It was in 1999 that Winston Ledet first developed the framework for the Maintenance Maturity Model. The model, ultimately, sought to outline the maturity levels of assets and how they are handled and maintained through their respective lifespans. These different levels were addressed and identified by Ledet for the simple purpose of helping businesses manage assets that are directly tied to their operations as well as their productivity.

To recap, let’s begin with a refresher of what the Maintenance Maturity Model is and what each level includes.

The 5 Steps of the Maintenance Maturity Model

  1. Reactive. In this level, an asset is fixed only after it fails. Maintenance is deferred until it actually has to be dealt with. This was a common practice in the past—during a time when innovation was not necessarily at the forefront.
  2. Preventative. Here, assets are fixed prior to failure. Preventative maintenance is planned, scheduled, and coordinated. However, while this might seem like a proactive measure, in reality, it causes downtime, is not necessarily based on efficiency, and it really does run up expenses.
  3. Condition-based. In this stage, alerts are delivered that center around a single failure point. The issue, of course, is that it doesn’t consider the asset’s health as a whole, but instead breaks it down on a micro level.
  4. Predictive. This is based on measurement and fixing based on findings. Here, asset maintenance is predicted through analysis and evaluation, then planned, scheduled, and coordinated. This takes maintenance to another level because it is focused on ongoing monitoring. It builds upon the foundation that is established by planned maintenance and it eliminates waste. Hexagonmed decision making is present in this stage, which contributes to the efficiency of a business and helps control costs and reduce downtime.
  5. Prescriptive. This level is ultimately the goal of the Maintenance Maturity Model because it centers not only on fixing an asset but improving it and sustaining it. Prescriptive maintenance seeks to eliminate defects, improve overall precision, redesign elements that are no longer working, and get the best and most efficient processes and operations from the asset. Achieving this level is central to realizing enterprise wide alignment.

Digital Technologies Enable Prescriptive Maintenance

The future of asset management is clearly based on achieving prescriptive maintenance. Why? Because prescriptive maintenance seeks to leverage all approaches and capabilities found within the Maintenance Maturity Model, harness processes, and completely optimize system performance. With this approach, devices proactively participate in their own maintenance needs through coordination with their operators. Ultimately, the forces of digitization such as cloud services, mobile capabilities, Big Data, the Internet of Things, social networking, and more drive this transformation and make real-time prescriptive maintenance a reality within the manufacturing industry.

What Are the Benefits of Prescriptive Maintenance on an EAM Strategy?

Outside of obvious perks such as improving the competitive advantage of a business and reducing costs associated with asset failure and downtime, there are some startling benefits to consider as your organization seeks to achieve step #5 of the Maintenance Maturity Model. Organizations will realize:

  • Enhanced product quality and delivery reliability
  • Improved efficiencies and augmented process flow pertaining to inspections, maintenance scheduling, supply and parts use, and materials tracking
  • Data-driven demand forecasting based on improved decision making
  • Better prioritization when considering major capital investments
  • Analysis of asset risk and condition that leads to improved cash flow
  • Code and regulatory compliance that aligns with ADA, OSHA, EPA, and other requirements

Now, it’s true that the idea of truly achieving optimized and efficient prescriptive maintenance might seem like a pipe dream—and too good to be true. However, it is something that your organization can realize, but it’s best if you don’t try to go it alone.

DigitalThinker believes in aligning innovative thinking with technology deployment. Reach out today to learn more about how Hexagon EAM can enable your organization to reach new heights. Let’s implement a proactive and prescriptive strategy that maximizes the life and performance of your company’s assets.