Time to Move On: From Preventive Maintenance to Maintenance Engineering

Maintenance has come a long way from the “run it ‘til it breaks” days. Preventive maintenance was a huge step in the right direction. But it’s no longer cutting it. If all you’re doing is changing filters, greasing bearings, and hoping your schedule prevents breakdowns, you're still playing defense.

Chris Ortiz. Author of the Upcoming Book-The Maintenance Mindset

The next evolution is predictive maintenance. Using data and analytics to identify failure patterns and take action before the problem even shows up. It's smarter, faster, and more efficient. But that shift doesn’t happen without the right people, processes, and mindset in place.

The Role of Maintenance Engineering

This is where maintenance engineering comes in. It’s the proactive, systems-thinking version of maintenance. It’s not just about repairs and about designing and managing systems that reduce breakdowns, improve performance, and drive continuous improvement. Basically, moving away from the maintenance technician approach to maintenance engineering.

I have spent many years converting maintenance technician teams to maintenance engineering teams and the results were incredible.  There was a lot involved but here are the fine points.

Equipment

• Machine Retrofits: Upgrading equipment with modern components. Don’t accept the machine as it is, but where you can take it to move towards more asset management.
• Eliminating PM Tasks: Ask the big question: can we design the problem out completely?
• Modifications that Matter: Replacing belts with chains, installing quick-change tooling, or adding access doors for easier inspection. These physical upgrades reduce wear, simplify inspections, and make PM tasks faster and safer.
• Sensoring and Smart Monitoring: Use vibration sensors, temperature probes, and current monitors to track real-time equipment conditions. The goal? Catch problems early and move from time-based PM to condition-based decisions.
• Design for Maintainability: Work to ensure new machines are designed with access, diagnostics, and ease-of-maintenance in mind. Not just production throughput.  Install internal cameras to monitor key components and then track what they find.

Develop Your Team or Stay Stuck

You can’t move into maintenance engineering without a capable team. And that means developing your people in three critical areas: technical skills, computer skills, and soft skills.

1. Technical Skills

This is the baseline. Your team needs to understand the equipment. Inside and out. They should be able to diagnose problems, perform precision repairs, and make smart decisions in the field. But don’t stop at the basics. Push for cross-training, certifications, and deeper mechanical, electrical, and controls knowledge. A well-rounded team keeps more work in-house and solves problems faster.

2. Computer Skills

Today’s maintenance techs need to navigate the digital side of the job just as confidently as they handle a wrench. At a minimum, your team should be proficient in:

CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System): Every tech should know how to enter work orders, close them out, track parts, and review equipment history. If they can’t use your CMMS, they’re working blind.

Microsoft Office: Excel for charts and databases. Word for documenting procedures. PowerPoint for making procedures, and much more.  

Any platforms your company uses: That could be ERP systems, training portals, safety documentation tools, or digital work instructions. If your department runs on it, your team needs to be fluent in it.

3. Soft Skills

This is the one most leaders skip. But it matters just as much. Communication, accountability, follow-through. These are non-negotiables. Does your team need conflict resolution training?  What about root cause analysis?  Maybe some of them need to work on how to properly communicate to supervisors and managers.  The list can be long and we all can benefit from this approach.

You don’t build a high-performing team by hoping they’ll figure it out. You build it by training with purpose. Your role as a leader isn’t to do the work. It’s to develop the people who can do it better, smarter, and consistently.

Conclusion: The Future of Maintenance Starts Now

What I have learned from this and other conversion journey’s, is that when I am hiring, the candidates mechanical background is second maybe third on the list.  I want problem solvers.  All maintenance tasks are trainable.  You don’t need an extensive background in industrial equipment to work on industrial equipment.  If you are a problem solver, can communicate, and are able to take and give feedback: my existing team can train you.

If you’re still operating in a world of clipboards and hope, you’re behind. Preventive maintenance was a step forward, but it’s not the finish line. The real opportunity lies in maintenance engineering. A proactive, system-driven approach that builds reliability into the design, not just the schedule.

But this shift doesn’t happen on its own. You need to:

• Develop your team with real skills: technical, digital, and interpersonal.
• Leverage technology to predict, not just prevent.
• Innovate your equipment through retrofits, sensors, and smart design.
• Lead the change by moving from firefighting to future-proofing.

Maintenance isn’t a support function anymore. It’s a strategic advantage when it’s done right. So, stop managing problems. Start engineering solutions. Because the factories that win tomorrow are the ones building smarter systems today.

Chris Ortiz. Author of the Upcoming Book-The Maintenance Mindset