Get prescriptive: Using analytics for more effective maintenance

Most of us have experienced an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” scenario. And then what happens? Something breaks, and you have to scramble to repair it or risk business screeching to a halt.

For those in maintenance and operations (M&O), we typically refer to this style of maintenance as reactive. Though still employed by many teams and organizations, many are starting to realize the benefits of adopting preventive practices—regularly scheduled maintenance that helps prevent machines and assets from failure.

As organizations get more tech-savvy, we’re also seeing more predictive maintenance, with M&O teams using real-time data from equipment sensors, historical maintenance records, and other sources to identify patterns and anomalies that indicate impending equipment failure.

But what if we could take it one step further to really take care of our assets? By leveraging all the historical information, all the data coming off strategically-placed sensors, all the observations inputted and recorded by employees, and turning it into something actionable, we’d be better able to ensure machines and facilities are running optimally.

With the help of prescriptive analytics, M&O teams could act even more effectively with their preventive and predictive maintenance to ultimately save organizations money — what business leader wouldn’t like that?

So, what are prescriptive analytics?

Prescriptive analytics use data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning (ML) techniques to make recommendations about what actions to take to achieve a particular goal or outcome. These analytics can provide actionable recommendations to boost decision-making and optimization of operations.

How do asset managers use prescriptive analytics?

Prescriptive analytics are forward-focused, so asset managers use them to optimize maintenance schedules, predict failures, or even allocate resources more effectively. With the right tools, asset managers can develop models that predict the likelihood of asset issues, and then recommend specific maintenance actions to prevent those issues from occurring.

Likely scenario: prescriptive analytics in action

With prescriptive analytics, asset managers and M&O teams can make the most out of their maintenance schedules by analyzing historical data on asset performance and maintenance activities, using that data to model that asset's future, and then recommend the optimal frequency or type of maintenance activities needed to keep assets operating at peak performance.

Prescriptive analytics can also help:

• Predict likelihood of asset failures. By analyzing historical data on asset performance and identifying early warning signs of potential failures, prescriptive analytics can recommend the best actions to prevent failure.
• Resource allocation. Prescriptive analytics can identify which assets require the most maintenance and which maintenance activities are most effective at preventing failures. (Very helpful if trying to reduce maintenance costs).
• Inventory management. Have historical data on parts usage? Use prescriptive analytics to predict which parts are most likely to be needed in the future.

A tool that can provide prescriptive analytics can offer asset managers valuable insights into asset performance and maintenance activities to help optimize maintenance programs, improve asset reliability and uptime and ultimately, save organizations time and money.

The future of maintenance is Brightly

Asset maintenance is no small job, but with the right technology in your corner, it can be a bit easier to keep everything running smoothly. At Brightly, we’ve created a suite of asset management solutions to help M&O professionals better manage the facilities and assets under their care by centralizing data, workflows, and maintenance schedules.

Our team at Brightly is focused on the future, and we’d love to help yours shift from reactive towards preventive and predictive maintenance, powered by the added boost of analytics you can use. Sign up for our Resource Round Up so you can be one of the first to check out our newest guide: From descriptive to predictive: evolving your asset maintenance strategy.

If you’d like to learn more, schedule a demo with an expert today!