Top management often struggles to approve large sums required for annual maintenance because the expense is seen as a necessary evil. As a result, if a business encounters short-term financial constraints, the first place it looks for savings is maintenance.

This is why your maintenance budget can’t be an arbitrary number that is devised based on revenue. Instead, you must link maintenance expenditure to desired business outcomes.

Smart businesses understand that maintenance is an enabler of business success and growth. By understanding the trade-off between asset life and revenue, a business can target maintenance investments to optimize equipment uptime and longevity, maximize revenue, and delay capital expenditure.

In other words, maintenance budgeting is a balancing act. Let’s see how to walk that fine line.

 …