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Asset maintenance is a component of asset monitoring designed to increase the lifespan of a company’s machinery, devices, and equipment. The process is important for any business serious about keeping its assets in working order, but is especially useful for those managing costly assets that have begun to spot signs of deterioration.
An obvious example is asset tracking in hospitals and also in the construction industry, where asset maintenance as part of a wider asset-tracking strategy is essential to both reducing risks and company bottom lines. However, with so much to consider when it comes to maintaining assets, businesses shouldn’t go in blind.
This guide discusses everything you need to know about asset maintenance. We explain its different types, many benefits, and help business owners understand when it’s time to start maintaining their assets. Read on to learn more about the asset maintenance process, or jump to a specific section using the links below.
What Is Asset Maintenance?
Asset maintenance is an important part of asset tracking, focused on maintaining business assets and keeping them in optimal, workable condition. Asset maintenance involves regular inspections and if necessary, repairs, with the ultimate aim of reducing asset downtime and lowering the chances of breakdowns.
Improving the lifespan of assets through maintenance helps to reduce risks associated with accidents and injuries while benefiting a business’s bottom line. There’s no one-size-fits-all activity for maintaining assets, however, so it’s important for businesses to be aware of the different strategies.
Types of Asset Maintenance
There are a number of different methods for keeping assets healthy, including planned preventative maintenance (PM), predictive maintenance (PdM), condition-based maintenance (CbM), and corrective maintenance (CM). We define these types of asset maintenance and explore their pros and cons, below.
Planned preventative maintenance (PM)
As its name suggests, preventative maintenance is a proactive form of maintenance that aims to intervene in a product’s lifecycle before it shows signs of deterioration. By analyzing and amending assets before issues occur, preventative maintenance makes it less likely for businesses to make even more costly repairs down the road.
This type of maintenance is continual, and examples include regular inspections and fluid or part replacements. While it takes a while for the benefits of preventative maintenance to become clear, it’s one of the most important strategies to keep assets healthy as it reduces the need for corrective maintenance and makes it less likely for expensive equipment to reach breaking point.
Predictive maintenance (PdM)
Predictive maintenance is another proactive maintenance technique. However, unlike PM, it uses data to predict when an asset is likely to fail. By relying on a mix of real-time data, historical performance data, and advanced analytics – instead of manual methods – predictive maintenance is one of the most efficient ways to safeguard the conditions of assets.
However, while PdM is likely to reduce maintenance costs in the long term, the technique is quite complicated to implement and requires businesses to invest in technology like advanced sensors and data infrastructure.
Corrective maintenance (CM)
Also referred to as reactive maintenance, corrective maintenance is a strategy where assets are replaced or repaired after they’ve broken down. In many cases, allowing assets to fail before replacing them is actually cheaper and less labor-intensive than consistently intervening.
Corrective maintenance is typically used as a short-term strategy by businesses managing large amounts of low-value assets. On the contrary, businesses with pricier assets tend to focus more on preventative measures to avoid needing to purchase expensive equipment from scratch.
Condition-based maintenance (CbM)
Condition-based maintenance is a strategy that uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to gather data about the condition of assets. CbM can schedule preventative and corrective maintenance and is often used alongside established asset management strategies.
Due to CbM’s targeted nature, it’s an efficient way to increase asset uptime and lower maintenance costs. It’s also safer than lots of other methods by recording the health of assets automatically. Unfortunately, the cost of IoT sensors means that condition-based maintenance isn’t accessible to many businesses.
Why Does Asset Maintenance Matter?
There’s a reason why millions of businesses across the US follow dedicated asset maintenance strategies. We explain the importance of maintaining company assets next.
- Minimizes downtime – Unplanned asset downtime can be a major strike to productivity. By carrying out consistent inspections and proactively responding to changes, businesses can improve the health of their assets and avoid disruptions associated with unplanned downtime.
- Expands asset lifetime – Assets can be a costly investment for businesses. So, to ensure businesses get a good return on their investment, it’s imperative to keep assets in good nick for as long as possible.
- Increases safety – Poorly maintained assets are dangerous for a scope of reasons. They’re more likely to malfunction and break down, which could pose serious risks to workers, and they’re less likely to adhere to safety regulations. On these grounds, it’s imperative to inspect assets regularly, especially in high-risk industries like construction and mining.
- Cuts down on costs – It’s always cheaper to maintain items proactively, rather than repair or replace products after they falter and fail. Maintaining assets regularly also helps to lower instances of downtime, preventing productivity from taking a dip.
- Assists compliance – In lots of industries, businesses need to consistently maintain assets to comply with regulatory standards. Failing to do so can result in fines and in rare cases, company closures. To avoid getting caught out, implementing and following an asset maintenance plan is key.
Given that 48% of logistics professionals surveyed by Tech.co in 2025 said they foresee new equipment costs rising, extending asset lifespans is more crucial than ever.
Check out our guide to asset misappropriation for more information
Signs You Need an Asset Maintenance Strategy
If you’re unsure whether your business would benefit from an asset maintenance strategy, ask yourself the following questions:
Are your assets regularly faltering and breaking down?
It’s normal for assets to fail occasionally. However, if your assets break and stop working on a regular basis, this is indicative of your wider asset health, and it’s a major sign you need to intervene with a robust asset maintenance strategy.
Do you keep being stifled by unplanned downtime?
No asset performs perfectly, 100% of the time. However, consistent unplanned downtime can majorly impact a company’s productivity, and therefore, its bottom line. If your business is held back by poor asset performance, it’s probably a good time to take asset maintenance seriously.
Are you regularly having to replace aging assets?
All assets will, eventually, reach the end of their lifecycle. However, if your company assets retire faster than the industry average, this is a clear sign you’re not looking after them well enough. Disposing of assets should always be a last resort, so to prevent wastage maintaining their health is essential.
Is your company failing compliance checks?
Regulatory standards often demand companies maintain products, equipment, and machinery to a high standard. Failing to do so can have drastic consequences for a business, so it’s always best to adhere to industry standards.
How to Plan an Effective Asset Maintenance Strategy
Realized that asset maintenance is key to your company’s success? Well, now it’s time to make a plan. Read the steps below for guidance on how to make an effective asset maintenance strategy.
1. Create an asset database
Before you evaluate your asset’s health, you need to know your assets inside out. So, if you haven’t already, now is the time to create a detailed asset database. This database should include a wealth of information, including:
- Your total number of assets
- The location of your assets
- The value of your assets
- The current condition of your assets
- The expected lifecycle of your assets
- What services and repairs they’ve already received
Once you’ve done the essentials of your initial asset inventory audit, this database is also a great place to include scans of important documents like manuals and licenses, to ensure your company covers all bases and stays on top of compliance regulations.
2. Work out your asset’s lifecycle
Each company asset goes through four main stages during its life: planning acquiring, maintaining, and disposing. To understand when an asset should be repaired, and when it’s time to replace it altogether, you need to be aware of each asset’s lifecycle.
If you haven’t worked out the lifecycle of your assets, you need to create an asset lifecycle plan. We also recommend logging this information into your asset database to keep everything in one place. Learn more about asset lifecycle management and its key stages.
3. Establish a maintenance schedule
During the ‘maintaining’ phase of an asset’s lifecycle, companies need to work hard to stay on top of inspections and repairs. To make this easier, we’d recommend creating an asset maintenance schedule. This schedule should outline when routine maintenance, inspections, and refills should take place, and how much companies should expect to pay on an ongoing basis.
During this step, you should also decide what type of maintenance your assets require. For instance, large businesses managing high-value assets are more likely to opt for planned preventative or condition-based maintenance, while smaller businesses with lower-value assets are more likely to choose corrective maintenance.
4. Choose the right software
If you aren’t already using a dedicated asset tracking system to keep tabs on your assets, now is the time to utilize the software. Specifically, you should look out for systems that offer maintenance tracking and alert features like Samsara, Verizon, and ATTI.
If you’re on a tight budget, rest assured – there are lots of great free asset tracking software options too. Or, if you want complete control over your asset tracking and maintenance processes, you can choose to invest or even build your own system from scratch.
In the end, a certain degree of asset tracking costs are likely going to be inevitable for most businesses, but what you invest now you’ll recoup in the medium-to-long term as you extend your asset lifecycles.
Check out our complete guide on how to build a custom asset tracking system for more details.
5. Monitor your asset’s performance
The work isn’t over once your asset tracking and maintenance system is set up and a strategy is in place. So, after your plan is in action you’ll need to monitor the performance of your assets continuously and feed this information back into your asset database.
When the data suggests your assets require maintenance, you’ll need to make necessary interventions to improve their performance. You should always review your results and compare them to your long-term objectives to ensure your getting the most out of your strategy.
Assets are instrumental to the long-term success of companies, so protecting them and keeping them in good condition is non-negotiable. Fortunately for businesses, gone are the days of manual pen-and-paper systems. Asset tracking software makes it easier than ever for businesses to keep managing and maintaining their assets, minimizing asset downtime and boosting productivity as a result.
There’s a lot to consider when keeping your assets healthy, so we hope this guide has equipped you with the tools you need to maintain your company assets moving forward.
