While many companies are perfectly satisfied with the performance of their outsourced predictive maintenance (PdM) programs, some don’t get the desired results for the time and money spent. Others recognize that they have a pool of in-house talent that could do the job given enough time and training, or are facing budget cuts and pressures that force limiting, reducing, or defunding PdM contracts.

Whether your organization has an established contractor-provided PdM program that you want to bring in-house or is starting a program from scratch, it should be done only after careful analysis of the expected benefits and problems that are likely to be encountered. For example, it takes a considerable amount of time for PdM technicians to become proficient in some technologies, particularly vibration analysis and infrared thermography.

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