Deferred maintenance refers to postponing maintenance tasks — whether planned or unplanned — usually due to lack of budget. Over time, deferred maintenance tasks accumulate, creating a maintenance backlog.
Keeping a maintenance backlog has long been accepted as normal; however, regularly deferring maintenance comes with risks. As the maintenance backlog continues to grow, it becomes more difficult to get caught up and prioritize tasks effectively. With deferred maintenance, important tasks can fall through the cracks, and small problems can escalate to equipment failure if they are not addressed in a timely manner.
Some companies have even chosen a run-to-failure maintenance strategy that allows machines to continue operating until they fail. However, this practice accelerates equipment wear, reduces asset lifespan, and increases the risk of unexpected failure and downtime. Often, deferred maintenance costs more time and money than simply keeping up with maintenance would have cost in the first place.
Fortunately, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) software makes it possible to keep your maintenance both up-to-date and on budget.
Reasons for Deferred Maintenance
There are many reasons organizations choose to defer maintenance, but the leading reason is cost. With tight budgets, managers routinely find themselves needing to postpone maintenance tasks month after month.
However, it is important to keep in mind that emergency repairs are far more expensive than routine maintenance. In addition, unplanned downtime leaves workers idle and stalls production, which can be extremely costly in lost productivity.
Company policies can also be a reason for deferred maintenance. Even for companies that don’t intentionally operate a run-to-failure strategy, hold orders can be placed on work for any number of reasons, hindering the team’s ability to proceed with a maintenance task.
Lack of planning is another major problem. For example, without proper spare parts inventory management, teams may not have replacement parts on hand, which can lead to deferred maintenance. Repairs can’t be made until the parts can be ordered and delivered. Similarly, insufficient staffing can leave teams without the required personnel to complete maintenance tasks on time.
A lack of performance data also makes it more difficult to prioritize maintenance tasks effectively. Repairs can easily slip through the cracks and be neglected without a metrics-driven approach and an effort to track maintenance KPIs.
When Can Maintenance Be Deferred?
Sometimes, deferred maintenance is unavoidable. You may have already reached your allotted maintenance budget for the month, or you may be stuck waiting for new parts to arrive. However, these reasons are short-term. There are few good reasons, if any, to defer maintenance for long periods of time – an approach that will cost more time and resources in the long run.
However, in some specific examples of deferred maintenance, it may indeed make sense to operate a run-to-failure strategy for a specific machine or component. But operating an intentional run-to-failure strategy for an asset often takes extreme levels of organization and preparation, either through redundancies or creating a plan to be sure the right person is on hand with the right part when the machine breaks.
What Are the Risks of Deferred Maintenance?
Proactively staying on top of standard maintenance tasks is key to ensuring smooth, incident-free operations. However, when too many maintenance tasks are postponed, the risk of unexpected failure increases dramatically, and your facility can quickly turn into a series of emergencies that take up all your time and energy.
Cost of Repairs
Deferring maintenance can cost you more money in repairs down the line. Emergency repairs are more expensive than preventive maintenance. Furthermore, even the spare parts that you need will cost more in a few years thanks to inflation.
Reduced Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Deferred maintenance can reduce your overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). When important repairs are postponed, assets may not operate as efficiently, or they may go offline unexpectedly and more frequently. All of these reduce machine availability, slowing down production timelines and putting product quality at risk as operators scramble to make up for delays.
Safety Risks
In some cases, equipment becomes more dangerous if it’s not correctly maintained, increasing the risk of accidents. Even if nobody is hurt, it can lead to OSHA violations and expensive fines.
How to Combat Deferred Maintenance with CMMS and IIoT
Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) software helps maintenance teams keep on top of work orders and scheduling, as well as monitoring maintenance KPIs to be sure work is being completed on time.
IIoT devices, like condition monitoring sensors, can be installed on your machines to automatically collect key data, like changes in vibration and temperature that indicate the health of your equipment. Data analytics software can then analyze sensor data to make accurate predictions about your equipment’s maintenance requirements.
These technologies become your eyes and ears, giving you visibility into equipment performance and maintenance requirements based on data from the machines themselves. This allows you to prioritize maintenance more effectively and reduce the risks of deferred maintenance.
Speak with a specialist today to learn how our software and sensors can transform your business.