7 Types of Reactive Maintenance

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In a perfect world, all maintenance would be planned, scheduled, and executed proactively to eliminate equipment downtime and operational disruptions. In this ultimate guide, we’ll explore the seven main categories of reactive maintenance in-depth.

We would love to live in a reality where every potential failure is predicted and prevented, every asset hums along at peak performance, and maintenance is a smooth, orderly process from start to finish.

However, in practice, the unexpected tends to happen. Equipment can break down without warning, even with the most robust predictive and preventive maintenance programs.

Parts wear out, equipment breaks, accidents occur, and the unforeseen rears its head. When things go wrong, reactive maintenance is how we respond and restore normal operations.

While proactive maintenance strategies are certainly preferable for critical assets, reactive maintenance strategies will always be necessary for a balanced reliability and maintenance program.

The key is understanding the various types of reactive maintenance and knowing when and how to deploy the right approach for maximum effectiveness.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the eight main categories of reactive maintenance in depth:

  1. Breakdown maintenance
  2. Corrective maintenance
  3. Emergency maintenance
  4. Deferred maintenance
  5. Run-to-failure maintenance
  6. Crisis maintenance
  7. Opportunistic reactive maintenance
reactive mainteannce categories

We’ll provide a clear definition for each type, explain how it works with real-world examples, discuss the benefits and drawbacks, and provide guidance on when to apply.

Let’s dive in, starting with the most basic type of reactive work: breakdown maintenance.

1. Breakdown Maintenance

The first approach is Breakdown Maintenance. Also called run-to-failure maintenance, breakdown maintenance is the most straightforward type of reactive maintenance.

breakdown maintenance

As the name implies, it involves deliberately letting equipment run until it completely breaks down and then repairing or replacing it.

While this reduces short-term repair costs, it can increase unpredictable equipment failures.

How does breakdown maintenance work?

With a breakdown maintenance approach, assets are intentionally operated until they fail. No preventive or predictive actions are taken to maintain the equipment’s condition.

Any corrective action is finally taken when the asset physically breaks down to the point that it can no longer function as intended.

This may sound like negligence or poor planning at first.

Still, in certain situations, breakdown maintenance is a deliberate, rational decision to forego any preventive or predictive work on a low-criticality asset and run it to failure before repairing or replacing it.

When to apply breakdown maintenance

Breakdown maintenance is typically used for non-critical assets where a failure does not significantly impact operations, worker safety, product quality, or the environment.

It’s best suited for equipment that meets one or more of the following criteria:

  • Redundant assets: When multiple identical assets exist, one can take over if another fails.
  • Replaceable assets: Equipment that is quick, easy, and inexpensive to replace upon failure.
  • Low-cost assets: When the repair or replacement costs are low compared to the cost of preventive maintenance over time.
  • Non-essential assets: Failure does not halt production or impact safety or quality.

Some examples of appropriate breakdown maintenance include basic light fixtures in a storage room, redundant pumps in a non-critical fluid transfer system, or a single desktop computer in an administrative office.

In each case, a failure, while inconvenient, does not interrupt core operations.

Backup options are available, and repair/replacement is straightforward.

Investing heavily in preventing these low-impact failures would likely not be worth the costs.

Advantages of breakdown maintenance

breakdown maintenance outcomes
Source: WorkTrek
  • Minimal planning and labor hours are required upfront
  • No investment in the asset until failure occurs
  • Makes economic sense for low-priority, low-cost assets
  • Easy for the team to understand and implement

Disadvantages of breakdown maintenance

  • Increased risk of sudden, unplanned downtime
  • Failures can be catastrophic and more expensive to fix
  • Budget and resource needs become unpredictable
  • Can lead to a shorter overall asset lifetime
  • Potential safety, environmental, and quality risks

So, in summary, breakdown maintenance can be a valid and economical approach in particular scenarios for non-critical assets.

However, relying solely on breakdown maintenance would be irresponsible and risky for any asset important to production, safety, or the environment.

2. Corrective Maintenance

The second reactive maintenance approach is corrective maintenance.

Corrective maintenance goes a step further than basic breakdown maintenance.

It also involves repairing failed equipment but with the critical additional goals of identifying the root causes of the failure and making corrective changes to operating practices or equipment to prevent the problem from recurring.

data on corrective maintenance
Illustration: WorkTrek / Data: Camcode

How does corrective maintenance work?

Corrective maintenance starts similarly to breakdown maintenance—an asset is run until it fails, then repaired to working condition.

However, what sets corrective maintenance apart is the additional focus on systematically determining why the failure occurred and then taking targeted steps to prevent it from happening again.

After repairing the failed equipment, maintenance technicians will thoroughly analyze the asset to identify all the factors contributing to the breakdown.

They look beyond the superficial symptoms to uncover the root cause – not just the immediate technical cause of the failure but the underlying weaknesses in equipment, processes, or practices that allowed it to happen.

For example, suppose a critical pump failed because the impeller experienced severe cavitation damage.

Examples of Corrective Maintenance

corrective maintenance work orders in the WorkTrek mobile app

While breakdown maintenance might repair or replace the impeller itself, corrective maintenance digs deeper to find out why the cavitation occurred in the first place:

  • Were the impeller or pump housing made from the wrong material?
  • Was the pump being operated outside its designated flow range?
  • Were there insufficient net positive suction head (NPSH) margins?
  • Was the fluid contaminated with abrasive particulates?
  • Were there errors in the pump’s installation or alignment?

By asking these types of probing questions and tracing the failure back to its source, maintenance personnel can then make corrective changes to prevent the cavitation from damaging the impeller again, such as:

  • Upgrading the impeller material
  • Adjusting the operating flow rates
  • Increasing suction piping diameter to improve NPSH
  • Installing suction strainers to remove contaminants
  • Realigning shafts and improving installation practices

This systematic problem-solving process is the essence of corrective maintenance – not just fixing failures but understanding and eliminating their causes to improve overall reliability and performance.

When to apply Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance is appropriate when breakdowns have occurred, and you want to prevent them from reoccurring.

It’s especially applicable for high-impact failures that have already happened multiple times.

At a certain point, repeatedly fixing the same problem over and over becomes more expensive and disruptive than simply investing the time to investigate and resolve the underlying root causes permanently.

The frequency and costs of breakdowns exceed the costs of corrective action.

Corrective maintenance is also beneficial when similar failure patterns emerge in groups of identical or related assets.

Suppose an entire fleet of vehicles is experiencing the same chronic breakdowns. In that case, corrective maintenance can help identify design flaws, improper usage practices, or maintenance shortcomings that can be addressed across the whole fleet simultaneously.

Advantages of corrective maintenance:

  • Aims to address and eliminate the root causes of problems, not just symptoms
  • Reduces reactive maintenance needs and repeat failures over time
  • Provides opportunities to upgrade and optimize assets
  • Builds organizational knowledge about failure modes and effects
  • Extends asset lifespans and improves overall system reliability

Disadvantages of corrective maintenance:

  • Requires more time, skill, and resources than basic breakdown repairs
  • Depends on knowledgeable technicians experienced in root cause analysis
  • May involve extensive troubleshooting, analysis, and testing
  • Often necessitates temporary production disruptions to complete
  • Might require acquiring spare parts and materials not kept on hand

Differences to Breakdown Maintenance

Corrective maintenance is much more comprehensive and improvement-focused than simple breakdown maintenance.

When done effectively, it can lead to significant, systemic performance enhancements that reduce total maintenance costs and downtime over the long run.

However, it does require a larger upfront investment and capability than just fixing the immediate problems.

3. Emergency Maintenance

The third and most urgent type of reactive maintenance is emergency maintenance.

As the name suggests, it deals with the most pressing, critical, and potentially dangerous failures that require immediate action.

How emergency maintenance works

Emergency maintenance is all about speed. When a severe failure occurs, the overriding priorities are to minimize damage, protect human safety, and restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

emergency maintenance priorities
Source: WorkTrek

Repairs are made rapidly, sometimes even hastily, to get the failed equipment up and running again above all else.

Until the emergency is stabilized, more complete repairs and proper troubleshooting of the underlying causes are deferred.

The focus is on applying quick fixes to stop the metaphorical bleeding and keep things moving in the short term.

Examples of Emergency Maintenance

emergency maintenance in industries
Source: WorkTrek

For example, imagine a water treatment plant experiencing a catastrophic failure of a large pump, with water flooding the pump room.

In this case, emergency maintenance would involve quickly turning off the flow, fixing the pump seals with temporary gaskets or coatings, and restarting the pump to keep the water supply flowing—even if the pump is due for scheduled preventive maintenance.

The chief concern is protecting public health by preventing water supply interruption.

Only after the immediate risk has passed would the maintenance team perform a full root cause assessment, replace the temporary repairs with proper parts, and complete all the deferred preventive maintenance work.

When to apply emergency maintenance

Emergency maintenance should be reserved for only the most severe, pressing failures that significantly threaten operations, worker or public safety, the environment, or compliance with laws and regulations.

Some real-world scenarios where emergency maintenance would be warranted include:

  • A burst pipe flooding a critical work area
  • An electrical equipment fire in a chemical processing facility
  • A severed underground power cable disrupts electricity
  • Failure of a single custom asset that halts the entire production line
  • A cracked storage tank leaking poisonous or explosive substances
emergency maintenance work orders in the WorkTrek mobile app
Source: WorkTrek

Suppose breakdowns involve imminent risks to employee safety, completely halt manufacturing, threaten to cause environmental contamination, or rapidly lead to extensive secondary property damage. In that case, emergency maintenance is the appropriate course of action.

It’s not for minor inconveniences but for genuinely serious and urgent malfunctions.

Advantages of emergency maintenance

  • Minimizes the impact and duration of critical asset failures
  • Contains and controls the extreme consequences of failures
  • Prioritizes speed to protect company output and reputation
  • Useful for rapidly satisfying legal/regulatory requirements
  • Prevents major damage to indispensable assets and infrastructure

Disadvantages of emergency maintenance

  • Rushed repairs are often temporary stopgap measures
  • Maintenance personnel may take unsafe shortcuts under pressure
  • Typically, it costs more due to overtime labor, expedited parts fees, etc.
  • Lack of proper planning increases the odds of mistakes and rework
  • Causes incredible stress and strain on the maintenance team
  • Can potentially cause further damage if not done carefully

Emergency maintenance is the most chaotic, stressful, and error-prone reactive maintenance work. The combination of intense time pressure, high stakes, and limited resources make doing the job properly an incredible challenge.

But it is the only option in bona fide emergency scenarios — it takes absolute priority over all other planned maintenance activities.

Of course, the more an organization can prevent failures from escalating into full-blown emergencies, the better.

4. Deferred Maintenance

The fourth type of reactive maintenance is deferred maintenance.

Deferred maintenance postpones maintenance activities, usually due to limited resources or other priorities taking precedence.

How deferred maintenance works

With deferred maintenance, needed inspections or scheduled routines identify maintenance work, but the repairs are deliberately delayed rather than acted on immediately.

The maintenance tasks get added to a backlog, so I will return to complete them later.

Let’s consider an example scenario to make deferred maintenance more concrete:

During a routine maintenance inspection on an air compressor, technicians notice that the intake filter housing is cracked.

It doesn’t appear to affect performance adversely, but it must be replaced soon.

However, the maintenance team is understaffed and lacks spare filter housing.

They determine that the risk of failure is low in the short term and deliberate, deferring the filter housing repair until additional personnel can be hired and the part procured. The filter housing replacement is added to the deferred maintenance backlog.

This example shows how deferred maintenance allows organizations to consciously prioritize and schedule maintenance tasks over a longer time horizon based on risk, resources, and goals.

Quote on deferred maintenance
Quote: WorkTrek / Quote: AkitaBox

When to apply deferred maintenance: Deferred maintenance is appropriate for lower-risk maintenance needs that don’t require immediate attention to prevent serious consequences.

It’s typically used for:

  • Lower-criticality assets that have remaining useful life
  • Maintenance needs that are not safety-critical
  • Repairs that can be safely postponed with low-risk
  • Work that can be combined with future scheduled maintenance
  • Tasks where labor, parts, or funds are temporarily unavailable

Examples of deferred maintenance

  • Touching up paint on the exterior of a building
  • Replacing worn but still functional flooring in an office lobby
  • Upgrading aging but not unsafe electrical wiring

The key is honestly and accurately assessing the risks of deferral. Just because equipment is still running doesn’t mean putting off maintenance is wise.

Any deferral decision needs to account for failure probabilities, safety, and the consequences of breakdown. Deferral is for lower-risk maintenance only.

Advantages of deferred maintenance

  • Better utilizes limited maintenance resources and budgets
  • Allows bundling of maintenance tasks for efficiency
  • Accommodates labor, material, and funding availabilities
  • Enables maintenance planning on longer time scales
  • Avoids over-maintaining assets with a significant remaining life

Disadvantages of deferred maintenance

  • Increases the risk of unexpected failures and downtime
  • Can raise costs if small problems cause larger damage
  • Deferred tasks often become more complex over time
  • Creates a maintenance backlog that must be managed
  • May negatively impact asset performance and longevity
  • Can create safety risks if deferrals are not managed properly

Ultimately, the judicious use of deferred maintenance is about balancing costs, risks, and limited maintenance capacities.

There will always be more maintenance needs than time and resources to address them. The key is prioritizing intelligently based on criticality and managing the deferred backlog carefully so problems don’t snowball out of control.

Like the other reactive maintenance types, deferred maintenance is another useful but limited tool that needs to be applied with skill, knowledge, and discretion as part of a larger maintenance strategy.

5. Run-to-Failure Maintenance

The fifth type of reactive maintenance is Run-to-failure maintenance.

The intentional maintenance strategy allows selected equipment to operate until it breaks down completely without any preventive or predictive maintenance interventions.

Despite its name, run-to-failure is not a haphazard approach but a conscious decision to forgo maintenance investments in an asset.

How run-to-failure maintenance works

run to failure vs. breakdown maintenance
Source: WorkTrek 

In a run-to-failure approach, assets are deliberately chosen to receive no proactive maintenance throughout their service life.

The organization makes an informed decision that it is more economical to react to failures as they occur rather than invest in preventing or predicting failures for these specific assets.

This doesn’t mean that run-to-failure assets are ignored or that failures are a surprise. The key distinction is that run-to-failure is applied selectively and intentionally to assets that meet certain criteria.

The assets receive close monitoring and are allowed to run until clear signs of impending failure are detected, at which point they are shut down and repaired or replaced.

Industry Examples

data on run to failure practices and reduced equipment lifespan
Illustration: WorkTrek / Data: lessen

Imagine a manufacturing facility with two identical air compressors supplying instrument air, each sized to meet full plant demand.

The plant managers do a financial analysis comparing the costs to maintain the compressors proactively to the costs and risks associated with a run-to-failure approach.

They determined that since each compressor can handle 100% of the load, an unplanned failure of one compressor will not impact production as long as the repair turnaround is relatively quick.

Based on the compressors’ historically low failure rates and known wear-out mechanisms, they decide that a run-to-failure strategy makes financial sense compared to investing in preventive overhauls.

Don’t just set it and forget it.

However, it’s important to note that this is not a “set it and forget it” approach. The team still routinely monitors the compressors’ performance, tracking pressure, temperature, vibration, and efficiency.

As soon as any of these parameters exceeds preset thresholds, indicating the end of life is near, the plant will proactively take the unit offline for replacement before catastrophic failure.

In summary, run-to-failure doesn’t mean abandoning the assets entirely; instead, it means consciously choosing to forego maintenance until clear signs of impending breakdown are observed through condition monitoring.

The goal is to maximize the asset’s useful life while avoiding premature or unnecessary maintenance spending.

When to apply run-to-failure maintenance

Run-to-failure is typically reserved for highly reliable, non-critical assets that are easy to replace or repair upon failure.

Some key criteria for potential run-to-failure candidates include:

  • Equipment has long mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) intervals
  • Failure modes are well-understood and relatively predictable
  • Redundant units are available to carry the load during repairs
  • Spares can be obtained quickly and inexpensively upon failure
  • Assets can be replaced more economically than repaired
  • Equipment has a random failure pattern not impacted by aging
  • Failures do not pose any safety, environmental or quality risks

Some common examples of assets that are frequently managed with a run-to-failure approach:

  • Lightbulbs or small electric motors for non-critical equipment
  • Computer peripherals like keyboards, mice, and speakers
  • HVAC units for employee break rooms or administrative areas
  • Redundant pumps or fans in utility systems with extra capacity
  • Vehicle tires that are replaced upon reaching tread wear limits

Advantages of run-to-failure maintenance:

  • Can significantly reduce maintenance costs for high-reliability assets
  • Eliminates risk of infant mortality from unnecessary PM activities
  • Allows assets to be used for their full-service life before replacement
  • Easy to understand and doesn’t require detailed planning or scheduling
  • Works well for assets with random failure patterns if spares are available

Disadvantages of run-to-failure maintenance:

  • Not suitable for critical assets where failure would be very costly or unsafe
  • Requires keeping ample spare parts and replacement assets in inventory
  • Can be difficult to manage if too many assets are put into run-to-failure mode
  • Relies heavily on condition monitoring to detect impending failures in time
  • Could lead to a large number of obsolete or unrepairable assets piling up

When appropriately applied to the right types of assets, run-to-failure maintenance can be a cost-effective strategy for managing reliability while avoiding over-maintenance.

How to Apply Run-To-Failure Maintenance?

However, it must be applied selectively based on a thorough analysis of failure modes, effects, and asset criticality.

For most plant assets, some combination of preventive and predictive maintenance will usually be more appropriate than a pure run-to-failure approach.

But run-to-failure can be a valuable part of an overall maintenance program for that subset of assets where the cost-risk-benefit calculation makes sense.

6. Crisis Maintenance

The sixth type of reactive maintenance is crisis maintenance.

Crisis maintenance is the most urgent and extreme type of reactive maintenance.

It occurs when an unexpected, severe, and time-critical failure causes or threatens to cause major operational, safety, environmental, or financial impacts.

In a crisis maintenance scenario, the singular top priority is to restore the failed asset to the minimum required functionality as quickly as possible to avert catastrophe.

How crisis maintenance works

Crisis maintenance is a rapid-response, all-hands-on-deck emergency. When a crisis failure occurs, everything else takes a backseat to the overriding objectives of:

  1. Protecting human health and safety
  2. Preventing or containing environmental damage
  3. Minimizing operational downtime and disruption
  4. Avoiding regulatory non-compliance and legal liability

Maintenance teams abandoned all other planned work and rushed to implement temporary repairs and workarounds to stabilize the situation.

They focus on doing the minimum necessary to get the asset back up and running quickly.

Examples of Crisis Maintenance

For example, imagine a ruptured high-pressure gas pipeline at a petroleum refinery. A crisis maintenance response would involve:

  1. Immediately shutting off the flow and isolating the ruptured section
  2. Containing and cleaning up any spills or releases
  3. Welding a temporary patch over the rupture
  4. Re-routing flow to bypass the damaged section if possible
  5. Conducting a safety assessment and restarting the pipeline at reduced capacity
crisis maintenance tasks in WorkTrek mobile app
Source: WorkTrek

In this case, the patch job is likely not a permanent fix, but it allows operations to resume in a controlled manner until a full repair can be completed. The key is speed over perfection – doing what it takes to control the immediate crisis.

Forensic analysis determines the root causes of failure, and robust permanent repairs are deferred until after the crisis has subsided. Preventing catastrophic impacts is the only concern in the heat of the moment.

When to initiate crisis maintenance

Crisis maintenance is triggered only by severe failures that threaten people, the environment, or business viability and requires immediate intervention. Scenarios that warrant a crisis response include:

  • Fires, explosions, or toxic releases from process equipment
  • Structural collapses of buildings, tanks, or critical infrastructure
  • Major spills of hazardous chemicals or petroleum products
  • Ruptures of high-pressure vessels, piping, or storage tanks
  • Complete power outages or electrical system failures

The common thread is that these failures extend beyond the asset itself and threaten to rapidly spiral into much greater human, environmental, or operational catastrophes if not controlled quickly. They often involve potential off-site impacts and regulatory or legal consequences.

Advantages of crisis maintenance:

  • Rapidly contains and controls impacts of extreme asset failures
  • Prioritizes speed to reduce operational disruption and financial losses
  • Protects human health, safety and the environment from harm
  • Minimizes physical damage to plant assets and infrastructure
  • Ensures compliance with legal requirements and avoids penalties

Disadvantages of crisis maintenance:

  • Reactive repairs are rushed and often temporary “band-aid” solutions
  • Deferred root cause analysis allows underlying problems to persist
  • The maintenance team faces intense time pressure and mental stress
  • Costs are high due to unplanned downtime, overtime, and emergency rates
  • Hasty work may not comply with procedures and introduce errors and rework
  • Assets may be more prone to recurring failures or a shorter lifespan afterward

Crisis maintenance, by definition, is an all-out, no-holds-barred firefighting response to an extreme event.

There is no time for careful planning, preparation, and procedure-following for normal maintenance. Expediency and triage are the driving factors.

So, while a crisis maintenance response is essential when true emergencies occur, it’s not a desirable mode of operation.

It can be very stressful and cost-intensive, and it can also damage asset health. The ultimate goal of a robust, proactive maintenance program is to prevent crises.

7. Opportunistic Reactive Maintenance

The seventh type of reactive maintenance is opportunistic reactive maintenance.

Opportunistic reactive maintenance is a clever strategy that takes advantage of unplanned downtime or maintenance on one asset to proactively perform maintenance on other assets that are also down or accessible.

It’s a way to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to complete other needed maintenance work with minimal additional disruption.

Quote on opportunistic reactive maintenance
Illustration: WorkTrek / Quote: DNV

How opportunistic reactive maintenance works: The key idea behind opportunistic maintenance is that when a piece of equipment unexpectedly fails or is down for repairs, there is often a ripple effect on other related or nearby equipment.

This unplanned downtime can present a golden opportunity to perform proactive maintenance on those other assets without further affecting production.

How to apply opportunistic reactive maintenance

Let’s walk through an example to illustrate how opportunistic reactive maintenance is applied:

Imagine a critical conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant unexpectedly breaking down, forcing the entire production line to be halted for repairs. The maintenance team must reactively replace the damaged belt and rollers, which will take an estimated 12 hours.

The maintenance planner recognizes an opportunity during this 12-hour window while production stops.

The conveyor’s failure has made several upstream and downstream assets that are usually difficult to access while running (like the pallet wrappers, case erectors, and labelers) much more available.

The planner quickly generates a list of all the PM tasks and repairs due on those adjacent assets within the next month, such as replacing worn parts, calibrating sensors, and deep cleaning.

A crew is promptly assigned to complete all that soon-coming maintenance while the conveyor is being fixed.

As a result, the plant can complete a substantial amount of additional proactive maintenance during unplanned downtime in addition to the reactive conveyor repairs.

Yes, the conveyor breakdown still disrupted production, but at least the plant could take full advantage of the downtime and “make lemonade out of lemons.”

This is the essence of opportunistic maintenance—being ready to mobilize and capitalize on unexpected maintenance opportunities to get ahead of the PM curve. It requires a maintenance team to be agile, well-planned, and always looking for opportunities to piggyback proactive work onto reactive repairs.

Some other prime opportunities for opportunistic maintenance include:

  • When a machine is down for scheduled PMs or upgrades, perform the same work on identical stand-by machines while idle.
  • If a roof is already being repaired, use the scaffolding and crew to inspect and proactively repair adjacent roof areas, drains, and gutters.
  • Conduct thorough cleaning, adjustments, and inspections on hard-to-access systems and components during a planned plant shutdown.

When executed correctly, opportunistic maintenance helps organizations perform more proactive work with less overall impact on production schedules.

It’s a way to turn unavoidable reactive downtime into productive, value-adding maintenance time.

When to apply Opportunistic Maintenance?

Opportunistic maintenance can be applied whenever an asset is unexpectedly down for reactive repairs or when planned downtime on an asset also makes other related assets available for work. Ideal criteria for opportunistic maintenance include:

  • A key asset failure causes other equipment to be idled
  • The failure makes hard-to-access areas or components reachable
  • Repairs are expected to take long enough to get other work done
  • Qualified personnel are available to perform the extra work
  • Spare parts and tools for the other work are on hand and ready
  • Opportunities align with high-priority PMs or repairs on critical assets
  • The additional work scope won’t negatively impact production

Some other factors that help organizations take advantage of opportunistic maintenance:

  • Having a proactive mindset and always looking for hidden opportunities
  • Maintaining detailed equipment histories and failure data for reference
  • Keeping PM task lists and spare part requirements up to date and available
  • Using a master maintenance schedule to prioritize and coordinate all work
  • Empowering maintenance crews to act on opportunities while following standardized decision criteria flexibly
  • Tracking opportunistic maintenance savings and benefits to reinforce the practice

Advantages of opportunistic maintenance:

  • Reduces overall planned downtime by piggybacking PMs into unplanned repairs
  • Provides access to equipment that is usually difficult, dangerous or disruptive to maintain while running
  • Allows more of the “little things” to get done that often get deferred
  • Boosts proactive maintenance completion rates and schedule compliance
  • Increases productivity of maintenance crews by reducing travel and setup time
  • Promotes a more flexible and opportunity-driven maintenance culture

Disadvantages of opportunistic maintenance:

  • Requires careful coordination to avoid conflicts between reactive and proactive work
  • May extend the duration of unplanned outages if not managed properly
  • Can cause labor and spare parts shortages if opportunities are not well-forecasted
  • Increases risk of errors if proper procedures are not followed in the rush to get extra work done
  • May incentivize deferring proactive maintenance in hopes of “catching it” later opportunistically

The Upside of Emergency Maintenance

Ultimately, opportunistic maintenance is a strategy to help organizations make the best of a bad situation when unplanned downtime occurs.

By being prepared to take advantage of unexpected opportunities to complete other needed maintenance, companies can increase their proactive maintenance efficiency without adding to their schedule or budget.

However, opportunistic maintenance must be applied thoughtfully and systematically to avoid causing more problems than it solves. It requires a high degree of planning, communication, and coordination to ensure that the additional work is truly opportunistic and not disruptive.

It’s also important that opportunistic maintenance does not become an excuse for deferring critical PMs or planning work.

Scheduled maintenance is still the most effective overall strategy—opportunistic maintenance should be the exception, supplementing, not replacing, a robust PM program.

Scheduler in worktrek web app

When applied correctly in the right situations, opportunistic maintenance is a valuable addition to the maintenance mix that can help counteract the negative impacts of reactive repairs.

Making the most of every minute of downtime allows organizations to reduce their proactive maintenance backlogs and drive their assets to ever-higher reliability levels.

Closing Thoughts

To summarize, a complete maintenance strategy cannot consist of only planned and scheduled maintenance.

Reactive maintenance will always play a significant role in reliability and asset management. While it shouldn’t be the default approach, understanding and preparing for different reactive maintenance situations is a core competency.

With a comprehensive maintenance program encompassing proactive and reactive best practices, you’ll be well on your way to optimizing your physical assets’ performance, reliability, and longevity throughout their lifecycle.

The need for unplanned reactive work will never be eliminated. Still, you can take those unavoidable failures and breakdowns in stride and use them as opportunities to strengthen your asset management program.

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