Help Shape Industry Standards: Join APQC’s Production Equipment Maintenance Benchmark Survey

What is Reactive Maintenance? Reactive maintenance—also known as emergency or breakdown maintenance—is an unplanned response that restores equipment after a failure. Because it is executed on the fly, it often incurs high costs: unexpected production downtime, overtime, expensive call‑outs, and the

In plant maintenance, the debate over equipment ownership versus cross‑training has persisted for decades. For maintenance technicians, owning a system can foster deep expertise, accountability, and pride in the work performed. Yet, from a maintenance manager’s standpoint, the implications for opera

Incentives and Goals When outsourcing maintenance, design a contract that rewards continuous improvement. A performance‑based incentive aligns the contractor’s interests with your long‑term operational goals. Service‑Only Contracts If the contract pays only for hours worked, the contractor has littl

As we conduct lean assessments across manufacturing sites in the region, one area that consistently lags is equipment maintenance. Many facilities still operate with a reactive mindset: equipment is expected to fail, preventive plans are vague or ignored, and spare parts are stored under conditions