Choosing the right maintenance strategy isn’t just about preventing breakdowns – it’s about optimizing efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring long-term asset performance.

But with multiple strategies to choose from, how do you know which one is best for your business?

This guide walks you through a step-by-step approach to selecting the right maintenance strategy, ensuring that your operations run smoothly while staying cost-effective. Ready to get crackin’? Let’s go!

Step 1: Understand the Different Types of Maintenance Strategies

Maintenance strategies come in various forms, each suited for different types of equipment, industries and business needs. Below are some of the most widely used strategies:

Other Maintenance Strategies Worth Considering

While the primary strategies are the most commonly implemented, there are additional approaches that may suit specific business needs:

• Proactive Maintenance: A step beyond preventive maintenance, focusing on eliminating root causes of equipment failure before they occur.
• Deferred Maintenance: Postponing maintenance due to budget constraints or resource limitations; can lead to higher costs in the long run.
• Emergency Maintenance: Unplanned, immediate repairs performed when equipment fails suddenly; highly reactive and costly.
• Run-to-Failure Maintenance: A planned reactive approach where non-critical, inexpensive assets are intentionally run until they fail before being replaced.
• Prescriptive Maintenance: The most advanced form of maintenance, leveraging AI and machine learning to recommend optimal maintenance actions in real time.

Step 2: Assess Your Business Needs and Constraints

To determine which strategy suits your business, consider:

• Asset Criticality: Which equipment is most crucial to operations?
• Budget and Resources: Can you afford predictive maintenance tools, or is preventive maintenance more feasible?
• Industry Regulations: Are there compliance requirements that dictate certain maintenance practices?
• Operational Goals: Are you aiming for cost reduction, uptime maximization, or risk mitigation?

Step 3: Evaluate the Cost vs Benefit

Each strategy has trade-offs. Consider:

• Initial investment vs long-term savings (eg predictive maintenance may be costly but prevents expensive failures).
• Downtime risks vs proactive planning (eg reactive maintenance saves money upfront but can lead to costly downtime).

Step 4: Pilot and Monitor Your Chosen Strategy

Once you’ve selected a maintenance strategy, test it on a smaller scale before full implementation. Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:

• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
• Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
• Maintenance Costs vs Downtime Savings

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If the results don’t meet expectations, adjust accordingly.

Finding the Perfect Maintenance Strategy – Your Next Steps

Choosing the right maintenance strategy isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about maximizing efficiency, cutting unnecessary costs and ensuring your business runs like a well-oiled machine (literally and figuratively). 

Whether you’re leaning toward predictive analytics, sticking with a time-based approach or experimenting with hybrid strategies, the key is to align your choice with your business goals, asset criticality, and available resources.

The good news? You don’t have to navigate this alone. With the right tools and digital solutions (like FieldEx), maintenance management can go from a headache to a strategic advantage. 

So, take the first step.. Evaluate your needs, implement a structured plan and watch your maintenance operations evolve from reactive firefighting to proactive precision.

Ready to make maintenance work for you, not against you? Schedule a free demo with FieldEx today! Or reach out with any questions you may have. We’re here to help.

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FAQ: Selecting the Right Maintenance Strategy

1. What is a maintenance strategy? And why does it matter?

A maintenance strategy is a planned approach for how you care for equipment and assets, whether it's scheduled checkups, condition monitoring or fixing things only when they break. 

The right strategy reduces downtime, extends asset life, cuts costs and keeps your operations running smoothly.

2. What are the most common types of maintenance strategies?

The main strategies include:

• Preventive Maintenance (PM): Regular, time-based servicing
• Predictive Maintenance (PdM): Uses data to anticipate failures
• Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM): Real-time monitoring to act when needed
• Reactive Maintenance: Fix it when it breaks
• Run-to-Failure (RTF): Let non-critical equipment fail before replacing

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Each has different pros, cons and ideal use cases.

3. How do I choose the best maintenance strategy for my business?

Start by evaluating your:

• Asset criticality (which machines are mission-critical?)
• Budget and team resources
• Compliance requirements
• Operational goals (cost savings, uptime, etc)

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Then match a strategy (or a mix of strategies) that fits those needs.

4. Can I use more than one maintenance strategy at the same time?

Absolutely. In fact, most businesses use a hybrid approach, like preventive for essential machines and run-to-failure for low-cost tools. The goal is to optimize resources without over-maintaining or risking failure.

5. What’s the difference between proactive and reactive maintenance?

• Proactive = Prevent problems before they happen (includes preventive, predictive, CBM).
• Reactive = Fix problems after they happen (emergency or corrective maintenance).

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Proactive methods cost more upfront but prevent downtime and big repairs. 

Reactive is cheaper short-term, but riskier and more disruptive.

(Check out: Proactive vs Reactive Maintenance: Key Differences, When to Use)

6. How do I know if my maintenance strategy is working?

Monitor key metrics like:

• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)
• MTTR (Mean Time to Repair)
• Planned vs unplanned maintenance ratio
• Maintenance costs vs downtime costs

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If the numbers aren’t improving, it might be time to adjust your approach.

7. Is predictive maintenance worth the investment?

It can be! Predictive maintenance uses sensors and AI to detect issues before they become costly failures. While it requires a higher upfront investment in technology and analytics, it often pays off by reducing downtime, repair costs and major breakdowns.

8. What’s a pilot program, and why should I start there?

A pilot program means testing your selected maintenance strategy on a few assets before full-scale implementation. It lets you validate your assumptions, track KPIs and adjust your strategy with minimal risk or cost.

9. What mistakes should I avoid when choosing a maintenance strategy?

• Picking a strategy based on trends, not business needs
• Ignoring asset criticality
• Skipping performance monitoring after implementation
• Using the same strategy across all asset types
• Failing to train your team or update your CMMS accordingly

10. How does FieldEx help with maintenance strategy selection and execution?

FieldEx simplifies maintenance planning by helping you:

• Analyze asset data to choose the right strategy
• Automate preventive, predictive or CBM workflows
• Track real-time performance metrics (MTBF, cost, downtime, etc)
• Use smart dashboards to adapt your strategy over time

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Whether you're running a single site or managing hundreds of assets, FieldEx gives you the visibility and control you need to make maintenance a strategic win – not just a checkbox.

11. Is FieldEx affordable for small teams or startups?

Yes! FieldEx offers flexible pricing plans, including a free tier for small teams to help you get started without breaking the budget. You only pay for what you need, and scale when you're ready. Check out our pricing page to learn more!

12. Is FieldEx easy to use for non-technical teams?

More than easy! FieldEx is designed for real-world users, not just tech pros.

It’s clean, intuitive and mobile-friendly, so your team can log jobs, track tasks and access asset info from the field with zero headaches.

13. Can FieldEx integrate with my existing systems?

Yup, FieldEx connects easily with tools you’re already using like CRMs, calendars and inventory systems. You won’t have to start from scratch or juggle multiple platforms.

14. How do I get started with FieldEx?

Simply schedule a free demo, and see how FieldEx helps you reduce downtime, automate maintenance and stay in control. Or reach out with any questions you may have. We’re here to help.

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Related reads:

1. CMMS Integrations: The Essential Guide to Smarter Maintenance
2. What Happens When You Don’t Have a Maintenance Plan
3. What to Consider Before Buying a CMMS Software
4. 7 Steps to Building a Preventive Maintenance Program
5. 15+ Benefits of CMMS in 2025
6. 'No Maintenance' Strategy: 5 Biggest Hidden Costs
7. Top 7 Causes of Equipment Failure (and Fixes with CMMS)
8. 7 Best CMMS Software in 2025 (Handpicked)
9. How to Fix Maintenance Issues with CMMS and Cut Downtime
10. Proactive vs Reactive Maintenance: Key Differences, When to Use