A Guide to Planned Maintenance

What is Planned Maintenance?

Planned maintenance is a scheduled approach to upkeep equipment or service products to ensure businesses can operate without interruption. It is one of the eight pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) that uses observation of historical downtime and failure rates to achieve zero deficiencies or machine breakdowns.

The 8 Pillars of TPM | Mitti (by SafetyCulture)

What is the Difference Between Planned and Preventive Maintenance?

Maintenance is essential for reducing equipment defects, breakdowns, and operational delays. It is generally classified into proactive (preventive) and reactive (responsive) strategies.
Both planned maintenance and preventive maintenance fall under proactive strategies:

• Planned maintenance (scheduled maintenance) follows a documented schedule based on historical data and analysis. Organizations with high planned maintenance can achieve 80–90% of maintenance work as planned, reducing unplanned downtime.

• Preventive maintenance involves routine checks and tasks performed regularly to prevent issues before they occur. Facilities that implement preventive maintenance effectively can cut equipment failures by 30–50%.

Example: In manufacturing, if Machine A’s oil level drops every month:

• Planned maintenance schedules monthly oil replenishment to prevent failure.

• Preventive maintenance involves regular checks to keep the oil at the correct level at all times.

• Proper use of planned and preventive maintenance can reduce emergency repairs by up to 70% and extend equipment lifespan by 20–40%, depending on the industry.

This approach applies across industries that rely on mechanical equipment, such as agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.

What are the Advantages of Planned Maintenance?

The good thing about planned maintenance is that it can be performed during non-production days or downtimes to not interfere with the overall production. By implementing it, organizations can reap the following benefits:

• prevent unexpected equipment failure;

• minimize maintenance cost;

• improve the overall equipment performance for effective asset care;

• set standards in the pursuit of autonomous maintenance goals;

• plan and allocate resources appropriately; and

• improve workplace safety.

What are the Four Phases of Planned Maintenance?

Planned maintenance is a reliable strategy for companies aiming to minimize maintenance costs, boost profitability, and enhance workplace safety. The following phases will guide you through its implementation in the organization.

Phases of Planned Maintenance | Mitti (by SafetyCulture)

Phase 1 – Identify

Identify the occurrence of the problem and observe what triggered the machine failure. Collect the needed information and diagnose the equipment to understand its current condition. Furthermore, if previous records are available, compare them with the current issue to hasten the analysis process.

Phase 2 – Plan

Plan the maintenance task and evaluate the scope of work to be completed. It is crucial to determine the workload, priority level, required skills, and sequence of activities to maximize the value of preventive maintenance. Check if third-party contractors and other outside resources were needed for maintenance tasks including work permits, tools, manpower, and other equipment. Ensure all resources are available before scheduling the maintenance work.

Phase 3 – Schedule

Scheduling the maintenance work is vital to avoid any operational disruptions. It is important to inform all users who would be affected by the maintenance work to prepare to prevent lost data or unsaved work that may affect their productivity. Check the availability of all needed resources and ensure they are ready to use on the set maintenance schedule.

Phase 4 – Execute

Time is significant when performing scheduled maintenance. As much as possible follow the allocated schedule for the maintenance work, but if something unexpected, such as a bug, happens, the maintenance team should update all the affected groups to set their expectations.

The maintenance team should meet the required quality standards and ensure equipment, tools, or machinery are operational after the maintenance work. They have to monitor, observe and document the maintenance work including safety precautions, shutdown procedures, and other important information.

How does Planned Maintenance Improve System Reliability?

Planned maintenance aims to reduce workflow interruption and machine failure with minimal cost. It helps increase system reliability and extend the asset life span by identifying and dealing with both technical and consequence-related aspects of specific failure modes. With proper documentation of acceptable tolerances of different machines and other tools, planned maintenance can help provide appropriate solutions and needed updates to avoid system issues or failure.

Using Mobile Applications for Planned Maintenance Inspections

Traditionally paper-based maintenance checklists are used when performing inspections. This method uses pen and paper to gather and document data that is prone to deterioration, damage, or loss. Somehow, it is burdensome for facility managers to keep a record of maintenance history and attach photo evidence of maintenance work.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) is an inspection software app that can transform your existing paper-based maintenance checklist into a digital form. Eliminate clunky paperwork and enhance maintenance practices using a digital checklist. With Mitti (by SafetyCulture) you can:

• set the schedule of maintenance work and be notified before the set date;

• perform inspections and capture photo evidence in-app;

• train workers for maintenance training and tasks;

• store maintenance data in a cloud; and

• assign corrective actions to appropriate members of the organization to solve issues right on time.

After performing maintenance works, facility managers can easily inspect if the processes and procedures are executed properly with a digital checklist. They can also send maintenance reports in real-time with a single tap of a finger.