If your team feels like it’s always putting out fires, you’re not alone. Studies show that over 90% of organizations still operate in a reactive maintenance environment. It’s a frustrating cycle: equipment fails, crews scramble, costs spike, and long-term planning gets pushed aside.
We call this the doom spiral.
But there is a way out—and it begins with breaking old habits and shifting toward a more proactive approach.
Most organizations don’t choose to live in reactive mode. It often develops over time due to:
The result is predictable: higher costs, lower reliability, and mounting stress on both systems and people.
The good news is that you don’t have to leap directly from reactive chaos to full predictive maintenance. A realistic first step is Condition and Real-Time Monitoring. By monitoring critical assets with tools like vibration analysis, thermography, or oil sampling, as well as trending temperatures, pressures and other key equipment operating parameters, organizations can detect problems early—before they lead to costly downtime.
Condition Monitoring enables:
Even limited condition monitoring programs focused on high-value assets can yield immediate, visible benefits.
Breaking free from the doom spiral requires a mix of process and culture change:
The shift from reactive to proactive doesn’t happen overnight—but every avoided breakdown is proof that a better way is possible.
Technology is important, but people matter just as much. Organizations that succeed in moving beyond reactive maintenance create a culture where teams are empowered to look ahead rather than just respond. That means leadership support, ongoing training and mentoring, and a shared belief that proactive reliability benefits everyone—from maintenance crews to citizens who depend on reliable services.
If you feel stuck in a cycle of reactive firefighting, you’re not alone—but you don’t have to stay there. By starting small with condition monitoring and building momentum, you can begin to transform both your operations and your culture.
We’ll be diving deeper into this journey in our next webinar:
📅 “Breaking Free from the Reactive Maintenance Cycle”
November 2025 | 10:00–11:00 AM CT
Presented by Gary Johnston (Allied Reliability) and Rachel Wagner (Hexagon Asset Lifecycle Intelligence)
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn proven strategies for escaping the doom spiral and setting your organization on a more reliable path forward.
Allied Reliability provides asset management consulting and predictive maintenance solutions across the lifecycle of your production assets to deliver required throughput at lowest operating cost while managing asset risk. We do this by partnering with our clients, applying our proven asset management methodology, and leveraging decades of practitioner experience across more verticals than any other provider. Our asset management solutions include Consulting & Training, Condition-based Maintenance, Industrial Staffing, Electrical Services, and Machine Reliability.
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