Reactive Maintenance: Definition, Strategy, Examples

Reactive maintenance, also known as breakdown maintenance, involves repairing or replacing equipment and systems only after they fail or malfunction. This type of maintenance is inherently unplanned and addresses issues as they occur, focusing on restoring functionality as quickly as possible.

In many cases, reactive maintenance is the default strategy for non-critical systems where the cost and impact of downtime are minimal. However, relying solely on reactive maintenance can lead to significant operational disruptions and higher long-term costs for critical assets.

Key characteristics of reactive maintenance include:

• Immediate response: Repairs happen as soon as monitoring systems detect a failure, in an effort to restore operations swiftly.
• Unplanned: Maintenance activities are not scheduled in advance but occur in response to unexpected issues.
• Resource-intensive: Requires quick mobilization of resources, including personnel, tools, and spare parts, often leading to increased costs.

Reactive maintenance is a necessary component of any maintenance strategy, particularly for addressing unforeseen problems. However, balancing reactive maintenance with proactive approaches can help optimize overall asset management.

Reactive maintenance offers several advantages, especially in the short term, but also comes with notable disadvantages. Understanding these can help organizations determine when and how to incorporate reactive maintenance into their overall strategy.

Advantages

Lower Upfront Costs

One of the biggest appeals of reactive maintenance is that it doesn’t require much initial investment. There’s no need to spend time and money on inspections, monitoring programs, or scheduled upkeep. Instead, maintenance only costs money when something breaks. For some organizations, especially those with tight budgets or limited resources, this can make reactive maintenance seem like a good option.

Simple to Manage

Compared to predictive or preventive maintenance programs, reactive maintenance is straightforward. There’s no need for detailed schedules, specialized software, or constant data tracking. Teams only take action when a problem occurs, which simplifies planning and reduces the administrative load.

Works Well for Non-Critical Assets

Reactive maintenance is a perfectly acceptable strategy for non-essential equipment, especially if downtime doesn’t significantly disrupt operations or pose safety concerns. In these cases, letting a machine run until it fails may actually be the most cost-effective option, particularly if the cost of repair or replacement is low.

Disadvantages

Higher Long-Term Costs

While it may save money upfront, reactive maintenance often leads to much higher costs over time. Emergency repairs, expedited shipping for parts, overtime labor, and production losses all add up quickly. In the case of critical equipment, a single failure can be extremely expensive. That’s not only due to the costs of the repair itself, but also lost revenue from slowed or stopped production.

More Unplanned Downtime

Because reactive maintenance doesn’t address issues until they become serious, it increases the likelihood of unexpected equipment failures. These breakdowns can cause significant downtime, especially if replacement parts or specialized technicians aren’t available. For facilities with tight production schedules, this unpredictability can be a major problem.

Greater Safety Risks

Sudden equipment failures can create hazardous conditions for workers. A failing motor, pump, or press might overheat, seize up, or break apart without warning. These scenarios not only endanger employees but can also result in costly compliance violations or lawsuits.

Strains Maintenance Resources

When everything runs on a “fix-it-when-it-breaks” basis, maintenance teams are often forced to drop everything and respond to emergencies. This reactive mode can overwhelm staff, derail planned tasks, and lead to burnout over time. It’s also hard to prioritize effectively when you’re constantly fighting fires.

Difficult to Forecast and Plan

Because failures happen unexpectedly, it’s challenging to manage workloads, plan budgets, or maintain an accurate spare parts inventory. A lack of predictability makes it harder to align maintenance operations with broader business goals and can result in both overspending and underperformance.

By weighing these advantages and disadvantages, organizations can make informed decisions about the role of reactive maintenance in their overall maintenance strategy. For many, the key is finding the right balance by using reactive maintenance selectively for low-risk assets while investing in preventive or predictive strategies for critical operations.

Reactive maintenance may seem cost-effective in the short term, but the costs add up quickly, especially when it comes to asset lifespan. When technicians only repair machines after a failure, minor issues have the chance to escalate into major problems. What might have been a low-cost repair can turn into catastrophic damage that shortens the asset’s overall service life.

Frequent unplanned downtime can also lead to rushed or incomplete fixes, especially when replacement parts or specialized technicians aren’t immediately available. These band-aid repairs rarely restore the equipment to optimal condition, allowing wear and tear to accelerate over time.

Reactive maintenance often doesn’t address the root causes of problems, such as poor lubrication, misalignment, or electrical imbalances. As these conditions continue unchecked, they compound the stress on components and diminish performance across the equipment lifecycle.

In industries where uptime is critical, relying solely on reactive maintenance can ultimately mean replacing assets far sooner than expected. While it may delay spending in the short term, this strategy often results in a higher total cost of ownership due to more frequent replacements, emergency and overtime labor rates, and the ripple effects of unplanned downtime.

Reactive maintenance encompasses several subtypes of maintenance strategies. All of these approaches apply to correcting an issue that already exists, but there are subtle differences between them.

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance happens after a technician spots a problem. It’s usually used to fix or replace something that no longer works the way it should. It’s often lumped in with reactive maintenance, but the key difference is that corrective maintenance kicks in after a failure is identified, not necessarily after it causes a complete shutdown.

Example: Fixing a leaking pipe after you notice dripping water, or replacing a motor that’s overheating before it completely fails.

Emergency Maintenance

Emergency maintenance is exactly what it sounds like: fast, urgent repairs that need to happen right away to keep people safe or to prevent major damage. It’s typically both unplanned and high-stakes, which makes it disruptive and expensive.

Example: Replacing a failed safety valve on a high-pressure boiler before it causes a dangerous pressure buildup.

Deferred Maintenance

Sometimes, teams know something needs to be fixed, but they choose to wait. This could be because the part isn’t critical, the downtime would be too costly, or there just aren’t enough resources at the moment. This practice is called deferred maintenance. It’s a calculated delay, but it can become risky if deferred maintenance tasks pile up.

Example: Delaying the replacement of a worn-out conveyor belt until the next planned downtime.

Industry Examples of Reactive Maintenance

Teams use reactive maintenance across industries and equipment types. Here are some common examples of reactive maintenance:

• Manufacturing: Repairing a broken machine on an assembly line that halts production.
• HVAC: Fixing a malfunctioning air conditioning unit in an office building during a heatwave.
• Electrical: Replacing a blown fuse or repairing a tripped circuit breaker to restore power.
• Automotive: Addressing a sudden delivery truck breakdown after an accident to ensure timely deliveries.
• Information technology: Replacing a failed server hard drive to restore data access and network functionality.

These examples of reactive maintenance highlight the many ways it is used to respond to unplanned issues and keep equipment running, helping teams maintain operational continuity when problems arise.

While reactive maintenance can be a good strategy for some assets, the costs add up quickly if you choose to use it as your entire maintenance strategy. Proactive maintenance, which includes preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance, is an alternate maintenance strategy that can enhance the reliability of your plant.

Proactive maintenance means that technicians take action before an asset completely stops working. It includes preventive maintenance tasks like greasing a bearing on an asset after a certain number of hours of run time or changing a filter based on the calendar.

Proactive maintenance also includes predictive maintenance. This is a strategy that monitors the actual condition of a machine and predicts failures before they occur. It includes vibration monitoring, oil analysis, and other types of monitoring. With this information, maintenance teams can make decisions about when and what type of maintenance to perform, to reduce the chances of machine failure in the future.

Choosing between reactive and proactive maintenance strategies depends on various factors, including the criticality of assets, operational priorities, and budget constraints. Here’s how to plan your maintenance strategy:

1. Assess Asset Criticality

For critical assets: A proactive maintenance approach (e.g., preventive or predictive maintenance) is a better strategy for minimizing downtime and ensuring reliability in critical assets.

For non-critical assets: Reactive maintenance may be more cost-effective for non-critical assets with minimal impact on operations when failures occur.

2. Analyze Failure Data

Review historical maintenance records to identify patterns and frequencies of equipment failures. This will help you determine the most effective maintenance approach. Also study common failure modes and their consequences to prioritize maintenance efforts accordingly.

If a machine fails infrequently and isn’t critical to production, reactive maintenance will be a better strategy than proactive maintenance.

3. Consider Your Budget

Compare the costs of reactive maintenance (e.g., emergency repairs, downtime) with proactive maintenance (e.g., regular inspections, scheduled servicing) to make informed decisions. Ensure that sufficient resources (personnel, tools, spare parts) are available to support the chosen maintenance strategy.

4. Implement a Balanced Approach

Combine reactive and proactive maintenance approaches to optimize asset management: typically, proactive maintenance for critical assets and reactive maintenance for less critical ones. Maintain flexibility in your strategy to adapt to changing operational needs and emerging technologies.

5. Prioritize Continuous Improvement

Continuously monitor and review maintenance performance, incorporating feedback and lessons learned to refine your strategy. It may also help to leverage advanced technologies like sensors and data analytics to enhance maintenance planning and execution.

Typically, proactive maintenance accounts for 60-80% of all maintenance in a plant, with corrective maintenance making up the other 40-20%. But research shows that different industries utilize varying amounts of proactive vs. reactive maintenance. By carefully planning and balancing reactive and proactive maintenance strategies, organizations can achieve optimal asset performance and reliability.

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is a software solution that significantly enhances the management of work requests by connecting and simplifying the entire process. Here are several key features that make a CMMS the ideal work request and work order management software:

• Centralized system:A CMMS centralizes all work requests, making it easy to track and manage them from a single platform. This capability ensures that maintenance departments don’t overlook any tasks and that they can monitor resources
• Automated workflows:The software automatically routes work requests to the appropriate personnel based on predefined rules. This speeds up response times and ensures that the right experts address each issue.
• Real-time updates:A CMMS provides real-time updates on the status of work requests, including completion and issuedocumentation. All stakeholders can be informed throughout the process, which enhances transparency and simplifies customer communications, too.
• Mobile access:Most CMMS systems come with a mobile app, which allows maintenance personnel to submit and update work requests via mobile devices. The result is increased flexibility and responsiveness, enabling quicker issue resolution.
• Integration with maintenance schedules:A CMMS integrates work requests with preventive and predictive maintenance schedules. This ensures that all maintenance activities are coordinated, reducing downtime and improving efficiency.
• Reporting and analytics:With a CMMS, stakeholders can generate detailed reports and analytics on work requests and work orders, including response times, completion rates, and common issues. These insights inform continuous improvement in the maintenance process and help leaders make data-driven decisions.
• Inventory management:The system tracks inventory levels and links work requests to necessary parts and materials. This ensures that required parts are available for maintenance tasks, reducing delays.

By using a CMMS, organizations can streamline the work request process, enhance communication, and improve overall repair and maintenance efficiency. This connected and simplified approach helps MRO teams respond to issues promptly, maintain high operational standards, and support the organization’s goals.

To learn more about what a CMMS can do for your team, speak to an eMaint CMMS specialist today.