What is preventive maintenance?

A preventive maintenance program is a combination of scheduled, routine inspections and tasks that keep equipment and assets in optimal working condition, reducing the likelihood of breakdowns. Unlike reactive maintenance, where departments address failures after they occur, preventive maintenance involves regular inspections, servicing, and repairs to prevent costly disruptions. Organizations across industries — from manufacturing to healthcare — rely on preventive maintenance to enhance reliability, ensure compliance, reduce equipment downtime, and improve operational efficiency.

Benefits and importance of effective preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance is more than just a way to avoid unexpected repairs; it’s a strategy that delivers long-term value by improving performance, reducing risks, and supporting capital planning and budgeting.

Reduces equipment downtime and failures

Unplanned equipment failures bring operations to a standstill, leading to lost productivity and increased expenses. Preventive maintenance minimizes operational costs by allowing teams to identify and address potential issues before they turn into major repairs. By preventing costly unplanned interruptions, organizations can maintain a steady workflow and keep critical systems running smoothly.

The difference between equipment downtime and unscheduled downtime

Not all downtime is created equal. Equipment downtime refers to any period when a machine is not operating, whether due to scheduled maintenance, repairs, or operational pauses.

In contrast, unscheduled downtime happens unexpectedly due to equipment failures and system malfunctions — often resulting in costly disruptions. While some downtime is planned and necessary, unscheduled downtime can cause:

• Missed deadlines
• Increased emergency repair costs
• Unnecessary wear-and-tear on machines
• Additional costs for parts, materials, and labor
• Reputational damage due to delayed deliverables
• Potential harm to workers and the environment

Preventive maintenance plays a crucial role in minimizing unscheduled downtime by helping departments identify potential issues before they escalate, ensuring any necessary work happens without disrupting critical operations.

Extends the lifespan of machinery and assets

Equipment is a significant investment for enterprise companies, and preventive maintenance helps maximize its value. Routine servicing ensures machinery operates efficiently for longer, delaying the need for costly replacements. By reducing wear and tear, organizations can get the most out of their assets while maintaining consistent performance.

Improves workplace safety and compliance

A strong preventive maintenance program directly contributes to a safer work environment. Poorly maintained equipment can pose risks to employees and the surrounding environment, leading to workplace injuries, hazardous conditions, or regulatory penalties. Regular inspections help the maintenance department identify and mitigate risks, ensuring compliance with industry safety and environmental standards. In regulated industries such as healthcare and assisted living communities, for example, preventive maintenance plays a critical role in meeting stringent safety and operational regulations.

Importantly, companies increase their risk regulatory issues for not properly maintaining their equipment due to the impact they can have on the environment. If rundown equipment contributes to an environment that risks employee health and safety, the fines are equally as severe, not to mention the reputational damage this could do to the organization.

Enhances operational efficiency and productivity

Preventive maintenance doesn’t just benefit maintenance technicians — it improves workflows across the entire organization. In manufacturing, for example, properly maintained machines reduce slowdowns on the production line, ensuring efficiency at every level. Employees across departments, from operations to procurement, benefit from fewer disruptions, better planning, and smoother processes.

Optimizes resource utilization and energy efficiency

Well-maintained equipment operates more efficiently, consuming less energy and reducing overall resource waste. Preventive maintenance ensures that machines run at peak performance, lowering energy costs and minimizing unnecessary resource consumption.

Supports long-term capital planning, budgeting, and ROI

Preventive maintenance is a strategic investment that aligns maintenance practices with organizational goals. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, organizations can anticipate cost savings between 12% and 18% by implementing a preventive maintenance strategy. A structured preventive maintenance program helps organizations forecast maintenance costs, avoid unexpected capital expenditures, and maximize return on investment (ROI). Additionally, once you have the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an asset, you can determine your ROI for that asset and make an informed decision to either repair or replace it.

In Eptura’s 2024 Workplace Index report, research revealed that on-demand work orders generally take twice as long as preventive maintenance. By finding and fixing small issues before they can become difficult problems, organizations can cut associated labor costs in half. But that data doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Preventive maintenance plays a crucial role in supporting capital planning, budgeting, and ROI. It significantly reduces labor costs by taking half the time compared to reactive maintenance, thanks to better planning and optimized scheduling. Preventive maintenance also helps in reducing unscheduled downtime, extending equipment life cycles, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing safety. These factors enable more predictable budgeting, allowing facility managers to forecast and manage maintenance costs effectively.

Additionally, preventive maintenance increases productivity, ensures compliance with warranties, and helps control inventory costs by minimizing the need for a large inventory of spare parts and allowing for better negotiation with suppliers. By diving deeper into the reasons behind the numbers, facility and maintenance managers can more fully understand all the ways it pays to be proactive. From there, they can better make the case to key stakeholders across the organization to increase investments in the programs that empower them to deliver more value at lower overall costs.

What is preventive maintenance software?

Preventive maintenance software is a digital tool that organizations can leverage to plan, track, and manage maintenance activities. By centralizing data, departments can automate:

• Scheduling
• Real-time asset monitoring
• Work order management
• Asset tracking
• Inventory management
• Compliance tracking

Maintenance teams can efficiently perform routine inspections and repairs. Integrating preventive maintenance software into one unified platform — one that encompasses the entire business’s ecosystem — enhances visibility, streamlines workflows, and ensures accountability by creating time-stamped records and a single source of truth in maintenance operations.

What are the key features of preventive maintenance software?

Preventive maintenance software empowers the maintenance department to streamline and optimize maintenance processes, ensuring assets remain in optimal condition and reducing the likelihood of failures. Organizations can schedule, track, and manage maintenance tasks efficiently, resulting in cost savings and improved asset reliability.

Generating on-demand maintenance work orders

Connected features make it easier to set up and track work, allowing quick reactions to unexpected issues.

Reactive, on-demand maintenance work orders

Even with a smaller facility, it’s impossible for the maintenance team to catch every small issue quickly, which is why a built-in request portal is so important. Once everyone in the building has a fast, simple way to report issues to maintenance, it’s much easier to prioritize and schedule work.

As soon as anyone sends a maintenance request through the online portal, the maintenance lead can review it right away and decide on the next steps, including how to best prioritize open work orders. Is it something you can safely delay while focusing on more important matters? Or does it deserve your immediate attention? Did someone report a burned-out light bulb in a storage closet? Or is there a major water leak in the break room ceiling?

From inside the preventive maintenance software, you can take the details in the request and build out your reactive maintenance work order, including everything the maintenance techs need to work efficiently and close it out quickly. Then, you can assign the work directly to a technician.

The ability to get granular with checklists for PM inspections and tasks

For the average preventive maintenance schedule, there’s a combination of inspections and tasks the tech needs to run through to ensure they’re finding and fixing any small issues before they have a chance to slide down the p-f curve, where everything becomes much more expensive.

With the right software solution, you can create custom checklists tailored specifically to your assets and equipment. So, say one of the industrial washing machines in the basement of your hotel has recurring issues with its motor, you can add specific items to the inspection list.

Or, if the rollers on the conveyor belt in your manufacturing facilities tend to loosen out of alignment, you can easily add related tasks to the preventive maintenance program.

Mobile friendly technology for techs and maintenance leads

Being mobile means your technicians have access to everything from everywhere. With instant access to comprehensive asset maintenance and repair histories, techs arrive onsite with the data they need to work fast. When they’re working on the AC unit that was recently upgraded with a new fan, they know to look there first.

For example, the team is working on a forklift that’s making a strange squeak. Because they can see a preventive maintenance work order from the week before when someone on the team adjusted the brakes as part of an ongoing PM program, they’re already more than halfway to narrowing down the possible problem.

Even when it’s not in the asset’s histories, the answer is never far away. Techs can access OEM manuals and digital schematics from their mobile device. And with the ability to upload comments and pictures directly to the open work order, they can even get help from the rest of the department.

Preventive maintenance by industry

Preventive maintenance practices vary significantly across industries, each with its own unique set of challenges and requirements. This section explores how maintenance teams can implement preventive maintenance in construction and fleet management.

Preventive maintenance for construction

In the construction industry, preventive maintenance (PM) is critical for keeping heavy equipment, vehicles, and on-site infrastructure in optimal working condition. Unexpected breakdowns can lead to costly project delays, safety hazards, and increased repair expenses. A well-structured PM plan ensures equipment longevity, minimizes downtime, and enhances worker safety.

Key elements of construction preventive maintenance

1. Regular Inspections and condition monitoring: Routine checks on excavators, cranes, bulldozers, and power tools help identify wear and tear before failures occur. Using telematics and IoT sensors, teams can track equipment health in real time.
2. Scheduled servicing and lubrication: Machinery components require scheduled oil changes, filter replacements, and lubrication to prevent excessive wear, overheating, and mechanical failures.
3. Operator training and best practices: Equipment misuse is a leading cause of failures. Training operators on proper usage, handling, and recognizing early warning signs reduces unnecessary damage.
4. Spare parts management: Stocking critical spare parts ensures quick repairs, reducing downtime when maintenance is required. A well-managed inventory prevents delays caused by unavailable components.
5. Compliance with safety and environmental regulations: Construction sites must adhere to federal health and safety and environmental protection agencies. A PM program helps ensure emissions control, fire suppression systems, and hydraulic components are in compliance.

By implementing a proactive maintenance strategy, construction firms can extend the lifespan of their assets, improve efficiency, and reduce unexpected project interruptions.

Preventive maintenance for fleet

The same is true for fleet vehicles in peak condition to reduce breakdowns and ensure compliance with safety regulations. Fleet managers who prioritize regular servicing can extend vehicle lifespan, improve fuel efficiency, and minimize costly repairs.

Key elements of fleet preventive maintenance

1. Routine inspections: Conducting pre- and post-trip vehicle checks helps identify issues early, from tire wear to fluid leaks and brake performance.
2. Scheduled servicing: Regular oil changes, tire rotations, brake replacements, and fluid top-offs prevent major mechanical failures and keep vehicles roadworthy.
3. Telematics and condition monitoring: Using GPS tracking and diagnostic tools, fleet managers can monitor vehicle health in real-time, optimizing maintenance schedules based on actual usage.
4. Driver training and reporting: Educating drivers on best practices, such as smooth acceleration and timely reporting of mechanical issues, helps prevent unnecessary wear and tear.
5. Regulatory compliance: Adhering to DOT regulations ensures that vehicles meet safety standards, reducing the risk of violations, fines, and operational disruptions.

A proactive fleet maintenance strategy keeps vehicles on the road longer, enhances safety, and reduces unexpected downtime.

Preventive fleet maintenance in action

Industry leading fleet operator Samsara in the United States called on Eptura to help streamline their maintenance planning and fleet operations by implementing integrated asset monitoring data. Eptura offered an out-of-box connector with Samsara, enabling the integration of asset monitoring data and vehicle telematics into maintenance planning.

Eptura Asset now automatically captures asset utilization data, driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs), meter and log data from Samsara, creating work orders with associated defects and clearing them once the work order is completed.

Facility leaders and maintenance teams can optimize maintenance plans based on real-time asset monitoring data and streamline corrective action by automatically generating work orders from DVIRs. This is a mono-directional integration, where Eptura Asset is enriched by Samsara’s data.

Preventive maintenance trends

The landscape of preventive maintenance continues to evolve, driven by technological advancements and industry demands. As businesses seek to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve asset reliability, these emerging trends are shaping the future of maintenance management.

Mobile-first maintenance management tools

With mobile-friendly preventive maintenance software, technicians can access work orders, log service updates, and receive real-time notifications from anywhere, improving efficiency and reducing response times. These mobile solutions also support offline functionality, ensuring that maintenance teams can continue their work in remote or connectivity-limited environments, preventing disruptions in mission-critical operations.

Sustainable maintenance practices

Organizations are adopting maintenance strategies that prioritize sustainability, such as using eco-friendly lubricants, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing waste through predictive maintenance insights. Implementing condition-based maintenance reduces unnecessary part replacements and extends asset life, helping companies meet environmental regulations and corporate sustainability goals while lowering operational costs.

Digital twins to simulate maintenance scenarios

By creating virtual replicas of physical assets, organizations can test maintenance scenarios and predict potential failures, improving decision-making and reducing unplanned downtime. These digital twins allow maintenance teams to run simulations for different stress conditions, assess the impact of various maintenance strategies, and refine processes without disrupting real-world operations.

Scalable solutions in large enterprises

Enterprises with multiple locations benefit from unified preventive maintenance platforms that provide standardized processes, ensuring consistency in maintenance procedures and resource allocation. A centralized preventive maintenance system eliminates data silos, enables cross-location reporting, and allows enterprises to scale operations efficiently without compromising asset performance or compliance standards.

Integrating maintenance with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Integrating preventive maintenance software with ERP systems enhances data synchronization, inventory management, procurement, and capital planning for increased operational effectiveness. This integration enables automated work order generation based on asset conditions, real-time visibility into spare parts availability, and predictive financial forecasting for maintenance budgets, leading to more informed business decisions.

By staying ahead of these trends, organizations can optimize their preventive maintenance strategies, improve asset longevity, and ensure seamless operations in an increasingly digital and sustainability-focused business environment.

Preventive maintenance best practices

Implementing a strong preventive maintenance strategy requires more than just scheduling routine inspections — it involves optimizing resources, leveraging data, and fostering collaboration across departments. By following best practices, organizations can streamline maintenance workflows, reduce unexpected failures, and maximize asset performance.

Optimize parts inventory management

Ensuring the right spare parts are available when needed prevents costly delays and unplanned downtime. A well-managed inventory system enables faster repairs and reduces excess stock costs. You can use data from your preventive maintenance program to forecast spare parts needs and optimize inventory levels.

Establish a comprehensive maintenance schedule

A structured maintenance plan ensures all assets receive the necessary upkeep, reducing the risk of overlooked maintenance tasks and unexpected failures.

Use data to drive maintenance decisions

Leveraging data from previous maintenance activities and equipment performance helps organizations optimize maintenance intervals and identify patterns that predict failures.

Standardize maintenance procedures across locations

For businesses with multiple sites, consistent maintenance practices help streamline troubleshooting, improve efficiency, and reduce variability in equipment performance.

Collaborate across departments to identify needs

Effective preventive maintenance isn’t just a responsibility for maintenance teams. Procurement teams, for example, play a crucial role in sourcing quality spare parts and negotiating contracts that align with maintenance strategies.

Preventive maintenance checklists

A preventive maintenance checklist is a clear list of things to check and do before closing out a preventive maintenance work order. The benefits are related to standardization and speed. Preventive maintenance checklists help you ensure that no matter who is doing the work, they’re doing it the same way everyone else is. Putting together a preventive maintenance checklist involves detailed data, the right people, and careful order.

All of this is made easier and more streamlined by using the templates in preventive maintenance software compared to paper logs and spreadsheets. All your data lives inside one central database, where it is safe, secure, and accessible. Any time you or anyone else with access and the right permission setting makes any changes, the data updates in real time.

Once you create a checklist, everyone can see it. And if you need to update it, everyone sees the new, improved checklist right away.

And because you’re saving your checklists as templates, you can easily add them to new preventive maintenance programs as you generate them.

In Eptura’s very own Asset Champion podcast, host Mike Petrusky discusses the future of facilities and asset management with some of the industry’s most prominent voices. Particularly, episode 144 with Jonathan C. Thomas, PE, CEM, CRL, President at Building Maintenance Optimization Consultants, Inc. (BMOC), touched on a systems approach to the full life cycle of building portfolios.

The approach delivers better data-driven decision-making, they say, pivotal to effective asset management. They explored the different ways asset management, preventive and predictive maintenance, installation, and design data are essential to the future of the built environment.

“The system, to me, is founded in good data, and that’s defined by a comprehensive, thorough, and accurate asset registry, good preventive maintenance procedures, life cycle modeling for you to make repair-or-replace decisions, consumable parts information, and all that goes into a CMMS.” — Jonathan C. Thomas, PE, CEM, CRL, President at Building Maintenance Optimization Consultants, Inc. (BMOC)

Dive deeper into the intricacies of proper asset management by listening to the full episode here.

Assets that don’t benefit from preventive maintenance

Not all assets benefit from preventive maintenance. Some assets are designed to be used until they fail, or their maintenance is not cost-effective. Here are a few types of assets that typically don’t benefit from preventive maintenance:

• Consumables: Items like printer ink, paper, and cleaning supplies are used up and replaced as needed. Preventive maintenance is not applicable because these items do not have a maintenance schedule.
• Simple tools: Basic tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, and pliers are often inexpensive and durable. They are typically replaced when they break rather than being maintained.
• Single-use equipment: Equipment designed for one-time use, such as certain medical devices, does not require preventive maintenance because it is discarded after use.
• Low-cost items: Small, low-cost items like light bulbs and batteries are often replaced when they fail rather than being maintained, as the cost of maintenance would exceed the cost of replacement.
• Non-critical assets: Assets that are not critical to operations, such as office chairs or desks, may not benefit from preventive maintenance because their failure does not significantly impact business operations.

Key preventive maintenance regulations

Regulatory compliance is a critical driver for preventive maintenance, especially in highly regulated industries like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and assisted living communities. Here are the key regulations your organization needs to comply with, made easier by a digitized asset management system that can keep you up to speed at all times.

Workplace safety: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

OSHA requires workplaces to keep machinery and equipment in safe working condition to prevent workplace injuries. Regulations like 29 CFR 1910.147 (Lockout/Tagout) mandate proper shutdown procedures before servicing to avoid accidents. Industries such as manufacturing, construction, and warehousing must comply with OSHA standards to ensure worker safety and minimize liability risks.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs): Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The FDA enforces Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) in industries like food processing, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Equipment must be regularly maintained to prevent contamination and ensure product quality. Key regulations, such as 21 CFR Part 11 (electronic records compliance) and 21 CFR Part 820 (medical device quality systems), require strict maintenance protocols to meet FDA standards.

Equipment and facility compliance: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The EPA sets maintenance requirements for industries to comply with environmental standards, particularly regarding air quality, hazardous waste management, and pollution control. Regulations like 40 CFR Part 60 govern industrial equipment emissions, requiring regular upkeep to minimize environmental impact and ensure legal compliance.

Healthcare facility compliance: Joint Commission (TJC)

Hospitals, assisted living communities, and other healthcare facilities must follow The Joint Commission (TJC) Environment of Care (EC) Standards, which mandate routine inspections and maintenance of medical equipment. Preventive maintenance ensures reliability in critical care settings, reducing risks associated with equipment failure.

Aircraft maintenance standards: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The FAA enforces strict maintenance schedules to ensure aircraft safety and compliance with regulations like 14 CFR Part 43, which outlines maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations necessary for airworthiness. Airlines and aviation maintenance teams must adhere to these guidelines to prevent in-flight equipment failures.

Fire safety equipment maintenance: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

NFPA standards, such as NFPA 25, require routine inspections and maintenance of fire protection systems, including sprinklers, alarms, and extinguishers. Regular maintenance ensures that fire prevention equipment functions properly in emergencies, reducing the risk of fire-related incidents in commercial and residential buildings.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – Asset management and maintenance

ISO 55001 provides a global framework for effective asset management, including preventive maintenance best practices. Organizations in industries like energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure use ISO standards to improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and enhance overall operational efficiency.

Department of Transportation (DOT) – Fleet and vehicle maintenance

Businesses operating commercial vehicle fleets must comply with 49 CFR Part 396, which mandates routine inspections and preventive maintenance checks to ensure vehicle safety and roadworthiness. Regular maintenance helps prevent accidents, extend vehicle lifespan, and keep fleets in compliance with DOT regulations.

Preventive maintenance success story

Nebraska Medical Center (TNMC) is the largest healthcare facility in Nebraska, serving as the primary teaching hospital for the University of Nebraska medical school. With 621 acute care beds, 6,000 employees, and over 350 resident physicians, TNMC operates an expansive healthcare network that includes 4.6 million square feet of facilities across multiple locations. Because of its size, managing its large-scale facilities posed significant challenges.

The challenge

Like many large healthcare institutions, TNMC faced significant hurdles in preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. The hospital’s existing time and materials system lacked centralized reporting capabilities, making it difficult to track compliance-related work and gather essential maintenance data. Work activity reports were stored in individual folders with inconsistent naming systems, making audits cumbersome and time-consuming. Additionally, conducting facilities surveys was a six-week-long, paper-based process, which often led to data entry errors, illegible handwriting, and incomplete photographic records — creating inefficiencies and compliance risks.

The solution

To address these challenges, TNMC implemented Archibus by Eptura, a powerful integrated workplace management system. The software provided a centralized database for preventive maintenance and space management, allowing TNMC to streamline 800–1,000 preventive and operational work orders per month across 18 problem types with 570 associated SLAs.

The results

Since implementing Archibus, TNMC has seen significant improvements in efficiency, compliance, and overall facilities management:

• Proactive maintenance and faster response times: Maintenance requests are now sent directly to pagers of technicians or team leads, ensuring faster resolution times.
• Improved data accuracy: Work orders are now centralized, and facility space data is pre-loaded with correct room and floor numbers, reducing human errors.
• Regulatory compliance made easy: Audits have become significantly smoother, as Archibus automatically organizes and retrieves compliance data required for Joint Commission and CMS inspections.
• Shorter survey times and higher customer satisfaction: Facilities surveys that previously took six weeks are now completed much faster, reducing errors and improving hospital-wide efficiency.
• New revenue streams: TNMC’s improved maintenance practices have attracted smaller, rural hospitals, many of which now outsource their compliance work to TNMC, generating additional revenue for the institution.

By embracing Archibus by Eptura, Nebraska Medical Center has not only optimized its facilities management but also positioned itself as a leader in regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.

Read the full case study here for a deeper dive into how TNMC transformed its maintenance strategy.