Maintenance is one of the most crucial aspects for ensuring the continuity and efficiency of a company’s operations. It significantly affects not only the lifespan of machines and equipment but also the financial performance of the company and the safety of the work environment. Despite this, companies often make the same common mistakes—many of which are easily avoidable. This article highlights the ten most common maintenance mistakes in businesses and offers practical tips to help your company avoid these pitfalls.
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In many companies, maintenance is still too reactive, meaning issues are only addressed once they arise. This often results in costly production downtime, unexpected expenses, and even safety risks. When a company focuses solely on corrective maintenance, hidden problems and risk factors often go unnoticed until they grow too large to manage in a controlled way.
The biggest downside of reactive maintenance is its unpredictability. The company lacks a clear understanding of which components or systems are prone to failure or when maintenance should have been performed. As a result, resource use is inefficient, and employee stress levels may increase due to the need to resolve unexpected issues.
The lack of foresight often stems from company leadership viewing preventive maintenance as a cost rather than an investment in the future. This perspective is short-sighted, as preventive maintenance can actually save significant amounts of money in the long run by preventing problems before they occur.
The solution to this problem is to transition gradually to preventive maintenance. The company should identify the most critical equipment and components with the highest risk of failure or the greatest impact on production. For these, clear maintenance schedules should be developed based on usage data, failure history, and manufacturer recommendations. This way, problems can be detected early and addressed proactively before equipment breaks down. It also reduces stress and increases employees' sense of control.
Another very common mistake in maintenance is the use of missing or inadequate maintenance plans. Even if a company has the capacity for preventive maintenance in theory, the planning often falls short in practice. As a result, maintenance tasks are carried out sporadically, inconsistently, and often far too late.
Without a maintenance plan, the maintenance team operates under constant uncertainty. This results in work being done reactively to acute issues instead of following a structured, proactive approach. Such a way of working not only reduces productivity but also increases costs, as rushed repairs under pressure are rarely the highest quality solutions. In addition, it becomes difficult for the company to manage and budget maintenance costs without clear plans and schedules.
To help your company avoid this mistake, it’s essential to create a clear, up-to-date, and comprehensive maintenance plan. The plan should cover all critical machines and equipment, as well as their specific requirements. It should include the following:
When maintenance plans are well-documented and easily accessible to employees, the efficiency of maintenance operations increases significantly. Additionally, the maintenance team can better anticipate and carry out tasks without causing excessive disruption to production or other business functions.
The efficiency of a company’s maintenance operations largely depends on the skills and expertise of its staff. Unfortunately, many companies make the mistake of underestimating the importance of employee competence and neglecting its development. When there is insufficient investment in staff training, the quality and efficiency of maintenance can be seriously compromised.
The consequences of underestimating employee competence are often clearly seen in day-to-day operations. Employees may make mistakes or perform incomplete maintenance tasks, leading to bigger issues later on. They might also face situations where they lack the necessary knowledge or skills, which can increase stress and frustration. Over time, this affects their motivation and overall well-being at work.
Company leadership should understand that investing in employee competence is not an unnecessary expense, but an investment that pays off many times over in higher quality and efficiency. Skilled staff can identify problems early, make the right decisions quickly, and use available tools in the best possible way. A knowledgeable maintenance team can also better anticipate and plan their work, leading to improved overall company efficiency.
Developing employee competence involves continuous training, including both internal company training sessions and courses or workshops provided by external experts. Additionally, employees’ professional development should be monitored regularly to ensure they have the resources and opportunities to maintain and update their skills.
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Companies often face intense cost-saving pressures, and maintenance is frequently seen as a necessary expense rather than a strategic investment. This creates a high risk of cutting costs in the wrong areas and for the wrong reasons. Examples include using cheaper spare parts, reducing workforce, or extending maintenance intervals — all of which can lead to serious long-term issues.
When a company saves on maintenance in the wrong way, a decline in quality is usually inevitable. Cheap, low-quality spare parts tend to break down faster, leading to more frequent equipment downtime. Infrequent maintenance results in greater repair needs and unexpected failures that cause costly production stoppages. At the same time, maintenance staff are forced to work constantly under difficult and stressful conditions, which weakens their performance.
It’s important to recognize that pursuing cost savings in maintenance can be reasonable—but it must be based on careful consideration and analysis. Rather than cutting corners with spare part quality or staff numbers, companies should invest in comprehensive maintenance planning and process optimization. This approach enables real, sustainable cost savings without compromising on quality.
A major issue in company maintenance operations is poor management of tools and spare parts. Many companies fail to invest adequately in proper storage and tracking systems, leading to waste, delays, and disorganization. A common—and costly—mistake is when employees spend time searching for the tools or parts they need to perform their tasks.
Well-managed tools and spare parts ensure smooth and efficient maintenance work. Good management means, among other things, that:
When tool and spare part management is well organized, employees can focus on their core tasks without unnecessary interruptions and time-consuming searches. This improves working conditions, reduces wasted time, and enhances overall operational efficiency.
Effective maintenance operations require continuous and open communication among members of the maintenance team. However, in many companies, communication breakdowns and misunderstandings still occur frequently, causing significant issues. Lack of communication or disruptions can lead to insufficient or delayed information sharing, maintenance tasks being carried out in the wrong order, or repair actions being taken without the necessary information.
Effective communication is not just the transfer of information from one person to another—it also requires agreed-upon practices, systems, and procedures that ensure communication is structured and functional. Within a maintenance team, it is essential to use modern tools such as maintenance software, communication apps, and regular meetings to review maintenance tasks and ongoing work.
When there is an open and clear communication culture within the maintenance team, problems are resolved more quickly, information flows smoothly, and staff always know exactly what is expected of them. At the same time, employee motivation and satisfaction improve, as clear communication creates a safe and predictable working environment.
The rapid advancement of technology offers companies huge opportunities to improve maintenance efficiency. Yet many businesses still make the mistake of not fully utilizing technology and digital solutions, instead sticking to outdated practices. Underutilization of technology often results in slow, inefficient processes that are prone to human error.
Digitalization allows companies to significantly improve the efficiency and quality of maintenance operations. Modern maintenance systems enable more accurate tracking of maintenance activities, automated reporting, and effective implementation of predictive maintenance. Sensor technologies further allow real-time monitoring of equipment condition, enabling precise and timely maintenance actions. This helps avoid unnecessary downtime and reduces costs associated with production interruptions.
The biggest obstacles to adopting new technology are usually fear of change and the challenges associated with learning new systems. Company leadership should recognize these challenges and invest in employee training and clear communication of the benefits of new tools. Leveraging digitalization isn’t just about acquiring technology—it’s also about renewing processes and involving staff in the transformation. This ensures that technology truly supports the company’s maintenance needs and empowers employees in their work.
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As companies seek to improve efficiency and reduce costs, many choose to outsource maintenance to external service providers. While outsourcing can be reasonable in certain situations, it also comes with significant risks that should be carefully considered. Common issues include communication difficulties, a decline in quality, and loss of control.
When maintenance responsibilities are transferred to an external provider, a company can easily lose visibility into critical aspects of its own operations. This may result in unclear information about equipment condition, maintenance history, and potential issues. As a result, response times to problems slow down, and the risk of unexpected downtime increases significantly.
Additionally, outsourced maintenance is not always able to respond quickly enough to a company’s urgent needs or special situations. The company becomes dependent on the external provider’s schedules and priorities, which can lead to production downtime or increased costs. This becomes especially problematic when the quality of the outsourced service varies significantly and the contract lacks clearly defined maintenance quality standards.
If a company is considering outsourcing maintenance, effective risk management requires careful planning, clear contracts, and ongoing quality monitoring. It is also essential that the outsourced provider has sufficient knowledge of the company’s equipment and processes. This ensures that outsourcing supports the company’s operations without compromising production reliability.
A common mistake in maintenance is neglecting safety under pressure and tight deadlines. When unexpected faults or problems arise in production that require immediate attention, maintenance staff may be forced to work in haste and under suboptimal conditions. This can lead to bypassing or ignoring safety procedures, significantly increasing the risk of accidents.
Compromising safety can lead to serious personal injuries, production stoppages, and even loss of the company's reputation. That’s why it is of utmost importance for company leadership to ensure that safety always remains the top priority—regardless of production pressures.
Managing high-pressure situations requires clear planning, employee training, and a workplace culture where safety is seen as a non-negotiable value. Employees should be encouraged to report deficiencies and hazards openly, without fear of consequences. The company must also have predefined procedures that allow for quick yet safe action during urgent situations. Well-trained and safety-committed employees are capable of making the right decisions even under pressure, without endangering themselves or their colleagues.
Ongoing development of a company’s maintenance operations requires more than just technical solutions and investments. It also demands a long-term commitment to building and maintaining a maintenance culture. A sustainable maintenance culture is built when all employees understand the importance of maintenance for business success and commit to it in their daily work.
A sustainable maintenance culture can be developed through the following means:
Active support and leading by example from company leadership is a critical factor in developing a strong maintenance culture. When maintenance is genuinely seen as an important and valuable part of business operations, employees commit to it and take responsibility for its quality as part of their own roles. This enables the company to ensure that maintenance evolves sustainably and continuously, supporting long-term competitiveness and overall well-being.
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