Resources
Guides and tools for the people who keep plants running.
This is the MaintenanceIQ library of practical guides, free calculators and articles on maintenance, reliability, audits and plant safety. It helps your planner, your reliability engineer, your quality head and your EHS head find a clear answer and a worked example without a sales pitch.
What you will find here
The guides explain the methods behind good maintenance and safety work: total productive maintenance, HIRA, lockout tagout, permits to work, machine PM checklists, and the evidence auditors ask for under VDA 6.3, IATF 16949, ISO 55001 and 21 CFR Part 11. Each one cites its sources and shows when it was last reviewed. Posts from the blog are listed below the articles.
The calculators work out OEE, MTBF and MTTR, and TRIR and LTIFR from your own numbers, with the formula shown and every term explained. The glossary defines the terms used across this site.
Guides
Practical guides for plant teams
Electronic signatures and audit trails for maintenance and calibration records
What 21 CFR Part 11 asks of electronic signatures and audit trails, which maintenance and calibration records are in scope, and what software cannot do.
ReadCasting defects: what causes them, how to measure yield, and how to trace a bad casting back
Common casting defects and their causes, how to compute casting yield and a defect Pareto, and how to trace a bad casting to its heat, chemistry and shell.
ReadCentrifugal pump: a preventive maintenance checklist
A preventive maintenance checklist for a centrifugal pump: seals, bearings, vibration, alignment and the readings that show a pump is drifting.
ReadCNC machining centre: a preventive maintenance checklist
A preventive maintenance checklist for a CNC machining centre: daily cleaning, way lube, coolant, spindle readings and the jobs that follow hours.
ReadEOT crane and hoist: a preventive maintenance checklist
A preventive maintenance checklist for an EOT crane or hoist: wire rope, hook, brake, limit switches and the statutory examination your factory rules require.
ReadHIRA: hazard identification and risk assessment, done properly
HIRA in safety, step by step: find hazards, rate likelihood x severity, set risk bands, apply the hierarchy of controls and know when to review.
ReadHow to compare CMMS software, including the names people search
How to compare CMMS tools people actually search for, including UpKeep, Limble, Fiix, MaintainX, SAP PM and Maximo, without a fake feature scoreboard.
ReadHow to set a reorder point for maintenance spares
How to set a reorder point for maintenance spares from usage and lead time, plus a buffer, and how to tell a critical spare from dead stock.
ReadHydraulic press: a preventive maintenance checklist
A preventive maintenance checklist for a hydraulic press: shift inspections, hoses, oil, filters, guards and the readings that predict the next leak.
ReadIATF 16949: the maintenance evidence auditors ask to see
What maintenance evidence an IATF 16949 auditor typically asks a plant to show: equipment, spares, objectives, and the action taken when an objective is missed.
ReadThe maintenance evidence an ISO 55001 audit looks for, and how to have it ready
What ISO 55001 is, how it relates to ISO 55000 and 55002, and the maintenance evidence auditors typically ask for, from asset register to corrective action.
ReadLockout tagout: the procedure, step by step
A practical lockout tagout guide: procedure steps, energy types, verification, group lockout, safe release, training and annual inspection per 1910.147.
ReadNABL calibration records: what to keep, and what software is not
What a plant should keep from a NABL calibration certificate: identity, results, uncertainty and traceability, and what maintenance software does not accredit.
ReadHow a permit to work system keeps hazardous jobs under control
How a permit to work system controls hot work, confined space, electrical and work at height jobs: permit types, roles, gas testing, isolation and handback.
ReadScrew air compressor: a preventive maintenance checklist
A practical PM checklist for a screw air compressor: daily, weekly and running-hour tasks, a worked plant example, and the readings worth keeping.
ReadTotal productive maintenance: a working guide for plant teams
Total productive maintenance explained: JIPM origins, the eight pillars, autonomous maintenance steps, the six big losses behind OEE, and how to start TPM.
ReadWhat is CMMS? A plain guide for plant maintenance teams
What is CMMS? The full form, what a maintenance management system does, its core modules, CMMS vs EAM vs spreadsheets, and how to roll one out.
ReadDowntime cost calculator: the real cost of downtime per hour
Free downtime cost calculator. Work out the cost of downtime per hour, month and year from lost contribution, idle labor, repair cost and scrap on restart.
Open the calculatorTRIR calculator: free TRIR calculation, LTIFR formula and worked example
Free TRIR and LTIFR calculator. Do the TRIR calculation and LTIFR from injuries and hours worked, on the 200,000 or 1,000,000 hour basis, with an example.
Open the calculatorMTBF and MTTR calculator: free formula and worked example
Free MTBF and MTTR calculator. Enter operating hours, failures and repair hours to get MTBF, MTTR and inherent availability, with a worked plant example.
Open the calculatorOEE calculator: free OEE calculation, formula and worked example
Free OEE calculator for your plant. Do the OEE calculation from planned time, stop time, cycle time and counts, with the formula and a worked example.
Open the calculatorArticles
Traceability, audits and reliability
Asset history as compliance evidence
Why the asset record is the spine of maintenance traceability, and how every closed work order builds an audit-ready compliance evidence base.
ReadUsing OEE losses to choose maintenance work
How maintenance leaders use OEE losses, not the headline score, to choose the next job. The formula and a free calculator are on their own page.
ReadCalibration traceability: the evidence auditors check first
Calibration traceability is the proof auditors check first. Learn what an unbroken, evidenced calibration chain takes and how a CMMS keeps it audit-ready.
ReadCondition monitoring without new PLCs
Condition monitoring without replacing your PLCs: push existing readings through an ingest API or import, set limits, and act on drift before it fails.
ReadDigital audit trail for maintenance
Build a digital maintenance audit trail that turns traceability into proof, so you walk into any compliance audit ready on demand.
ReadTraceability requirements by standard
What maintenance traceability each major standard expects, from ISO 55001 to VDA 6.3, and how to make equipment evidence audit-ready.
ReadMaintenance traceability: the foundation of compliance
Maintenance traceability is the unbroken chain that proves compliance. Learn what it means, why audits fail without it, and how to build it.
ReadHow to reduce unplanned downtime without another spreadsheet
How to reduce unplanned downtime without another spreadsheet: find the bad actors, plan the work, catch drift early, and close the loop on every breakdown.
ReadVDA 6.3 process audit: a maintenance checklist for plant teams
What maintenance teams should have ready before a VDA 6.3 process audit, from asset criticality and PM evidence to calibration and closed-loop deviations.
ReadMaintenance and CMMS glossary
Plain definitions and formulas for the terms used across this site.
OpenDie maintenance in casting: shot counts, PM and tool life
Die maintenance for casting plants: why to count shots, not days, three PM levels, a worked example, a checklist you can copy and how to track tool life.
ReadIncident investigation on the shop floor: from report to root cause
How to investigate a shop floor incident from first report to root cause, with a checklist, a worked example and what incident management software should do.
ReadMTBF vs MTTR: formulas, a worked factory example and what good looks like
MTBF and MTTR explained for plant teams: both formulas, the counting rules, a worked example from an Indian plant, and how to judge what a good number is.
ReadPreventive maintenance: types, real examples and how to start in one week
Preventive maintenance for Indian plants: the four types, real PM examples for common machines, a checklist you can copy, and how to start in one week.
ReadMES vs CMMS: which problem is your plant solving?
MES vs CMMS explained for Indian plants: an MES runs production, a CMMS keeps machines able to run. See the difference, where they overlap, and which first.
Read