Proactive and preventative maintenance are integral in facilities management, and many teams working with outdated operations software platforms struggle to maintain a maintenance schedule or are unable to do so at all. You know the drill; your team runs assets to the end of their lifecycle, with little to no insight into asset health or potential for breakdown. When an asset does break down, you end up eating the often-expensive cost to repair, leaving your team and customers working harder and waiting for the tedious completion of the repair. A cost-effective solution might be closer than you think, and we’re here to give some insight into how your team can shift to a proactive maintenance mindset. Today, our team of asset logistics software experts here at SCLogic discuss ways you can update your current maintenance structure and how this will impact your team, customers, and partners long term. 

What is the Difference Between Preventative and Proactive Maintenance?

While these two terms are often used interchangeably, there are certain differences between proactive and preventative maintenance that are important to note. With preventative maintenance, maintenance is performed in recurring intervals to prevent failure, just as the term states. For example, this would include set calibrations or resets of a technology asset every six weeks, performed at a regular time and schedule. As for proactive maintenance, this takes preventative maintenance to another level. Proactive maintenance uses data and analytics to create an optimized maintenance schedule, rather than just doing routine updates. For example, this would include areas of a machine getting tightened every “X” number of days because data has reported a mean time between failure of “Y” number of days. 

Another difference between preventative and proactive maintenance is their necessity philosophies. For preventative maintenance, maintenance checks will be conducted on a set schedule, whether it is actually required or not. For proactive maintenance, teams use data-backed information to identify when the best opportunities are for maintenance, waiting until repairs can be made as close to failure as possible within a certain margin. Using Intra, specifically our Asset Logistics Workgroup, teams can monitor KPIs such as the average lifecycle of assets, missed inspections and audits, mean time to repair, and mean time between failure. This results in an optimized asset management department that saves both time and money through advanced data monitoring and repair.

How Can You Prepare Your Facility for Preventative Maintenance?

When it comes to implementing a new asset maintenance strategy, your team should be prepared for a change. Research, planning, and strategy are all important steps in creating a solid base for your new asset maintenance initiatives and require the help of many different team members. By preparing adequately, your team can hit the ground running with the implementation of new software, ready for success and growth. 

Analyze Your Current Asset Maintenance Strategy

Before jumping into any new endeavor, the first step is to analyze how your current system is working for you and your team. As an asset manager, you are pulled in various directions every day and may not be able to see just how much time your current system is taking out of your day. Before investing in a new asset maintenance strategy, identify gaps and your biggest pain points. Each facility is unique, and each industry has specific assets that are vital to its everyday success. Monitor your strategy for a designated period (i.e., month, quarter), and then gather this data to begin research. Once you have clearly identified your most essential needs, you can narrow down the solutions to best fit your business.

Identify a Platform That Serves Your Unique Needs

We have spoken about the importance of investing in a software platform time and time again, and guess what, we’re doing it again! Oftentimes, small-to-medium-sized facilities are working with multiple point solutions. As a result, asset managers work with various programs and technical support teams each day. Most point solutions cannot communicate with one another, resulting in skewed data and an increased rate of human error. How can you solve this? By implementing a configurable asset maintenance and management platform, such as Intra. This way, your team will be working with one comprehensive platform, with all the data they need at your fingertips. Plus, if you implement other workgroups such as Workplace Services or Mail and Parcel, relevant data and insights can be combined for seamless facility analytics.

Prioritize Technology Training for Relevant Teams

Always important but often forgotten, training is an integral step to ensure the success of your new asset management and maintenance initiatives. According to Accruent and IFMA, the average age of a facilities manager is 49 years old, with less than 10% of the facilities workforce being under 34 years old. We know that Gen-Z has grown up with technology glued to their side, but this isn’t always true for Millennials and Gen-X workers. With many facilities trends geared toward increased technology use, now is the time to invest in training. When implementing a new platform, be sure to take time for in-depth training for all relevant staff. This does not just mean visual training on analytics dashboards or handheld usage, but the various benefits for each workgroup, how your team can alter current processes for a more sustainable and advanced approach, and ways that your team members can ensure compliance and security are upheld.

What Are the Benefits of Preventative Maintenance?

Now that we’ve unpacked the differences between proactive and preventative maintenance and how you can create a strategy for success for your team, it’s time to talk about the many benefits of these maintenance and management initiatives. The first and one of the most important benefits is a reduced risk of harm to people and property. There is no such thing as downtime for facilities working with life-saving assets, such as medical facilities doing organ transplants or classified lab work. The moment an asset is broken unexpectedly, your team and those you serve to face potential harm. By proactively servicing equipment and technology, the risk of downtime is significantly reduced, keeping your facility safe and optimized. 

Outside of industry-specific benefits, proactive and preventative maintenance reduces costs by preventing the escalation of an asset issue. Proactive asset management reaches the root cause of the issue so that your assets can be serviced effectively without significant costs. Unfortunately, reactive maintenance typically occurs when multiple issues with an asset arise, resulting in a complete overhaul or repurchase of an asset that, with proactive maintenance, could still be completely usable. Finally, proactive and preventative maintenance leads to a lengthened asset lifecycle and improved sustainability efforts. By monitoring assets through platforms such as Intra, you have detailed insights into service and lifecycle history, as well as the ability to recycle gently used assets to create a “green” facility that is future-focused.

Advance Your Asset Management Strategy with SCLogic

Asset maintenance and management are an integral part of the success of any facility. No matter the size, adequate management of your assets keeps your facility organized and optimized for the safety of tenants and facilities managers. At SCLogic, we have spent decades perfecting our in-building logistics solution, Intra, to serve many industries, including healthcare, government, higher education, and more, across the globe. If you want to invest in a modern and comprehensive asset maintenance platform, email [email protected] or schedule a demo with one of our team members today to learn about our logistics workgroups.