Manufacturing companies can experience significant downtime. Various estimates place the ranges at from 27 hours of downtime per month to more than 60 hours on average. What’s more, these types of incidents cost manufacturers $125,000 per hour, according to a survey completed of more than 3,000 companies, conducted by ABB.
Equipment failures are a leading cause of this downtime. If production machinery fails unexpectedly, it can take hours or even days for a specialized maintenance technician to arrive on-site, diagnose the issue, and fix the problem.
Autonomous maintenance offers a different approach. By training operators in maintenance practices that prevent common machine failures, businesses can reduce the risk of unplanned downtime.
Below, we’ll explore the growing role of autonomous maintenance, define the seven steps necessary for autonomous success, and explore the benefits of autonomous maintenance in manufacturing operations. We’ll also examine the role of autonomous maintenance in total productive maintenance (TPM), speak to some common implementation challenges, and offer real-world use cases for context. Let’s get started.
How does autonomous maintenance fit into operations?
Autonomous maintenance is one of the eight pillars of TPM, which is a holistic maintenance approach focused on reducing downtime and improving production.
This approach provides machine operators with the skills and knowledge they need to keep equipment up and running. Unlike traditional methods, autonomous frameworks put day-to-day maintenance in the hands of operators rather than specialized technicians. While technicians are still required, they can focus their efforts on more complex or challenging issues and leave more straightforward maintenance tasks to operators.
Autonomous maintenance moves day-to-day care from maintenance to operators, complementing planned and predictive programs rather than replacing them. Predictive maintenance analytics play a key role. This approach seeks to find and eliminate potential problems before they occur, rather than minimizing damage after they happen.
The 7 steps of autonomous maintenance
While production processes vary across organizations and industries, seven common steps can help standardize maintenance efforts. But before any of those steps, there’s a crucial prerequisite: Operator knowledge and buy-in. Rolling out an autonomous maintenance plan without first getting operators on board is unlikely to deliver the desired results. Take, for example, an operator with 10 years of experience. Although they’re an expert in features and functions, they’ve never been trained to handle maintenance tasks — instead, they’ve always been directed to put in a maintenance request. Simply telling this operator that maintenance is now their job isn’t enough. Instead, manufacturers need to start with clear communication about what’s changing, why, and how it will impact operators.
Once operator buy-in is secured, the seven steps below can be implemented:
- Initial inspection and cleaning: Begin with a thorough machine cleaning and inspection to restore equipment to “like-new” condition. Operators, maintenance, and engineering work together to remove dust and debris, tighten fasteners, seal leaks, repair cracks, and verify basic performance, all under proper lock-out/tag-out procedures.
- Elimination of contamination sources: Identify and eliminate points where dust, debris, or fluids can enter or escape. Upgrade seals and gaskets, fix internal leaks, and install transparent covers or sight windows so operators can easily monitor conditions.
- Creation of cleaning and lubrication standards: Translate OEM guidelines into clear, interval-based cleaning and lubrication routines. Train operators to meet these standards and use step-by-step checklists, especially on high-value or high-volume assets, to ensure consistent execution.
- Completion of general inspections: Conduct structured inspections (e.g., vibration, temperature, fastener integrity) using predefined checklists to establish a reliable equipment baseline. Log all findings in the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) for trending and analysis.
- Completion of autonomous inspections: Empower operators to perform daily shift-start checks — visual, auditory, or thermal — using methods that suit their workflow while meeting established acceptance criteria. Flag deviations immediately for corrective action.
- Standardization of visual controls: Apply color-coded gauges, flow-direction labels, and clearly marked OPEN/CLOSED tags on valves and levers. These visual cues let operators spot abnormalities at a glance and speed-up response times.
- Prioritization of continuous improvement: Log every inspection and repair, run monthly reviews, and perform root-cause analysis on unplanned downtime. Track KPIs such as MTBF and planned-versus-unplanned work to drive sustained, data-backed improvements.
Benefits of autonomous maintenance
While streamlined operations top the list of autonomous maintenance advantages, this isn’t the only benefit. When implemented effectively, companies can also expect:
- Reduced unplanned downtime: Regular, autonomous maintenance reduces the risk of sudden machine slowdowns or failures, limiting monetary loss due to downtime.
- Increased operator knowledge and engagement: The more operators know about their equipment, the better they’re able to keep it up and running and address any problems as they emerge. More machine data also helps drive engagement. Operators aren’t simply waiting for maintenance teams to fix problems — they’re actively engaged in the process.
- Lowered maintenance costs: What costs more: Daily or weekly maintenance on machinery that stays up-and-running, or once-a-month maintenance on machines that fail? While the price of maintenance itself may be comparable across both scenarios, failure creates downtime, which leads to significant monetary loss. Regular, autonomous maintenance is more cost-effective over time.
- Improved equipment reliability: Unexpected issues can sideline machines at critical moments. When operators have the knowledge necessary to carry out autonomous maintenance, however, they can spot common issue indicators before they become big problems, in turn improving equipment reliability.
- Extended asset life: Equipment comes with expected life spans, but actual life spans often differ, especially if machines are running 24/7/365. Regular maintenance helps get equipment closer to ideal lifespans by maintaining optimal operating conditions for as long as possible.
- Enhanced workplace safety: Sudden machinery failures are dangerous. For example, if a device overheats and seizes up, the sudden force of this stoppage could put workers at risk. Continual observation and maintenance reduce the likelihood of this scenario.
- Improved ROI: Production lines only generate revenue when machines are running. Better maintenance means less downtime, which in turn leads to improved ROI.
Autonomous maintenance and TPM
As noted above, autonomous maintenance is one of eight TPM pillars. In practice, autonomous approaches are underpinned by three other pillars: Planned maintenance, quality integration, and focused improvement.
By applying autonomous maintenance as part of a larger TPM strategy, companies can continuously improve processes, enhance maintenance quality, and increase employee involvement, in turn helping businesses boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Achieving this goal, however, requires a combination of strategy and software — for example, advanced computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) can provide companies with the data they need to make proactive maintenance decisions.
Implementation challenges and how to overcome them
Autonomous maintenance delivers real benefits only with effective implementation. Common challenges in this process include:
- Resistance to change: Staff often prefers familiar processes, and even when new methods are demonstrably better, it can be hard to convince operators to move away from current operations in favor of new types of maintenance strategies.
- Lack of operator training or buy-in: Even the best-laid plans won’t work if operators don’t have enough training or don’t see the benefit. While companies can mandate autonomous maintenance, a lack of buy-in can lead to bare minimum effort that limits the efficacy of this approach.
- Poor documentation or unclear standards: Autonomous maintenance relies on clear standards combined with operator expertise. When documentation is confusing or unclear, operators are likely to rely on their own judgment, which can result in inconsistent practices for cleaning, inspection, and documentation.
- Need for leadership alignment and ongoing coaching: Every project needs a leader. Without a C-suite champion, it’s easy for maintenance efforts to fall by the wayside because there’s no single point of contact or accountability. A lack of coaching creates a similar problem. If staff aren’t given regular training and support, maintenance efforts can stagnate.
To address these challenges effectively, companies can implement several key strategies. One key approach is providing comprehensive training to ensure operators possess both the knowledge and practical skills required to complete basic maintenance tasks. It’s also helpful to offer operators a dedicated single point of contact for any questions or concerns, fostering a supportive environment. Establishing clear, well-documented standards is essential, these should be easily accessible and regularly updated to ensure they remain relevant. Finally, companies should celebrate the small wins. Recognize operators who go above and beyond to ensure their equipment is kept in top shape.
Real-world use cases and examples
Any production line can benefit from the implementation of autonomous maintenance. For industries with high-performing or highly complex manufacturing processes, however, an autonomous approach can significantly reduce the risk of downtime. For example, food processing companies are held to strict standards around product safety and quality at every stage of manufacturing. Automotive product lines handle large volumes of metal and plastic components that could pose a safety risk if machinery fails, while aerospace manufacturers face challenges in ensuring consistent assembly processes that require the precision assembly of complex parts.
Food processing: Standardization and repeatability are critical. For one leading snack manufacturer, however, maintenance issues were adding an unnecessary ingredient: unplanned downtime. By partnering with ATS to adopt a proactive maintenance model and upskill existing staff, the company reduced unplanned downtime by 63% and increased preventative maintenance rates to over 85%.
Automotive production: Unexpected production equipment failures were costing a golf cart manufacturer more than $7 million each year. With ATS, the company identified root causes and gave on-site staff the data they needed to take corrective action, in turn saving $7 million and avoiding 240 hours of potential unplanned downtime.
Electronics manufacturing: A programming error led to weeks of unplanned downtime for an aerospace manufacturer’s CNC machine. ATS support teams quickly identified and resolved the problem, in the process giving staff the knowledge necessary to pinpoint this issue moving forward.
Getting started with autonomous maintenance at your facility
If you’re considering a shift to autonomous maintenance management, six best practices can help streamline the process:
- Conduct a readiness assessment: Are you ready for autonomous maintenance? If you’re in the process of replacing a substantial number of machines or onboarding a large number of new operators, that should be your focus until you establish a regular and repeatable routine. Knowing when to implement autonomous maintenance is as important as the process itself.
- Start with a pilot program: Test first, scale later. Start with a pilot program that includes a few machines and a few operators. Work out the details, address any challenges, and then roll out the program across your production line.
- Identify equipment with high downtime: Autonomous maintenance is valuable for all equipment but provides additional benefits for machinery with high downtime. Even reducing this downtime by half can lead to significant cost savings.
- Train and empower frontline maintenance personnel: Effective communication is key for the success of autonomous maintenance. Ensure that staff receive the necessary training to identify issues and apply standards, and provide them with in-depth resources and knowledgeable contacts to help address any issues.
- Document standards and create visual cues: Comprehensive documentation streamlines standards application because it leaves no room for error. Obvious visual cues, meanwhile, make it easier for operators to identify potential problems.
- Consider outsourced maintenance: While it’s possible to take on all aspects of industrial maintenance in-house, it’s often worth partnering with a trusted third party to handle the development of TPM processes, provide expert advice, or supply experienced maintenance technicians to handle critical repair tasks.
Ready to reduce downtime, improve productivity, and boost operator ownership? See how ATS can help support your TPM goals, from autonomous maintenance to focused improvement or training and education. Let’s talk.
References
Siemens. (2024). The true cost of downtime 2024. https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/TCOD-2024_original.pdf
Ravande, S. V. (2022, February 22). Unplanned downtime costs more than you think. Forbes Technology Council. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2022/02/22/unplanned-downtime-costs-more-than-you-think/
ABB. (2023). Value of reliability: ABB survey report 2023 – Industry’s perspective on maintenance and reliability. https://library.e.abb.com/public/458b324e7f9f43769c6731126cec9284/ABB_Survey%20Report%202023_1920x1080_20231010_JL_final_edits.pdf
