Glossary

What is predictive maintenance?

Quick answer

Predictive maintenance uses condition monitoring, such as vibration, thermography, oil analysis, or sensor data, to detect developing faults and act just before failure. It aims to do the right work at the right time, rather than on a fixed calendar.

Benchmark

Benchmark
GoodApplied to critical assets where the failure modes are detectable and the consequence justifies the monitoring.
Warning signMonitoring everything regardless of criticality, or collecting data nobody acts on.

Why it matters

Predictive maintenance can cut both unnecessary preventive work and unplanned failures, but only where failure modes are detectable and someone acts on the signal. The technology is rarely the constraint; acting on the findings is.

How to improve it

Target predictive techniques at high-criticality assets with detectable failure modes, and build the routine that turns a reading into a planned job before the asset fails.

Frequently asked questions

Is predictive maintenance worth it?
On critical assets with detectable failure modes, yes, because it catches failures early and avoids unnecessary work. On low-criticality assets the monitoring cost often outweighs the benefit.

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