive maintenance uses sensor data and analytics to forecast potential failures. However, it stops short of prescribing actions. Predictive systems might alert you to a bearing anomaly but won’t tell you whether to replace it, adjust load, or modify operating conditions.
Prescriptive maintenance identifies anomalies and then recommends the best course of action, including whether to repair, replace, or adjust operations. It uses AI and machine learning to simulate scenarios, calculate outcomes, and deliver actionable guidance in real time.
Putting prescriptive maintenance in perspective
There’s no single maintenance strategy that works perfectly for every asset in all situations. Whether it’s run-to-failure, preventive, or predictive maintenance, each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, which are all tied directly to how and where an organization is using an asset.
Even identical equipment can require different strategies based on environment and relative criticality. For example, an air conditioning unit in a typical office might be fine with a basic preventive schedule, while the same unit in a server room, where temperature control is critical, would need real-time monitoring.
The key is understanding the asset’s role in overall operation and the risks associated with failure when choosing the strategy that best fits those conditions.
What are the benefits of a prescriptive maintenance plan?
Prescriptive maintenance helps teams ensure their work is timely, targeted, and cost-effective, ultimately leading to better asset management and a more reliable infrastructure.
Maximized uptime and asset utilization
Prescriptive maintenance helps organizations shift from reactive to proactive operations by using data to anticipate and prevent failures. Instead of waiting for breakdowns or relying on rigid fixed schedules, teams can act based on real-time insights, keeping equipment running smoothly and minimizing downtime.
For example, at a university campus with dozens of HVAC units across lecture halls, labs, and dormitories, the facility maintenance team might use prescriptive maintenance to identify early signs of compressor wear in one unit serving a high-traffic lecture hall. Based on the system’s recommendations, they schedule a targeted intervention during off-hours, avoiding disruption and ensuring the unit continues to operate efficiently.
Significant cost savings
Prescriptive maintenance helps facility and maintenance teams reduce costs by eliminating unnecessary work and avoiding emergency repairs. It helps teams allocate resources more effectively, reduce overtime, and optimize inventory by predicting usage rates for parts and materials, supporting stronger forecasting and budgeting.
At a regional distribution center managing hundreds of conveyor motors, for example, with prescriptive analytics, the system flags a subset of motors showing signs of imbalance. Instead of replacing all motors on a fixed schedule, the team services the affected units only. A targeted approach cuts labor costs, avoids premature part replacements, and reduces downtime.
Enhanced safety and compliance
Safety and compliance are critical in regulated environments, and teams can use prescriptive maintenance to support both by ensuring equipment operates within safe parameters. Early warnings allow teams to address risks before they become incidents, and digital records simplify audits and reporting.
At a healthcare facility managing sterilization equipment and emergency power systems, for example, the prescriptive maintenance software alerts the team to a voltage irregularity in a backup generator. They investigate and resolve the issue before a scheduled inspection, avoiding a potential compliance violation. The system also allows them to track maintenance histories, making it easy to prove compliance with safety requirements.
Extended equipment lifespans
Because they can address wear and tear before it escalates, facility teams leveraging prescriptive maintenance can extend asset life cycles. It also helps teams adjust usage patterns to reduce stress on equipment, improving long-term performance and return on investment.
In a manufacturing plant, for example, sensors capture real-time data on assembly line robotic arms, including torque and vibration anomalies. When the system detects early signs of joint fatigue, it prescribes a lubrication and recalibration routine. Early intervention prevents further degradation and extends operational life, delaying the need for costly replacements and improving asset utilization.
Optimized operational efficiency
Prescriptive maintenance helps teams align maintenance activities with production schedules, reducing disruptions and improving workflow. They can transform maintenance from a reactive task into a coordinated part of operations.
At a food processing facility with strict production timelines, for example, a prescriptive system identifies a cooling unit trending toward failure but recommends servicing it during a planned production slowdown, avoiding spoilage, maintaining throughput, and ensuring maintenance doesn’t interfere with critical operations.
Data-driven decision-making
Prescriptive maintenance empowers teams with insights based on historical trends and real-time data. AI and machine learning continuously refine recommendations, helping managers make smarter decisions and adapt to changing conditions.
For example, at a municipal water treatment plant, the system analyzes pump performance across multiple stations. It recommends servicing one pump based on flow rate anomalies and historical failure patterns, even though it’s newer than others. The decision proves correct, preventing a service outage and reinforcing trust in data-driven planning. Over time, the team relies more on analytics and less on guesswork, improving both confidence and outcomes.
How to set up a prescriptive maintenance plan
Setting up a prescriptive maintenance plan can significantly enhance the efficiency and reliability of your operations.
- Identify critical assets: Start by identifying the equipment and systems that are most critical to your operations. Focus on assets that have a high impact on productivity, safety, and cost
- Gather data: Collect historical and real-time data from your critical assets. Use sensors, IoT devices, and existing maintenance records to build a comprehensive dataset
- Define maintenance goals: Clearly define your maintenance goals, such as minimizing downtime, reducing costs, and improving safety. Align these goals with your overall business objectives
- Set up monitoring and alerts: Configure the system to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and set up alerts for anomalies. Real-time notifications will help you address issues before they become critical
- Develop actionable protocols: Create detailed protocols for each recommended action. Ensure that these protocols are easy to follow and include specific steps for repairs, replacements, and adjustments
- Train your team: Educate your maintenance team on how to use the prescriptive maintenance system. Conduct workshops and provide ongoing support to ensure they are comfortable and confident with the technology
- Monitor and adjust: Continuously monitor the performance of your prescriptive maintenance plan. Use feedback and data to adjust and improve the system over time
By following these steps, you can establish a prescriptive maintenance plan that not only prevents equipment failures but also optimizes your maintenance resources and enhances overall operational efficiency.
Fostering a culture of proactive maintenance
Implementing new technology for facility and maintenance management is only as effective as the culture that supports it. While the software provides data-driven insights and recommendations, it cannot create a proactive maintenance culture on its own. The software helps the team predict equipment failures, optimize maintenance schedules, and reduce downtime, but its success depends on the organization’s overall commitment to proactive practices.
Frequently asked questions
By Jonathan Davis
As a content creator at Eptura, Jonathan Davis covers asset management, maintenance software, and SaaS solutions, delivering thought leadership with actionable insights across industries such as fleet, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality. Jonathan’s writing focuses on topics to help enterprises optimize their operations, including building lifecycle management, digital twins, BIM for facility management, and preventive and predictive maintenance strategies. With a master's degree in journalism and a diverse background that includes writing textbooks, editing video game dialogue, and teaching English as a foreign language, Jonathan brings a versatile perspective to his content creation.
