Asset Maintenance Management: A Practical Guide

Asset maintenance management connects asset management and maintenance management into one practical system: define asset criticality, plan preventive work, execute reliably, and learn from failures. This guide explains the core concepts, a simple operating model, and how organizations can measure progress.

What is asset maintenance management?

Asset maintenance management is the coordinated approach to keeping physical assets available, safe, and cost-effective across their lifecycle. It aligns strategy (asset management) with execution (maintenance management) so that maintenance work supports business outcomes.

A simple operating model

• Define asset hierarchy and criticality.

• Set maintenance strategies (PM, PdM, run-to-failure) by criticality.

• Plan and schedule work with clear job plans and materials readiness.

• Execute with quality assurance and feedback loops.

• Measure reliability, cost, and risk; improve continuously.

Key metrics to track

Start with a small set of metrics that connect maintenance execution to asset performance: planned work %, schedule compliance, mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), and maintenance cost per unit of output.

How IMA supports professionals

IMA develops global maintenance standards, certification pathways, and research to help organizations and professionals improve maintenance and reliability outcomes. Explore IMA activities and upcoming events to connect with the community.