How Much Does Maintenance Cost?
A typical manufacturing plant spends 2–5% of its annual revenue on maintenance. For a 50-machine plant, that can easily reach EUR 30,000–60,000 a year. But the real cost isn't the planned maintenance — it's the unexpected downtime, the unnecessary spare-parts orders, and the administration.
1. Switch from Reactive to Preventive Maintenance
The "we'll fix it when it breaks" approach is the most expensive maintenance strategy there is. An unexpected breakdown costs 3–10x more than planned maintenance:
- Production loss (every minute counts)
- Urgent spare-parts orders (surcharges, express delivery)
- Overtime (the technician works at the weekend, at night)
- Consequential damage (a belt snaps → the motor fails too)
Preventive maintenance software automatically schedules inspections and replacements — before the machine goes down.
2. Optimise Your Spare-Parts Management
A significant share of maintenance costs goes on spare parts. There are two typical problems:
- Stockouts: no part available → the machine stays down until it arrives
- Overstocking: parts worth a fortune sitting on the shelf, never to be used
The CMMS spare-parts inventory feature works with automatic reorder points: when stock drops below a critical level, the system flags it. That way you never run out of a bearing unexpectedly, but you don't tie up money in stock you don't need either.
3. Make Data-Driven Decisions
You don't need gut feeling — you need data. Maintenance reports show you:
- Which machine causes the most cost?
- Which assets fail most frequently?
- What types of repairs cost the most?
- When does it pay to replace a machine rather than repair it?
4. Digitalise Your Maintenance Administration
On average, a technician spends 30–60 minutes a day on administration: paperwork, walking back to the office to enter data, phone calls about status. A digital work order system cuts this to nearly zero: the technician records everything on site, from their phone.
For a 5-person maintenance team, this frees up 800–1,500 working hours a year — time that can be spent on productive maintenance.
5. Increase Team Efficiency
CMMS maintenance software works with intelligent task assignment: it gives each task to the technician who has the right skills, is available, and is closest by. That means less travel time, less waiting, and better use of the team's capacity.
Summary: How Much Can You Save?
Typical annual savings for a 50-machine plant after adopting a CMMS:
- From unplanned downtime: EUR 7,000/year
- From unnecessary spare-parts orders: EUR 3,500/year
- From manual administration: EUR 2,300/year
- Total: ~EUR 12,800/year