21 ways to improve maintenance maturity in the next 90 days

Buzzwords tend to have a paralyzing effect. They’re often big-sounding concepts that look good in a presentation. But it’s usually far more difficult to connect these ideas to tangible plans, and even harder to tie them to impact. 

Maintenance maturity is a good example. We recently talked to a service provider that works with maintenance teams, and they put it best: 

“When there's a task as big as [maintenance maturity], it’s hard to even know where to start. So you just keep pushing it down the road. This is where a lot of our customers are with maintenance. It’s just too much for anybody to take on to even start it.”

The pressure to improve maintenance maturity is only growing. In a study of 100 job posts, we found that 46% of companies want a maintenance leader who can build their preventive maintenance program and 30% are looking for someone to develop a predictive maintenance strategy. In that same analysis, we found that nearly one in five companies expect maintenance managers to drive large digital transformation initiatives.

In other words, industrial companies see maintenance maturity as a top priority.

This article helps you translate this vague ask into a concrete action plan. It helps you define what maintenance maturity is to you and then identify quick wins with outsized impact.

Top takeaways

• Maintenance maturity is easiest to pursue in 90-day increments by focusing on a small scope (one line, asset group, or one shift) and stacking a few high-impact improvements.
  
• Use the PDCA framework to pilot changes quickly, measure leading indicators, and scale what proves valuable.
  
• Start with fundamentals that remove daily friction, like prioritization, shift handoffs, backlog readiness, work order quality, and follow-through, to unlock reliability improvements.
  
• AI can accelerate maintenance maturity by helping you draft procedures, summarize work history, and build reports.

Before you start: A framework for your maintenance maturity plan

A maintenance maturity program works best when it’s treated like a series of small improvements instead of a big transformation project. Pick improvements you can implement quickly, prove value, and then expand with confidence.

Start small

Keeping your scope to a minimum will help you move through the maturity process quickly, from beginning a project, to learning if it works, and getting results. Here are some examples of how to start small: 

• A single line, area, or asset group
• A single failure mode
• The top three to five bad actors
• The five most frequent PMs
• One component or workflow on one shift (ex. WO notes or parts kitting)
  

The best starting point allows you to take action quickly and make a big impact, such as reducing downtime or costs.

Follow the PDCA model

Use the plan, do, check, act framework (PDCA) to give structure to your projects, gather feedback, and iterate quickly.

• Plan: Define the problem, scope, success metrics, and starting point. Establish a step-by-step plan with owners for a timeline.
  
• Do: Implement your plan. Monitor to ensure you’re on track to meet the goal and deadline.
  
• Check: Review results on a set schedule to identify early results, blockers, and friction points. Look for leading indicators (like data quality), early outcomes (like downtime), and process challenges (like excess admin time).
  
• Act: Standardize what worked, adjust what didn’t, and decide whether to expand the scope.
  

This prevents you from rolling out changes too broadly before they work and saves you from doing a pilot that never becomes standard work.

Use AI to accelerate

AI is most valuable when it reduces the friction that keeps teams from doing the basics consistently. Use it to speed up thinking, writing, and organizing.

High-leverage uses:

• Draft PM procedures from existing notes/manuals
  
• Summarize work order notes and work order histories
  
• Build and analyze reports and KPI dashboards
  
• Scanning manuals and past work orders to give real-time repair assistance to technicians
  

AI can create a strong first draft in minutes, but a tech or planner should always do the final pass before it becomes standard work.

Scale stakeholders as you scale projects

You can drive a lot of change with a small group early in maintenance maturity projects. But you’ll need to include more people in the process as you expand your efforts or you’ll likely not have the buy-in to move forward. Here are some tips for creating a project group for your maintenance maturity initiatives:

• Include members of every team who is impacted by a change, including technicians, operators, plant managers, and IT
  
• Create a formal evaluation process and establish a feedback loop for changes
  
• Define ownership for each team and each part of the project
  

As the project scope grows, the cost of change grows too—more training, coordination, and trade-offs. Bringing stakeholders in helps you secure access, resources, and alignment on priorities so the work sticks.

21 ways to improve maintenance maturity

Rapid wins (one to two weeks)

1. Standardize shift handoffs

What to do

Create a brief template for shift handoffs that can include: 

• What equipment is down
• What assets are at risk
• What equipment/work is waiting on parts
• What changed since the last shift
• New work requests
• New safety incidents or risks
• Assigned actions and owners
  

Where to start

Pilot the new process with a single shift handoff. If you want to go super small, try it out with one line or area of your site.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of completed handoffs, number of carryover items with a named owner.
• Outcome metric: Percentage of handoff items completed, time spent on administrative tasks

2. Create a standard priority matrix

What to do

Implement a simple scoring system to prioritize work orders and work requests. Use the following to score risk on a four-point scale (low, moderate, high, urgent): 

• Safety: How much of a risk does this pose to employees and the environment?
• Production: How big of an impact does the work have on throughput and capacity?
• Quality: How much does this affect the quality of production?
• Cost: How much does this impact costs across the organization? 

Require every new work request and work order to have a priority selected using the same definitions. Review priorities during daily huddles and shift handoffs.

Where to start

Start by piloting for work orders and/or work requests on one line or asset group. This allows you to define and validate the way you prioritize work, as well as how it’s acted on and tracked without the risk of missing work or being overwhelmed by data.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of work orders/requests with priority, number of urgent and high-priority work orders/requests escalated
• Outcome metric: Improved schedule stability, reduced response times/MTTR for high-priority and urgent work
  

3. Improve work order notes

What to do

Make work order notes mandatory for all jobs and create prompts or sub-sections for notes. That can include the following:

• Observations (ex. Forklift leaking oil)
• Problem (ex. Cracked hydraulic hose)
• Impact (ex. Forklift inoperable, oil leak poses safety hazard)
• Solution (ex. Replaced hydraulic hose and damaged seals. Cleaned up spilled oil. Tested forklift under load).

Define what a minimum ‘good’ work order note looks like. Make it easier for technicians and frontline workers to add notes with a mobile app that enables voice-to-text transcription.

Where to start

Apply changes to a single asset or up to 10 assets. You can also focus on one shift, one technician, or a select group of work orders, such as corrective work orders or the 10 most common PMs.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of work orders with completed notes
• Outcome metric: Mean time to repair, reduced repeat work orders/first-time fix rate
  

4. Require physical inputs on work orders

What to do

Require technicians to add at least one physical input to inspections and PMs to close the work order. That can include a measurement or meter reading, a comment, or a photo. This helps to eliminate pencil whipping and data gaps.

Where to start

Pilot the change on five to 10 high-value or most common PMs for critical assets. You can also start with one shift or even a specific, small group of technicians.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of work orders with required inputs
• Outcome metric: Better work order data, earlier defect detection
  

5. Create and schedule PMs

What to do

Establish a simple, recurring PM cadence, including: 

• Create a standard procedure (inspection checklist, safety guidelines, pass/fail criteria, etc.)
• Schedule a time
• Assign a technician
• Define follow up actions if inspections fail

Where to start

Start with one asset or asset group. Look for critical assets with frequent and/or impactful failures. Also consider choosing assets where PMs won't be cancelled because of production.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: PM compliance; failed inspections/follow-up work orders created
• Outcome metric: Downtime, planned maintenance percentage

Quick wins (two to four weeks)

6. Create a KPI dashboard or report

What to do

Build a simple maintenance KPI dashboard and review it weekly. This can be done with a digital tool, like a CMMS, a spreadsheet, or even on a whiteboard to begin. Metrics to start with include:

• Downtime: Total downtime, top-10 bad actors, failure type/category
• Work orders: On-time completion/PM compliance, work order by type, backlog size
• Work requests: Completion rate, mean time to repair, wrench time

Create a guide to each KPI, including how it’s tracked, who is responsible for it, and what action to take. Share KPIs and insights on a regular basis with technicians, the plant manager and/or any other relevant stakeholder.

Where to start

Choose one to three KPIs to start. Metrics should be easy to collect without many or any new resources. Tighten the scope even further by tracking KPIs on a single asset or work order type.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Data completeness, cleanliness, and consistency
• Outcome metric: Actions taken, improvement in KPIs

7. Standardize failure codes

What to do

Create a short, standardized list of failure codes that technicians can quickly apply to work orders. Define a structure for the failure codes that are intuitive for frontline staff. For example Asset → Component → Failure → Cause, which can show up as Pump → Seal → Leak → Wear. Require failure codes to be added before a work order can be closed.

Where to start‍

Start with one asset or asset group, with the top 10 bad actors being a prime opportunity.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of work orders with failure codes
• Outcome metric: Downtime, repeat failures

8. Make asset and work order information accessible digitally

What to do

Digitize key manuals, SOPs, checklists, safety guidelines, and PMs. Then place QR codes on equipment that open the correct asset record instantly. Standardize what each asset should include in a minimum viable asset packet. Train techs to scan before starting work to view all relevant materials.

Where to start‍

Start with one asset or asset group and/or one type of resource, such as manuals or safety guidelines.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Number of digitized resources, number of target assets with complete asset packs, QR scans
• Outcome metric: Reduced MTTR, first-time fix rate

9. Digitize work requests

What to do

Replace informal requests with a simple digital work request form. Use QR codes on the plant floor, assets, or other areas in a facility so operators and other staff can submit requests tied to the right asset and location. Essential fields include: 

• Asset
• Location
• Description of issue
• Requester

Set up automated routing to a manager or planner, and a standard first response.

Where to start

Pilot with one asset group, one operator group, one location, or one shift where request volume is manageable.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of requests submitted digitally, time spent managing requests
• Outcome metric: Response time

10. Schedule a weekly backlog review

What to do

Hold a weekly backlog review to convert raw backlog into a “next week ready” list. For the top set of jobs, confirm:

• Priority
• Job plan and steps
• Estimated hour
• Required parts available
• Required access window. 

Identify constraints (like waiting on parts or safety permits) and assign owners to clear them before the schedule is built. Only commit to work that can be scheduled and completed.

Where to start

Start with one asset group or shift. You can also limit your pilot to 10-20 of the most urgent backlog items.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Backlog size, number of jobs moved into “ready”
• Outcome metric: Higher schedule completion

Progressive wins (four to eight weeks)

11. Standardize PMs and procedures

What to do

Audit PMs to ensure they have consistent frequencies across asset groups and that all PMs for asset groups have a standard framework. That might include the same:

• Tasklists
• Safety procedures
• Bill of materials
• List of failure codes
• Mandatory field and sign-off criteria
• Priority level

Solve any discrepancies you find so that all PMs are done the same way, at the same cadence, across asset groups.

Where to start

Start by looking at one set of PMs on your most critical asset groups at one site. You can expand to additional PMs on your critical asset groups and to additional sites for the original PMs if you manage multiple locations.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: PM completeness, completed PMs
• Outcome metric: Reduced downtime/breakdowns, increased failed inspections/corrective action

12. Create parts kits

What to do

Build parts kits for common planned work so technicians aren’t hunting for materials during execution. For each job, define the standard parts list, quantities, consumables, and tools. Group these into kits and place in a designated area of your storeroom. You can even take it a step further and set up kitting stations close to the corresponding assets, reducing the time it takes to retrieve the materials for a job. Track the usage of kits so you can update cycle counts and accurately reorder parts.

Where to start

Start with the top five to 10 most commonly occurring jobs or work on the top five to 10 bad actor assets.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of PM kitted before start, number of kits used monthly
• Outcome metric: Reduced MTTR, increased wrench time, reduced downtime

13. Set min/max and reorder points for parts inventory

What to do

Set min/max levels for parts inventory with reorder points to prevent stockouts. Review and clean part records with accurate counts, clear descriptions, and locations. Then set minimum and maximum stock levels, as well as reorder triggers. Assign ownership for cycle counts and submitting purchase orders.

Where to start

Begin with the top 10 to 20 parts by usage, criticality, cost, and/or lead time for one asset or asset group.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of parts with min/max set, cycle counts completed
• Outcome metric: Reduced stockouts/emergency orders, fewer delays from stockouts

14. Establish a regular RCA cadence

What to do

Create a regular rhythm for root cause analysis (RCA) that leads to action (bi-weekly or monthly). Set criteria for when RCA is required (major downtime events, repeat failures, safety incidents) and use a simple template for your RCAs: 

• Problem
• Contributing factors
• Root cause
• Corrective actions
• Preventive actions
• Owner, due date, and verification method

Hold a short RCA review where you confirm actions are being completed and verified.

Where to start

Start with a monthly cadence and focus on one downtime event for each round of RCA.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Number of RCAs completed, percentage of RCA actions closed on time
• Outcome metric: Reduced repeat failures, reduced downtime

15. Create a bad actor scorecard and action plan

What to do

Build a bad actor list that ranks assets by recent performance and impact, including:

• Downtime hours
• Maintenance cost
• Repeat work orders
• Near misses, reportable incidents, and other safety risks 

Create a one-page scorecard for each top offender that includes failure history, top failure modes, parts consumed, downtime impact, and current PMs. Assign an owner to each piece of equipment and create a short action plan to improve asset performance.

Where to start

Start with the top five to 10 assets in one area or site that have the biggest impact on production and safety.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Scorecards created, Actions completed
• Outcome metric: Reduced downtime, reduced costs, reduced MTTR, reduced repeat work orders

16. Automate corrective follow up work orders

What to do

Define a standard follow-up workflow: when an inspection task is marked as failed or a PM finds an issue, a corrective work order is automatically created and assigned. You can add escalation rules depending on the type of inspection task or PM. Keep automation simple at first—focus on routing and visibility in the beginning.

Where to start

Start with one group of PMs, either on a certain line or shift, or one type of PMs or inspections. Focus on corrective action that has the biggest impact if missed, such as safety tasks or PMs on critical assets.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Corrective work orders assigned, corrective work orders closed
• Outcome metric: Reduced backlog, reduced downtime

Foundational wins (eight to 12 weeks)

17. Audit and right-size PMs

What to do

Review your PM program to cut low-value work and increase the frequency of work if needed. For each asset, look for:

• Inspections that aren’t finding failure. The frequency of these tasks can often be reduced.
• Corrective work happening between PMs. The frequency of PMs should probably be increased. 
• Duplicate PMs and PMs that can be combined.

Where to start

Target one PM-heavy asset or asset group, or an asset/asset group with high criticality or costs.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Mean time between failure, failed inspections
• Outcome metric: Reduced maintenance costs, PM compliance

18. Clean up your asset hierarchy

What to do

Review and clean your asset hierarchy so data, work history, and costs are tracked accurately and techs can find the right asset fast. Define naming conventions and parent/child rules, like Line → System → Machine → Component → Sub-component. Merge duplicates, retire obsolete assets, and ensure each asset has an owner, location, criticality tag, and links to key documentation. The goal is a usable hierarchy that supports planning, failure analysis, PM standardization, and reporting.

Where to start

Focus on one asset group to start. Target asset groups that have the most impact on the other maintenance maturity projects you have in mind as well as your daily/weekly work. For example, if you want to standardize PMs or create parts kits for a certain asset group, target them with this initiative.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of assets mapped, reduction in duplicate assets, more accurate/clean work order data
• Outcome metric: Reduced MTTR

19. Launch a lubrication excellence starter kit

What to do

Build lubrication maps for critical assets, including what, where, how much, and how often. Create standard guidelines for grease and oil selections, and label points with color tags that match product IDs. Add basic contamination controls and embed lube tasks into PMs with specific quantities and verification.

Where to start

Start with one line, the top 10 to 20 assets, or 10 to 20 PMs with key lubrication tasks.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Percentage of lube points mapped, percentage of team trained
• Outcome metric: Fewer lubrication-related failures, reduced vibration failure events

20. Conduct FMEAs and build a reliability plan

What to do

Run a focused failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and build a reliability plan based on the findings. For each asset or system in scope, document functions, failure modes, effects, causes, current controls, and risk ranking that factors in severity, occurrence, and detectability). Convert the top risks into an action plan so you can prevent and respond to potential failures. That includes PMs, operator inspections, a spare parts strategy, and response playbooks.

Where to start

Pick the top 10 assets by downtime and/or cost to start your FMEA program with.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Number of failure modes with assigned actions
• Outcome metric: Reduced downtime, fewer repeat failures

21. Automate a condition-based trigger with meters or sensors

What to do

Use a meter, sensor, or existing PLC/SCADA signal to trigger maintenance. Define one clear condition tied to a real failure mode, like vibration or temperature over a certain threshold. Set the trigger, notification, and automatic work creation rules, and define follow up actions. Include thresholds, validation steps, and escalation rules to avoid false alarms.

Where to start

Pilot on one or two critical assets with frequent failures and/or observable conditions.

How to tell if it’s working

• Leading indicators: Number of condition alerts logged, number of corrective actions triggered
• Outcome metric: Number of corrective actions completed, reduced downtime

The final word: Maintenance maturity is often done best in small doses

Maintenance maturity isn’t a finish line, it’s a set of habits that compound. The fastest teams don’t start with a big transformation roadmap. They pick one small improvement, prove it works, and scale from there.

Pick two or three projects that remove friction right now on one line, one asset group, or one shift. Measure the early signals and let those lead to better outcomes.

In 90 days, you don’t need perfection, you need momentum. Small wins create buy-in, and buy-in creates the runway to scale what works.