Lots of organizations are in a dilemma about which type of maintenance they should use in their business. In this blog, we will know what preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance are and what are the differences between them! So, without wasting any time, let us begin!

What Is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is one of the most used asset maintenance types. It is helpful in avoiding certain asset equipment failures. Decreases downtime of an asset and optimizes asset performance.

In preventive maintenance strategy, as it schedules maintenance proactively and before asset failure can occur maintenance is provided. It also keeps records of the past such as asset history, asset inspection & asset service, etc.

Usually, a big size organization has lots of assets and equipment so it can become complex to implement and maintain.

Therefore, it is essential to utilize preventive maintenance software that automates the maintenance process and organizes the process effectively.

Recommend To Read: What Are the Important Functions of Preventive Maintenance?
What Are the Features of Preventive Maintenance Software?
Features of preventive maintenance software are discussed below:

1. Schedule Maintenance
Lots of organizations do not pay attention to their assets and as a result, the chances of asset breakdown are more than usual. However, preventive maintenance software can help you avoid such events.

2. Tracking Maintenance
This software enables organizations to schedule, and track asset maintenance easily & effectively. This software is beneficial especially when they have lots of assets and equipment in terms of tracking and scheduling asset maintenance.

3. Work Order Creation
Simple and effective in creating work orders for each maintenance. Moreover, it keeps everyone on the same page and information centralized as well so that the maintenance manager knows which technician is working on which work order.

4. Create a Checklist
Lots of times it has been seen that the maintenance technician forgot some of the activities. That is why it is important to create a checklist for each maintenance work order so that no work is skipped.

It is also helpful for maintenance technicians to deliver more efficient work and enhance productivity as well.

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Predictive Maintenance Challenges Preventive Maintenance Software Features
What Are the Pros and Cons of Preventive Maintenance?
Pros and Cons of Preventive Maintenance Are:

1. Extend Asset Life
When equipment gets maintenance on the time it leads to asset life optimization and asset performance improves in the long term.

2. Reduces Downtime
In the long run, asset downtime is decreased and uptime is increased. It results in better productivity.

3. Better Safety
Since sudden asset failures are minimized then it creates a safe environment for employees and assets themselves. It leads to better asset performance as well.

Cons of Preventive Maintenance Are:

1. Labour Intensive
Preventive maintenance is labor-intensive since there are lots of assets and keeping them maintained is a hard task. So, the maintenance team always has some assets in the queue for maintenance.

2. Expensive at the Beginning
When you implement preventive maintenance initially it might seem expensive because lots of assets will require lots of spare parts and repairing and labor expenses will increase as well.

3. Over Maintenance
Sometimes assets are not used much! As a result, they are given over maintenance, so it is a disadvantage. Therefore, keeping track of maintenance & asset utilization is essential to avoid this issue.

What Is Corrective Maintenance?
Corrective maintenance is maintenance in which an asset is brought back into running condition. Usually, corrective maintenance is unplanned maintenance. It is used when a sudden equipment failure has occurred.

However, corrective maintenance can be planned or unplanned maintenance. In this process, several activities are conducted, such as repairing, replacing, restoring equipment, adjustment, realignment, troubleshooting, etc.

Corrective maintenance can be done when a technician finds a potential problem while performing maintenance or inspecting an asset. Corrective maintenance can also be done when sudden equipment failure occurs.

Missed To Read: Best Practices for Issue Tracking Software to Boost Corrective Maintenance.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Corrective Maintenance?
Pros of corrective maintenance are discussed below:

1. Almost No Planning Required
In corrective maintenance, no planning is required because problems are not found in advance, and maintenance is done right away.

2. Simplified Procedure
The process of corrective maintenance is simple because it is only done when it is needed, and the maintenance team can focus on other activities.

3. Lower Maintenance Expenses for the Short Term
Proactive maintenance requires proper planning which can be expensive but corrective maintenance does not require advance planning. So, it is cost-effective in the short term.

Cons of corrective maintenance are discussed below:

1. Costly in the long run
When sudden equipment failure frequency increases then maintenance cost increases at the same time labor expenses increases as well.

2. Performance issue
Equipment is not given proper maintenance and that impacts the performance of assets. You cannot expect high performance with corrective maintenance implementation.

3. More chances of breakdown
Since corrective maintenance only rectifies the main issue but not the cause that equipment failure frequency is more.

How Are Preventive Maintenance and Corrective Maintenance Different from Each Other?
Below we have discussed the differences between preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance:

Preventive Maintenance vs Corrective Maintenance
Also Read: What Are the Challenges Faced While Implementing Condition-Based Maintenance?
1. Corrective maintenance is reactive by nature whereas preventive maintenance is proactive in nature.

2. Preventive maintenance is more complex, and planning is required whereas corrective maintenance is less complex, and no planning is required.

3. Corrective maintenance is done after sudden asset failure and preventive maintenance avoids sudden failure.

4. Preventive maintenance is expensive in the initial stage but cost-effective in the long term. Whereas corrective maintenance is cost-effective in the beginning but expensive in the long term.

5. The frequency of maintenance is more in corrective maintenance whereas the frequency of maintenance is less in Preventive maintenance.

6. Preventive maintenance leads to enhanced asset life Corrective maintenance leads to decreases asset life.

7. Performance is optimized in Preventive maintenance whereas Performance is decreased in corrective maintenance.

Conclusion
So these are the overall differences between corrective maintenance and preventive maintenance. We hope that you have got a clear idea of which type of maintenance you can use in your business. In case you need assistance, you can use our asset management software that will help you in improving your business operations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q.1 - What Are the Various Types of Maintenance Organizations Can Utilize?

Mainly there are two types of maintenance, proactive and reactive maintenance. In corrective maintenance, several maintenance tasks are available, such as preventive and predictive maintenance, condition monitoring maintenance, etc. Whereas in reactive maintenance there is emergency maintenance, corrective maintenance, etc.

Q.2 - What Are the Key Features of Corrective Maintenance?

A few key features of corrective maintenance are discussed below:

1. Creates work order.

2. Reduces time wastage.

3. Alert maintenance team.

Q.3 - Are Predictive and Preventive Maintenance the Same?

No, they are not the same Predictive and preventive maintenance are different from each other. Although most of the features are the same. As we know, preventive maintenance is scheduled maintenance. It is done based on asset utilization or after a specific time (1 week, 1 month, and so on). Whereas in predictive maintenance, the anticipation of asset failure is calculated. For this purpose, data is utilized, and asset inspection is done. regularly. According to the Globe News Wire, “The global predictive maintenance market held a market value of USD 4,029.4 Million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 18,653.2 Million by the year 2027. The market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 26.5% from 2021 to 2027.”

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