Direct answer
Define maintenance strategy per failure mode, specify spares and documentation as contract deliverables, and build the maintenance plan before commissioning.
What this discipline delivers
- Maintenance strategy defined per asset criticality
- Preventive task lists derived from failure modes
- Critical spares identified with lead times
- CMMS structure and history recording
- Skills and training plan for the technology installed
Method and stages
Run to failure
Appropriate for low-criticality, low-cost, quickly replaceable items.
Preventive maintenance
Time or cycle-based tasks where wear is predictable.
Condition-based maintenance
Monitoring where failure is progressive and detectable.
Design-out maintenance
Engineering the failure mode away when it recurs.
Engineering and project considerations
- Specify maintainability: access, standard components, change-part time
- Spares list and recommended holding as a contractual deliverable
- Documentation in the maintenance team's working language
- Training before handover, refreshed after the first year
- Maintenance history data enables the next investment decision
What to prepare before engaging engineering companies
- Asset criticality ranking
- Failure mode information from similar equipment
- Spares budget and storage capability
- Maintenance skills baseline and gaps
What to measure
Frequently asked questions
How much spares stock is right?
Hold spares whose lead time exceeds the tolerable downtime for a critical asset. Everything else can be sourced on demand.
Related engineering knowledge
Independent, buyer-side and supplier-neutral
Global B2B Group does not sell machines and does not represent equipment manufacturers. This material is published to help industrial organisations define the problem, prepare the specification and structure the investment before engineering partners are selected.