Regular maintenance is required to keep all assets at peak operating performance, but that’s easier said than done. A good maintenance strategy is needed to guarantee issues are identified and important tasks are completed.
Still, even the best maintenance plans fall apart without calendaring and resource planning, which is why maintenance scheduling is a vital piece of any management strategy.

What is Maintenance Scheduling?

Maintenance scheduling is the process of scheduling and carrying out maintenance work. It’s where time and resources are allocated for each work order, ensuring a technician is on-site when needed. The tasks can range anywhere from routine inspections to emergency repairs, all of which require careful scheduling to prevent downtime and maximize team efficiency.

Maintenance scheduling is not synonymous with maintenance planning, although the two go hand in hand. Maintenance planning is the act of identifying which assets need maintenance and what kind of maintenance is required. Scheduling is then taking those plans and calendaring out when tasks should be completed, factoring in necessary prerequisites and follow-up work.

The importance of both cannot be overstated. A well-implemented maintenance plan with efficient scheduling can help reduce downtime and save money. Maintenance completed before an unexpected failure occurs keeps equipment running at peak performance and avoids emergency repair costs.

How to Create a Maintenance Schedule: 6 Easy Steps

An organization’s maintenance schedule will generally be unique to them and require taking stock of all assets and technicians available. The framework will typically be the same though and should resemble these steps.

  1. Identify the assets and maintenance required. The amount of work in this step will depend on how much maintenance planning has already been done. High-priority assets should be identified and maintenance work orders planned out.
  2. Gather resources. Whatever is needed to complete each work order should be gathered and allocated.
  3. Prioritize tasks. Not all maintenance is created equal. If a critical piece of equipment needs to be repaired, that should be scheduled first. This step will also help manage the maintenance team’s day-to-day bandwidth.
  4. Assign maintenance tasks. Scheduling is not just when maintenance will occur but who will be doing it. Assign out tasks based on what technicians are available and what level of expertise is required.
  5. Document maintenance. The job doesn’t end once a maintenance task is on the schedule – documentation of each task is crucial to increasing efficiency moving forward.
  6. Improve and iterate. Notice what is working and trim the fat where it is not. A maintenance schedule is not static and can always be improved.

With preventive maintenance software like a CMMS, much of this process can be automated to save time and guarantee efficient maintenance.

Types of Maintenance Schedules

There are a few different types of maintenance that a maintenance plan can be formed around and how they differ determines what scheduling looks like.

Reactive maintenance scheduling

Reactive maintenance only requires maintenance when something breaks, so while scheduling might be light on inspections, it will be full of higher-priority repairs.

Predetermined maintenance scheduling

Predetermined maintenance leads to a fairly static and simple schedule. Maintenance is done on the provided factory schedule of any equipment regardless of condition.

Preventive maintenance scheduling

Preventive maintenance is a much more proactive type of maintenance and thus scheduling reflects that. Assets will be prioritized and maintenance requested either on time-based or usage-based intervals. The goal here is to have maintenance scheduled before anything breaks.

Predictive maintenance scheduling

Predictive maintenance predicts and prevents any unnecessary downtime by utilizing asset data. Failure mode analysis data is used to predict when assets will need maintenance and add them to the schedule. This is similar to preventive maintenance but is less rigidly structured around any one determinant, with maintenance potentially being required at any time.

Condition-based maintenance scheduling

Condition-based maintenance revolves around close monitoring of equipment. Whenever the operating condition of an asset falters, maintenance is requested. Scheduling will require quick prioritization of any assets with issues but should avoid the emergency repair scheduling of reactive maintenance.

Maintenance Scheduling Challenges

Maintenance scheduling is not simple and can often run into issues throughout the process. Some of the more common challenges are:

  • Lack of communication. A schedule does not work if it’s not communicated properly. Miscommunications can lead to work orders falling through the cracks or the wrong technician being sent to the wrong job.
  • Resource crunch. A good maintenance schedule will take resource availability into account, but even then, lack of resources can quickly derail even the most efficient of schedules. If parts or people are in short supply, maintenance cannot be finished even if it’s on the schedule.
  • Poor planning. Scheduling can only do so much to salvage a maintenance plan. If work orders are not properly prioritized or detailed, it will cause scheduling issues.
  • No preventive maintenance plan. If maintenance scheduling is solely focused on putting out fires, it can quickly lead to a messy and improvised schedule.

How to Improve Maintenance Scheduling

Even a great maintenance schedule can always find some room for improvement. Following these best practices is a good place to start.

Utilize available data. Maintenance documentation should be reviewed and analyzed to find any inefficiencies. Even well-scheduled work orders can still provide insight.
Focus on the future. Don’t get stuck just looking at the current scheduling time frame. Make sure future inspections and regular maintenance are already scheduled with room to be flexible about any unforeseen occurrences.
Invest in good inventory management. Avoid any issues with resources by keeping close track of inventory. Solid inventory management will solve many scheduling problems with stocking and ordering parts.
Continuous improvement. Constantly review all parts of the maintenance process to identify places to improve. No maintenance schedule will ever be exactly the same, which means there’s always room for improvement.
Make use of maintenance scheduling software. Constantly needing to make manual updates to a maintenance schedule can take time away from other important tasks. A CMMS will be able to automate much of the process and make the entire scheduling process smoother and easier.