Planned vs. Reactive Maintenance KPIs

Planned vs. reactive maintenance KPIs measure the share of planned maintenance compared to reactive maintenance. The goal is moving away from firefighting mode – repairing when something breaks – toward planned, predictable maintenance activities that reduce failures and costs.

Planned maintenance covers preventive maintenance, inspections and scheduled replacements with known dates and pre-allocated resources. Reactive maintenance refers to unplanned failures and ad-hoc repairs – typically associated with production loss, schedule delays and overtime.

The Central KPIs

Planned Maintenance Percentage (PMP) is the core metric: planned maintenance hours divided by total maintenance hours multiplied by one hundred. Best-practice target is above 60 to 70 percent. Below that, maintenance is predominantly reactive.

Reactive work order share shows how strongly maintenance is dominated by spontaneous failures – a valuable complement to PMP, especially when planned orders still consume excessive time.

MTBF and MTTR in context: more planned maintenance leads to rising MTBF (less frequent failures) and falling MTTR (better preparation, spare parts, workflows). Combined with PMP this makes the impact measurable.

Schedule compliance shows whether planned maintenance orders are completed on time. High PMP with low schedule compliance is a warning signal: the planned scope is unrealistic or reactive interventions constantly displace preventive work. The target state is high PMP plus high schedule compliance.

Data Foundation: MES and CMMS Together

The KPIs come from two sources. CMMS/EAM supplies work orders, duration, resources and completion timestamps. The MES supplies downtime types and reasons, OEE availability and machine events. Ideally, failure events from the MES are directly linked to maintenance work orders in the CMMS – unplanned stoppages automatically become reactive work orders, planned maintenance windows become planned stoppages. Only this linkage makes the KPIs truly reliable.

Why These KPIs Matter for OEE and Costs

Unplanned failures are one of the largest losses in the OEE availability component. More planned, less reactive maintenance means fewer unpredictable failures and higher OEE. The cost effect adds to this: reactive repairs typically cost more through express service, overtime and emergency spare parts. Targeted preventive maintenance structurally reduces long-term costs and component wear.

FAQ

What is a good target for planned maintenance? Industry-dependent, but above 60 to 70 percent planned maintenance hours is a common benchmark. More important than the absolute value is the trend: continuously moving from reactive toward planned.

Can reactive maintenance disappear completely? No. Unpredictable failures will always occur. The goal is not zero percent but a manageable share that does not dominate production and does not create a permanent firefighting culture.

How strongly does MES need to be involved? The more downtime and failure reasons are captured in the MES and linked with CMMS data, the more reliable the KPIs – and the better it can be demonstrated that more planned maintenance actually improves OEE, MTBF and costs.