Maintenance strategies
Reactive vs preventive vs predictive maintenance: which to use
No plant runs on one strategy. The right mix depends on how critical each asset is and how its failures develop.
Plain-English definition
What is a maintenance strategy?
Maintenance strategy is the choice of when to do maintenance: after failure (reactive), on a fixed interval (preventive), or when measurements show it is needed (condition-based or predictive).
The strategies compared
| Strategy | When work happens | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reactive (run to failure) | After the asset fails | Cheap, non-critical items with spares | Unplanned downtime and safety risk |
| Preventive | On a fixed calendar or hours interval | Wear-related failures with known life | Over-maintaining or missed routines |
| Condition-based | When an inspection reading crosses a limit | Assets with measurable warning signs | Needs consistent readings |
| Predictive | When sensors or analysis forecast failure | Critical, high-value rotating equipment | Sensor cost and data skills |
Reactive maintenance is not always wrong
Running a light fitting or a cheap fan to failure is sensible when a spare is on the shelf and the failure is harmless. Reactive maintenance becomes expensive when it is the default for critical machines.
Preventive maintenance is the practical foundation
For most teams, a reliable preventive programme on critical assets delivers the biggest improvement for the least investment. It needs a schedule, a checklist and an owner—not sensors.
Predictive maintenance starts with readings
Predictive maintenance is often sold as sensors and machine learning. The first step is simpler: record the same readings—temperature, vibration, current, pressure—on every routine check. A trend in a technician's readings is condition monitoring.
Add sensors later for the few assets where a failure is costly enough to justify them.
Choosing the mix
- Rank assets by the consequence of failure
- Run cheap, non-critical items to failure with spares available
- Put critical assets on preventive routines with readings
- Use the readings to move intervals from fixed to condition-based over time
- Consider sensors only where downtime cost justifies them
How UPWRKS does it
Run the strategy you choose, consistently.
UPWRKS supports the everyday side of every strategy: breakdown job cards for reactive work, recurring schedules for preventive work, and checklist readings that build the condition history predictive decisions rely on.
Report, assign and track reactive jobs with downtime.
Recurring schedules create preventive job cards automatically.
Checklist readings build a trend for condition decisions.
Strategy fails in execution, not on paper. Simple job cards and schedules make the chosen strategy happen every week.
Common questions
Maintenance strategies FAQs
What is the difference between preventive and predictive maintenance?
Preventive maintenance happens on a fixed schedule. Predictive maintenance happens when data shows a failure is developing.
Is reactive maintenance ever acceptable?
Yes, for low-cost, non-critical items where failure is safe and spares are available.
Do I need sensors for predictive maintenance?
Not to start. Consistent manual readings on routine checks already reveal many developing failures.
What is the ideal planned versus unplanned split?
Many teams aim for at least 80% planned work. Track your own split and aim for steady improvement.