Predictive Maintenance for SMEs: Practical Guide

What Is Predictive Maintenance?

Predictive maintenance uses data to predict when equipment will fail, allowing you to maintain it before the failure occurs. It is more advanced than preventive maintenance but delivers better results.

Predictive vs Preventive

Approach	When to Maintain	Cost	Effectiveness
Reactive	After failure	Highest	Lowest
Preventive	On schedule	Moderate	Good
Predictive	Before failure	Lowest long-term	Highest

Getting Started with Predictive Maintenance

• Start with preventive maintenance (scheduled intervals)
• Collect maintenance history data
• Identify patterns (same asset failing repeatedly)
• Use AI-powered tools to predict failures
• Focus on high-value, critical equipment first