How Is Predictive Maintenance Different From Preventive Maintenance

Maintenance is often considered either predictive or preventive. People think that they are nearly similar to each other, and that’s why many times they tend to become confused between the two. 

Both of these types are focused on one main thing. And that is the prevention of any operation or failures within the assets.

However, that’s not the case. Both these terms are different from each other, and there are numerous dissimilarities within the same. So, if you have come here searching for the difference between the two, then you are in the right place.  

Here we will be citing the major differences between preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance with other details. Let’s start without any further ado.  

What is Predictive Maintenance?  

Predictive Maintenance is dependent on asset utilization to comprehend the maintenance of the same. With the help of predictive maintenance, it is monitored through the performance and historical data to know when any damage or malfunction is going to occur in the coming future.  

By knowing so, they get to maintain the assets beforehand accordingly. Apart from that, certain technologies for this maintenance. 

Some of the most common ones include IoT sensors and maintenance software. With these technologies, one can monitor how the assets are used.  

What is Preventive Maintenance?  

Now, we will discuss Preventive maintenance. In the case of preventive maintenance, like repairing your garage door before it breaks apart, the managers have to check the assets and maintain them so that no failure occurs. This is different from reactive maintenance.  

Here, the assets are inspected and maintained before any kind of damage, which is certainly not the case in reactive maintenance. Here we are going to mention some of the examples to determine the appropriate servicing of the equipment. It is based on different entities like time, condition, and usage, respectively. 

  • Time-based: This type of maintenance is done as per the time interval. It can be weekly, monthly, or yearly.
  • Condition-based: Similarly, in condition-based maintenance, it is correlated to the evidence of asset failure.
  • Usage-based: This type of maintenance is performed after a certain period. These scenarios include driven miles or hours in use.

From the above information, we can say that preventive maintenance is essential for day-to-day operations. Besides, these assets are likely to fail with the passing time. 

Coming to the essential points required for maintenance, we would say it entirely depends on the use and environmental aspects. Next, we will understand the implementation of both these maintenances for much detailed information. 

Predictive Maintenance V.S Preventive Maintenance: Implementation 

As we are familiar with both these maintenances, let’s understand its implementation in detail. Keep in mind that just as both these types of maintenance are different, their implementations are different too. Here we have mentioned the same for a clearer concept. 

Preventive Maintenance Implementation 

Preventive Maintenance is not limited to monitoring the equipment and seeing the repair schedule provided by the manufacturer. The team should acquire an asset profile that involves asset age, inspection date, lifespan, service record, and equipment.   

For better accuracy, one should utilize the asset management software. Through the software, managers can provide technicians and comprehend the ticket status in the life cycle. 

With this process, technicians will realize what needs to be done as soon as the ticket gets assigned. In other terms, it is an effective step towards better maintenance and management of the assets. 

Predictive Maintenance Implementation 

Predictive Maintenance is a bit different from preventive maintenance. Besides, it is also a bit hard to understand. 

Here is how it gets implemented. We have mentioned some easy ways that can be a helpful step towards better maintenance.  

  • IoT Sensors

These sensors are used for different aspects like temperature, sound, as well as vibration. Through these parameters, one can know the asset performance. Also, they can know when an asset can fail. It can also help you comprehend the ways through which employees interact during a situation of asset failure. Moreover, it is an effective step towards knowing if bad habits can lower the equipment lifespan.  

  • Dashboard and Analytics Reports

One can use both predictive and preventive maintenance to identify major problems within the asset. Let’s say you have an asset, and it keeps failing repeatedly. This would indicate that the asset has some significant issues. Moreover, there could be various reasons for the same. It might be a wrong installation or an inappropriate environmental condition. No matter what, if you get to know this information beforehand, you can replace it and save your money from wasting. 

  • Other Ways to Improve

IoT sensors are becoming low in cost with time. Also, there are numerous best predictive maintenance software, and they are improving too. Thus, with these entities, there are various other ways for improvement for better asset maintenance. 

Which is Better?  

Now comes the common question. And that is which one is better out of the two. To explain that, we would say both are efficient in their ways. 

Be it predictive maintenance or preventive maintenance; their features are outstanding in their places.  

However, it is important to develop a maintenance program to eliminate any unnecessary maintenance. To help you out, we would say that tools like Computer Maintenance Management System or the best CMMS software can be an effective strategy. They can help in numerous ways. Here are some of them cited below  –

  • It helps to know the accurate maintenance time.
  • One can check the asset state to see if its maintenance is done precisely.
  • It will also help to keep the money low when complying with the budget and timelines.

Conclusion  

We hope that you understand the major differences between both predictive and preventive maintenance. From the above article, we can conclude that they might seem similar to each other, but they are different in numerous aspects.  

In both these kinds, the maintenance process is completely different from each other. While preventive maintenance depends on the assets and their maintenance before any failure, in the predictive, one has to understand the utilization of assets so that its failure can be predicted precisely.  

Apart from that, they are also implemented differently. So, if you are looking for a better option, make sure to use the helpful ways mentioned above. You can also use effective CMMS software for better maintenance of the assets.