Predictive vs Prescriptive Maintenance

Unexpected downtime can derail even the most proactive organization’s productivity. To avoid this, companies will typically utilize some kind of preventative maintenance process within their Integrated Facility Management program. There are two primary schools of thought on this: predictive vs prescriptive maintenance. So which option is better?

Prescriptive Maintenance is a natural evolution of Predictive Maintenance and may be the better of the two options for most facility managers. Let’s unpack why this may be true for your company.

First, what is Predictive Maintenance?

The primary driver behind Predictive Maintenance is data based on prior activity. Using your HVAC as an example, your cooling system runs more during the three summer months than during the winter. Predictive Maintenance averages this usage to develop a preventative maintenance schedule so that the system can run all year long with minimal interruption.

Second, what is Prescriptive Maintenance?

Prescriptive is also data-driven with the added benefit of A.I. — Artificial Intelligence — working behind the scenes. Via machine learning, Prescriptive Maintenance develops “what-if” scenarios to analyze outside factors (weather, for example) and how it can impact your Predictive Maintenance data.

Using weather as a basic example, much of the Western United States experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer. Based on Predictive Maintenance, a facility manager may not have scheduled an HVAC checkup until later this fall. Prescriptive Maintenance pulls from the unpredictability scenarios to offer better insight into when their HVAC system should be inspected and how to more efficiently operate the system in light of surging temperatures.

So, Predictive vs Prescriptive Maintenance: Which is best for your organization?

Prescriptive Maintenance is an evolution of Predictive Maintenance and in most cases the better choice. It takes the data-driven approach from Preventative Maintenance and expands upon it with AI-driven machine learning techniques.

As with all things IFM, we say “most” because there will be situations where Predictive Maintenance may be the better choice. In the vast majority of these cases, it comes down to cost and complexity. A smaller organization or one with a tighter budget may not be able to fully implement Prescriptive Maintenance due to a lack of funding or ability to manage the system.

However, as technology matures it also typically drops in price. Take Smart Homes for example. Before the advent of Siri or Alexa, home automation was considerably more expensive. As more players entered this market, costs dropped considerably. Today, almost anyone can have a simple Smart Home setup.

For those with larger budgets or more ability to implement Prescriptive Maintenance, we highly recommend you go with this option. Not only will it save you more costs in the long run, but it can increase your operational efficiency by a wide margin.

LESCO360 can help you decide whether you need Predictive vs Prescriptive Maintenance

As we mentioned, one of the most challenging barriers to entry for organizations is implementation of Prescriptive Maintenance. With our team on your side, we can help you simplify the complexity of Prescriptive Maintenance so your IFM needs never interfere with your operation.

Would you like to learn more about how we can help increase company productivity with Predictive vs Prescriptive Maintenance? Then CONTACT US today to schedule a free quote!