Asset Management and Maintenance: Building a Reliability Strategy

Why Maintenance is a pillar of Asset Management

Asset management and reliability go hand in hand. In industrial environments, maintenance is a key pillar — especially when it comes to controlling costs. When approached strategically, it becomes a powerful ally. However, if neglected, it can turn into a liability that jeopardizes a company’s financial health.

In fact, the way a Maintenance Manager handles processes directly impacts the entire management chain. For this reason, companies must adopt a strategic mindset and recognize the direct link between maintenance and productivity, since maintenance ensures asset availability.

When properly applied, maintenance strategies contribute to: 

• Personal, operational, and environmental safety
• Compliance with organizational standards
• Cost optimization and risk reduction

Therefore, a maintenance strategy should be grounded in reliability studies that focus on preserving asset functionality and availability. By doing so, companies can positively influence OPEX and make informed decisions about CAPEX investments.

OPEX vs CAPEX: Understanding the difference

CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) refers to long-term investments such as acquiring new equipment or expanding operations. OPEX (Operational Expenditure) includes routine expenses like equipment maintenance and employee salaries.

These costs must be strategically planned, as they represent a significant portion of industrial budgets.

Reducing maintenance costs through asset prioritization

Maintenance budgets are often pre-established. Therefore, managers must optimize resources to “do more with less”. One effective approach is to classify assets by criticality (A, B, C) and apply the appropriate maintenance strategy.

For example, preventive maintenance helps avoid emergency corrective actions and is effective in most scenarios.

Do you have any doubts about the difference between asset and maintenance management? Read more about it here.

Applying reliability to maintenance strategy

To further optimize resources, it’s essential to apply the concept of Reliability. One of the most effective methodologies is Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), which focuses on maintaining asset functionality through critical condition analysis.

RCM is a qualitative approach that:

• Preserves asset functions
• Maintains availability
• Reduces unnecessary maintenance actions

RCM: The seven key questions

To implement RCM, maintenance teams must answer: 

1. What is the function of the system in its current operation?
2. How can the system fail to fulfill its function?
3. What causes each functional failure?
4. What happens when each failure occurs? 
5. What are the consequences of each failure? 
6. What can be done to prevent each failure? 
7. What should be done if the failure cannot be prevented? 

These answers help prioritize equipment and actions, forming basis for a decision tree.

Decision Tree: A practical tool for reliability management 

We often don’t know where to start. This is why establishing a decision tree (or diagram) can make the process more practical. In other words, the decision tree is applied to define which of the plant’s representative assets needs to be analyzed, in addition to assessing maintenance costs, the risks of failure and the impact on production as a whole.

Thus, it is possible to accept the risk and not take any maintenance action, to prioritize those that are critical and avoid wasting effort. Check out a decision tree model:

Once failure modes are mapped, RCM helps determine the correct tasks to prevent or minimize failures. This makes asset management more effective, increases system availability, and reduces business risks.

Do you want to know more about maintenance management? Learn about the role of the criticality matrix.

Asset monitoring: the first step toward strategic management

Strategic management begins with data collection. Monitoring assets is essential for informed decision-making.

Dynamox offers wireless vibration and temperature sensors that collect continuous triaxial data, automatically transmitted via gateways to a centralized platform.

This solution enables: 

• Early failure detection 

• Maintenance planning 

• Decision-making support via dashboards and alarms 

Predictive maintenance in practice: A real case 

At a paper mill, Dynamox sensors detected early signs of failure in a dryer cylinder, a critical asset. Thanks to predictive alerts:

• Maintenance was scheduled proactively 

• Downtime was reduced from 15 to 6 hours 
• 76.5 tons of paper were saved 

In this case, the paper machine dryer cylinder showed signs of failure. The asset is monitored by Dynamox’s wireless vibration and temperature sensors plus an automated detection system (DynaDetect). An alert signal was issued on the Dynamox Platform and the technicians were notified of the changes in the vibration and temperature data captured by the sensors.

If corrective action were taken, the machine would have to be idle for an estimated 15 hours, mobilizing the technical team and affecting production for almost two shifts.

By detecting the failure early on, it was possible to schedule maintenance actions on the asset at the right time, which was carried out in 6 hours. It saved 9 hours of machine downtime and the equivalent of 76.5 tons of paper not being lost.

This case highlights the value of predictive maintenance in avoiding production losses. Do you want to see the tools that allowed the failure to be detected? See the full case here.

Conclusion: Reliability drives performance 

Strategic asset management depends on: 

• Applying RCM principles 

• Monitoring asset health continuously 

• Using predictive tools like Dynamox DMA and DynaDetect 

• Aligning CAPEX and OPEX decisions with long-term reliability goals

By integrating these elements, companies can maximize uptime, reduce costs, and enhance safety accross operations.

Ready to take your asset management strategy to the next level?

Discover how Dynamox’s predictive maintenance solutions can help your team reduce downtime, optimize resources and increase reliability. Explore our platform and request a demo now!