Asset Maintenance – Definition, Types and How to Manage

What is Asset Maintenance?

Asset maintenance is maintaining and repairing physical assets, such as buildings, equipment, and machinery, to keep them in good working condition and extend their useful life. 

The type of maintenance is typically performed regularly and may involve various tasks, such as cleaning, lubrication, and replacement of worn or damaged parts. Maintenance aims to minimize downtime and ensure that the assets can function correctly and efficiently. 

Maintenance can help reduce the costs associated with asset ownership and improve the overall productivity of a business or organization.

What is the purpose of maintenance?

Maintenance aims to keep physical assets, such as buildings, equipment, and machinery, in good working condition and extend their useful life. Maintenance activities include cleaning, lubricating, and replacing worn or damaged parts.

-The goal of maintenance is to minimize downtime and ensure that the assets can function correctly and efficiently.

Maintenance can help to improve the safety, reliability, and performance of the assets and can also help to reduce the costs associated with their ownership and operation. Overall, the purpose of maintenance is to maintain the integrity and performance of physical assets.

What is the asset maintenance process?

What is the asset maintenance process?

The asset maintenance process is the steps and activities involved in maintaining and repairing physical assets, such as buildings, equipment, and machinery, to keep them in good working condition and extend their useful life. The maintenance process typically includes the following steps:

  1. Identify the assets that need to be maintained: The first step in the maintenance process is to identify the assets that need to be maintained. This can include buildings, equipment, machinery, and other physical assets. The assets should be prioritized based on their importance and criticality to the business.
  2. Determine the maintenance requirements for each asset: Once the assets have been identified, the next step is to determine the maintenance requirements for each asset.
    This can include tasks such as cleaning, lubrication, and replacement of parts, as well as any specialized maintenance that may be required. The maintenance requirements should be based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, industry standards, and any known or potential problems with the asset.
  3. Develop a schedule for maintenance activities: The next step is to develop a plan for the maintenance activities that need to be performed. This should take into account the maintenance requirements for each asset, as well as the availability of personnel and resources.
    The schedule should be realistic and flexible and reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains effective.
  4. Allocate personnel and resources for maintenance activities: Once a maintenance schedule has been developed, the next step is to allocate personnel and resources to perform the necessary maintenance activities.
    This can include hiring additional staff, purchasing equipment, or contracting outside vendors. It is vital to ensure that the personnel and resources allocated are sufficient to carry out the maintenance activities as planned.
  5. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the maintenance plan: The final step is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the maintenance plan.
    This can include tracking the completion of maintenance tasks, measuring the performance of the maintained assets, and comparing the results to the goals and objectives of the maintenance plan.
    Regular review and evaluation of the maintenance plan can help to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the program is meeting the needs of the business.

Why is asset maintenance essential?

Asset maintenance is essential for several reasons:

  1. It helps to ensure the safety and reliability of the maintained assets. Well-maintained assets are less likely to break down or malfunction, which can help to prevent accidents and injuries.
  2. Regular maintenance can help extend an asset’s useful life, saving money in the long run by delaying the need for replacement.
  3. Adequately maintained assets are typically more efficient and effective, which can improve the overall productivity of a business or organization.
  4. Keeping assets can help prevent costly repairs and downtime, saving money and improving profitability.

Types of maintenance strategies

There are several different types of maintenance strategies that organizations can use to maintain their assets. These strategies include:

  1. Preventive maintenance, in which regular inspections and servicing are performed to prevent potential problems before they occur.
  2. Predictive maintenance is advanced technologies such as sensors and machine learning that detect potential problems before they happen.
  3. Corrective maintenance, in which repairs are performed after a problem has occurred, typically in response to a failure or breakdown.
  4. Reliability-centred maintenance is maintenance activities based on the reliability and criticality of the maintained assets.
  5. Condition-based maintenance, in which the condition of the assets is monitored and maintenance is performed when needed rather than on a fixed schedule.
  6. Poor maintenance, in which maintenance activities are streamlined and waste is minimized to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

3 Signs You Need an Asset Maintenance Strategy

Here are three signs that you may need a maintenance strategy:

  1. High levels of unplanned downtime: If you are experiencing high levels of unplanned downtime due to equipment failures or other maintenance-related issues, it may be a sign that you need a more structured and proactive approach to asset maintenance.
  2. Poor asset performance: If your assets are not performing as well as they should, or if you see a decline in their efficiency or effectiveness, it may be a sign that you need to implement a more comprehensive asset maintenance strategy.
  3. High maintenance costs: If your maintenance costs are consistently high, or if you are spending a significant portion of your budget on repairs and replacements, it may be a sign that you need to implement a more cost-effective asset maintenance strategy.

Overall, you are not currently managing your assets proactively and systematically. In that case, it may be time to develop a formal asset maintenance strategy to improve their performance and extend their useful life.

Why Do Leading Businesses Focus on Asset Maintenance?

Leading businesses focus on asset maintenance because it can help to improve their overall operations and performance. Proper maintenance can help to ensure the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the assets being maintained, which can, in turn, help to improve the productivity and profitability of the business.

By investing in regular maintenance and repair, companies can help extend their assets’ useful life and avoid costly repairs and downtime.

This can help to reduce the total cost of ownership for the assets and improve the overall return on investment. As a result, asset maintenance is an essential part of managing and optimizing the performance of a business.

5 Steps to Set up a Working Asset Maintenance Plan

Here are five steps to set up a working asset maintenance plan:

  1. Identify the assets that need to be maintained: The first step in setting up a maintenance plan is to identify the assets that need to be maintained.
    This can include buildings, equipment, machinery, and other physical assets. It is essential to prioritize the assets based on their importance and criticality to the business.
  2. Determine the maintenance requirements for each asset: Once the assets have been identified, the next step is to determine the maintenance requirements for each asset.
    This can include tasks such as cleaning, lubrication, and replacement of parts, as well as any specialized maintenance that may be required. It is essential to consider the manufacturer’s recommendations and industry standards when determining the maintenance requirements for each asset.
  3. Develop a schedule for maintenance activities: The next step is to develop a plan for the maintenance activities that need to be performed.
    This should take into account the maintenance requirements for each asset, as well as the availability of personnel and resources. The schedule should be realistic and flexible and reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that it remains effective.
  4. Allocate personnel and resources for maintenance activities: Once a maintenance schedule has been developed, the next step is to allocate personnel and resources to perform the necessary maintenance activities.
    This can include hiring additional staff, purchasing equipment, or contracting outside vendors. It is vital to ensure that the personnel and resources allocated are sufficient to carry out the maintenance activities as planned.
  5. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the maintenance plan: The final step is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the maintenance plan.
    This can include tracking the completion of maintenance tasks, measuring the performance of the maintained assets, and comparing the results to the goals and objectives of the maintenance plan.
    Regular review and evaluation of the maintenance plan can help to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the program is meeting the needs of the business.

What is an asset maintenance schedule?

An asset maintenance schedule is a plan that outlines the regular inspections and maintenance activities that need to be performed on a specific asset or group of assets. The program typically includes the following:

  • The tasks that need to be performed.
  • The frequency with which they need to be performed.
  • The personnel or resources are responsible for carrying out the tasks.

An asset maintenance schedule aims to ensure that the assets are properly maintained and kept in good working condition to extend their useful life and minimize downtime.
An asset maintenance schedule can help to improve the reliability and performance of the assets and can also help to reduce the costs associated with their ownership and operation.

How do you determine what maintenance an asset needs?

To determine what maintenance an asset needs, you should first consult the manufacturer’s recommendations and industry standards for that type of asset. This can guide the specific maintenance tasks that need to be performed and the frequency with which they should be performed.

It would be best if you also considered the asset’s operating conditions and any known or potential problems that may require maintenance.

Finally, you should conduct regular inspections of the asset to identify any issues that need to be addressed. Based on this information, you can develop a customized maintenance plan for the asset that meets its specific needs.

What is the need for Asset maintenance?

The need for asset maintenance arises because physical assets, such as buildings, equipment, and machinery, are subject to wear and tear over time.

Without regular maintenance and repair, these assets can become less reliable and inefficient and eventually break down or fail altogether. Asset maintenance is necessary to keep assets in good working condition, prevent costly repairs and downtime, and extend their useful life.

In addition, proper asset maintenance is essential for ensuring the safety of personnel and the public and for complying with regulatory requirements. Overall, the need for asset maintenance is driven by the need to maintain physical assets’ reliability, performance, and safety.

How to do asset maintenance with asset management software?

Asset maintenance can be managed using asset management software, a type of software designed to help organizations manage their physical assets.

This software typically includes features to track and manage asset information, schedule and perform maintenance activities, and monitor and report on asset performance.

TAG Samurai has a feature to manage asset maintenance. For complete information, click the link here! If you are interested in using the demo, click here.

FAQ about Asset maintenance?

Is maintenance a fixed asset?

Maintenance is not necessarily a fixed asset, but it can be considered a component of the cost of them. A fixed asset is a long-term tangible asset used in producing or providing goods or services. Examples of fixed assets include buildings, machinery, and equipment.

Maintenance is maintaining and repairing these assets to keep them in good working condition and extend their useful life. While maintenance is not a fixed asset, the maintenance cost can be considered a component of the asset’s price.

For example, when a company incurs expenses for cleaning, lubrication, or replacement of parts for a piece of equipment, those costs can be considered part of the cost of the equipment. They can be included in their value on the company’s balance sheet.

What has asset maintenance cost?

Asset maintenance is the total cost of maintaining and repairing physical assets, such as buildings, equipment, and machinery, to keep them in good working condition and extend their useful life.

This can include labour, materials, and services costs, such as cleaning, lubrication, and replacement of parts. maintenance costs can be fixed or variable, depending on the type and frequency of the maintenance activities.

Maintenance aims to minimize these costs and ensure that the assets can function correctly and efficiently. Proper Maintenance can help to reduce the total cost of ownership for the assets and improve the overall return on investment.

Is maintenance fixed or variable?

Maintenance can be either fixed or variable, depending on the type and frequency of the maintenance activities. Fixed maintenance costs do not vary with the level of output or activity, such as the cost of cleaning and lubricating equipment regularly.

Variable maintenance costs are those that go with the story of the production or activity, such as the cost of repairing equipment after it has broken down.

In general, the maintenance cost can be considered a fixed cost if it is incurred regularly regardless of the output level and a variable cost if it is incurred only when a specific event or condition occurs.

Andini Sabrina