1. Maintaining the production capability of an organization is an important function in any production system. Maintenance includes all activities related to keeping equipment and facilities in proper working order, and making repairs when breakdowns occur.

2. The goal of maintenance is to keep the system in good working order at minimal cost. Decision makers have two basic options for this: breakdown maintenance (deal with breakdowns when they occur) and preventive maintenance (reduce breakdowns through periodic adjustment, inspection, and replacement of worn parts before failure).

3. Preventive maintenance is generally scheduled using some combination of the result of planned inspections that reveal a need for maintenance, according to calendar, and after a set number of operating hours.

4. Predictive maintenance is an attempt to determine when to perform preventive maintenance activities.

5. The major approaches to handling breakdowns include:

1. the use of standby or backup equipment.
2. stock of spare parts.
3. operators who can handle minor repairs.
4. repair people who can diagnose and correct problems with equipment.