What is Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM)?
PPM stands for ‘Planned Preventive Maintenance’, but can also be referred to as ‘Planned Preventative Maintenance’. It involves proactively maintaining equipment and assets through scheduled inspections and maintenance tasks, and is essential for ensuring the longevity and efficiency of assets while minimising downtime, safety issues and production shutdowns.
PPM is the right type of maintenance for activities that you already know need to occur, so you can plan them ahead of time within a maintenance or activity planner. You can then assign these activities to specific technicians or teams via a resource planner to reduce reactive maintenance, asset downtime, and maintenance costs, while extending asset life.
PPM is a maintenance strategy used by any organisation responsible for performing maintenance. This applies to property owners, large lessees, and outsourced service providers.
Types of Planned Preventive Maintenance
There are various types of Planned Preventive Maintenance, each tailored to specific needs, asset types, and operational goals:
- Time-based maintenance for an asset is based on a library with maintenance activities and its pre-set frequency of execution for that asset. These frequencies can be based on warranties, supplier instructions, legislation or experience.
For instance, a time-based maintenance plan may include annual air-conditioning inspections, filter cleaning every three years, and filter replacements every six years. However, time-based maintenance can sometimes result in delays, reactive maintenance, or unnecessary servicing if the actual condition of the asset is not monitored.
- Usage-based maintenance shifts the focus from time-based scheduling to asset usage patterns. Rather than adhering to fixed time intervals, maintenance tasks are scheduled based on factors such as operating hours, mileage, cycles, or production throughput.
- Condition-based maintenance is an advanced approach that leverages analytics and historical data to predict potential failures. Condition monitoring can be done with several techniques but implies to assets that can communicate their actual status in real-time to your maintenance system (IWMS, CAFM, CMMS, CPIP) where threshold values and pre-set parameters forecast the type and timing of maintenance. This monitoring allows a just-in-time maintenance that minimises maintenance costs and prevents asset failure and associated reactive maintenance efforts. An example of condition-based maintenance is a pre-set threshold for your heating installation. When the temperature of the installation exceeds this threshold value, a preventive maintenance activity is generated to avoid failure. Or when operating hours exceed a pre-set value, the next maintenance activity is automatically scheduled at the right time.
- Predictive maintenance differs from condition-based maintenance. Instead of focusing on current conditions, this approach uses advanced analytics and machine learning to determine when a future failure may occur, or the remaining useful life of an asset based on performance. In this case, instead of relying on indicators such as exceeding current performance thresholds, maintenance activities are scheduled based on expected future performance. For example, a heating installation might be operating within threshold boundaries, but if certain conditions continue on their current trajectory, the threshold will be breached at a predictable time in the future.
- Prescriptive maintenance builds on the predictive maintenance approach by not only forecasting potential failures but also recommending specific actions to optimise asset performance and mitigate risks. It leverages IoT, data analytics, and machine learning to analyse different operational scenarios and suggest the most effective solutions. By simulating various outcomes, prescriptive maintenance empowers teams to make data-driven decisions, adjust operating conditions, and implement proactive measures that help prevent failures before they happen, ultimately reducing downtime and extending asset life.
How to get started with a Planned Preventive Maintenance programme?
Planned preventive maintenance is more complex to coordinate than reactive maintenance simply because the maintenance schedules must be known upfront and activities need to be planned and executed in time. Condition-based maintenance is even more complex than time-based maintenance as it needs the implementation of a monitoring strategy and real-time connection of the associated assets.
In either case, a maintenance management software solution like IWMS, CAFM or CMMS is more than necessary. When maintenance is planned and tracked by using paper or Excel, it is impossible to evaluate maintenance scenarios, plan activities and budgets, or manage costs of execution. Maintenance management software helps managers in monitoring properly the quality, costs and compliance of maintenance. Maintenance staff and field engineers have real-time access to their work orders, documentation and schedules; no work orders are lost, work is more efficiently scheduled, work is executed quicker and safely whilst being compliant.
Benefits of PPM systems
The benefits of planned maintenance extend across various aspects of building operations, leading to improved efficiency, cost savings, and compliance. Here are some key advantages of implementing a planned maintenance programme:
Reduced downtime
Proactive maintenance minimises unplanned downtime by identifying and addressing potential issues before they cause operational disruptions and need to be escalated. Predictive maintenance activities can reduce asset downtime by 35% to 45% and decrease breakdowns by 70% to 75% (US Department of Energy). When maintenance is planned in advance, equipment can be shut down outside production hours to minimise the impacts on business activities. Prior to the shutdown, any required parts, supplies and staff can be gathered to reduce the time taken for the execution.
Extended Asset Lifespan
Regular inspections and servicing help extend the lifespan of equipment and assets. This maximises the return on investment (ROI) and avoids premature replacements. Every dollar of deferred maintenance spending can lead to a 4x increase in future costs (Pacific Partners Consulting Group), making a proactive approach essential for long-term savings.), making a proactive approach essential for long-term savings.
Cost Savings
Planned maintenance significantly reduces the costs associated with maintenance activities compared to unplanned maintenance, The costs of unplanned maintenance include lost production, business effects of downtimes, higher costs for parts, as well as time lost in responding. Market benchmarks indicate that unplanned maintenance typically costs three to five times more than planned maintenance.
Enhanced Monitoring and Mobile Access
Modern planned maintenance systems enable real-time monitoring and mobile access, allowing teams to stay updated and respond quickly. Mobile technology has improved work order response time and tracking for 73% of facility service providers, while 62% report reduced workflow redundancies (Facilitiesnet). These advancements ensure faster execution and better collaboration.
Improved Decision-Making
Integrated maintenance systems, such as those connected to ERPs or building automation platforms, offer a unified approach to managing assets, inventory, and operational trends. This ensures parts availability, optimises resource use, and provides valuable insights to align maintenance with broader business goals. Predictive and data-driven insights can help organisations avoid reactive costs and plan better for the future.
Improved Compliance and Safety
Planned maintenance ensures adherence to health and safety guidelines, regulatory standards, and environmental goals. By maintaining equipment in optimal condition, organisations can enhance workplace safety, reduce penalties, and support sustainability initiatives, such as lowering emissions and achieving energy-efficient operations.
Despite its benefits, some types of Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) come with potential disadvantages. Establishing a monitoring strategy requires resources, and regular time-based servicing may lead to higher costs for parts and labour. There’s also a risk of over-maintenance, where equipment is serviced more frequently than necessary, causing avoidable expenses and resource waste.
Software features that are part of PPM solutions
Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) is enabled by various software capabilities that enhance maintenance operations' efficiency and effectiveness. These features include:
- Scheduling & Planning Tools: Create optimised maintenance schedules to prevent breakdowns.
- Activity and Work Order Management: Assign and track activities in real time for timely completion.
- Condition Monitoring: Monitor asset health with sensors and analytics to detect issues early.
- Inventory Management: Ensure spare parts are stocked and available to minimise delays.
- Mobile Access: Allow teams to access, update, and manage maintenance related information remotely.
- System Integration: Integrate with ERP, IoT, and EAM systems for seamless operations.
- Compliance Management: Ensure adherence to safety and regulatory standards.
- Budget Management: Track maintenance costs and allocate resources efficiently.
Case study: King's College
As one of the world’s top 20 universities, King’s College London (KCL) supports more than 26,500 students and 6,900 staff. Discover how KCL enhanced maintenance performance and streamlined operations with Planon.
"The solution allowed us to reduce our maintenance backlog by 50% within three months.”
Elizabeth Harris, Business Information Systems Manager
Read more
Who needs PPM?
Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) is critical for organisations and industries that rely on equipment and assets to ensure smooth operations. Key sectors include facilities management, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and utilities.
Here’s why these industries need PPM and the maintenance challenges they face:
- Need for PPM: To maintain building systems and ensure a safe, comfortable environment for occupants.
- Challenges: Facility managers must handle a wide range of equipment, from HVAC systems to lifts. Preventive maintenance helps in meeting regulatory compliance, such as annual lift inspections, and minimises disruptions to occupants’ activities.
- Need for PPM: To guarantee the availability and proper functioning of healthcare facilities.
- Challenges: Equipment failure can directly impact patient care and safety. Regular maintenance ensures compliance with health regulations and standards, and it helps avoid costly emergency repairs and replacements.
- Need for PPM: To ensure continuous production and avoid costly downtime.
- Challenges: Equipment failure can halt production lines, causing significant financial losses. Regular maintenance is essential to prevent unexpected breakdowns and ensure safety and quality standards.
- Need for PPM: To maintain the reliability and safety of buildings and infrastructure.
- Challenges: Infrastructure and buildings such as airports or harbours are critical facilities subject to harsh conditions that lead to wear and tear. Without preventive maintenance, there's a higher risk of accidents, delays, and increased operational costs due to emergency repairs.
- Need for PPM: To ensure uninterrupted service and compliance with regulatory standards.
- Challenges: Aging infrastructure and the constant demand for utility services make regular maintenance critical to prevent service disruptions and regulatory penalties.
The future of Planned Preventive Maintenance and AI
Smart technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), and Hyperautomation are transforming Planned Preventive Maintenance by evolving it into Objective-Based Maintenance. These innovations make it easier for organisations to move beyond fixed schedules and take a more flexible, data-driven approach to maintenance.
With IoT sensors, maintenance teams can monitor equipment in real time, helping to plan maintenance based on business objectives and asset management strategies that are aligned with actual asset conditions and ensure the right parts are available when needed. AI can optimise maintenance schedules, making better use of available resources and reducing unplanned downtime.
These advancements will not only benefit owners and occupiers of buildings, but will also improve the planning and delivery of proactive maintenance services by outsourced maintenance services and field services teams. Additionally, IoT and AI can even improve fleet management, cutting travel times, lowering emissions, and extending the lifespan of vehicles- all while supporting business-driven sustainability goals.
By integrating these technologies into their PPM processes, organisations can reduce costs, improve asset performance, and ensure maintenance activities run more smoothly and efficiently.
