Reactive Maintenance

Reactive maintenance is basically the "run it till it breaks" maintenance mode. No actions or efforts are taken to maintain the equipment as the designer originally intended, either to prevent failure or to ensure that the designed life of the equipment is reached. Studies done as recently as the winter of 2000 indicate that reactive maintenance is still the predominant mode of maintenance in the United States. The referenced study breaks down the average maintenance program as follows:

>55% Reactive
31% Preventative
12% Predictive
2% Other

Note that more than 55% of maintenance resources and activities of an average facility are still reactive in nature.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Has lower initial costs
Requires fewer staff

Disadvantages

Increases costs due to unplanned downtime of equipment
Increases labor costs, especially if overtime is needed for untimely repairs or replacement
May increase costs associated with repair or replacement of equipment
May result in possible secondary equipment or process damage from equipment failures
Is an inefficient use of staff resources

Advantages to using a reactive maintenance approach can be viewed as a double-edged sword. If dealing with new equipment, minimal incidents of failure would be expected, and manpower or capital costs would not be expended until the equipment breaks or fails. Since, during this time period there is no associated maintenance costs, it might be viewed as actually saving money.

However, the downside of this approach is in its realities. The fact is that during the time it may seem money is being saved on maintenance and capital costs, more is actually being spent in the long run than if a different maintenance strategy had been taken. And, this approach actually raises future capital expenditures because, while waiting for the equipment to break, the life of the equipment is actually shortened. This results in more frequent equipment replacement and higher capital equipment costs. And, additional costs may be incurred when the primary equipment failure causes subsequent problems or failure in associated secondary devices. Total maintenance costs using a reactive approach may easily be higher than those that would have incurred if a more proactive maintenance approach had been taken.

Also, the labor costs associated with unplanned repairs may be higher than normal because the failure may require more extensive repairs than would have been required if the piece of equipment had not been run until it failed. And, if the piece of equipment fails during off hours or towards the end of the normal workday, additional maintenance overtime costs may be incurred. Additionally, since the equipment is run until it fails, a large material inventory of repair parts may need to be stocked — another cost that could be minimized by taking a different maintenance strategy.