BEYOND BREAKDOWN - CHAPTER 4: Lean Maintenance – Simplify, Streamline And Sustain

Welcome to The Reliable Edge, where we guide leaders in transforming maintenance into a competitive edge—one proven idea at a time.

This is part of the series from the eBook: Beyond Breakdown — a practical guide packed with field-tested strategies, essential tools, and leadership insights to help maintenance and reliability professionals accelerate performance in today’s fast-evolving manufacturing landscape.

In this chapter, we’ll explore how applying lean thinking to maintenance can unlock time, reduce chaos, and build systems that get stronger over time—not just faster.

Introduction

For years, Lean thinking has been tightly associated with manufacturing lines — reducing takt time, improving flow, minimizing WIP.

But in 2025, the most forward-thinking organizations are applying Lean principles to maintenance and reliability with equal intensity — and remarkable results.

 Here’s the shift:

It’s not about doing maintenance faster — it’s about doing the right maintenance, at the right time, in the simplest way possible.

Lean maintenance is about reducing waste in your processes, engaging your team in continuous improvement, and aligning maintenance activities directly with value creation — uptime, quality, safety, and responsiveness.

What Is Lean Maintenance?

Lean Maintenance is the application of Lean principles — originally developed by Toyota — to the maintenance function.

It focuses on eliminating non-value-added activities, improving flow, and empowering frontline teams to drive efficiency and reliability.

Rather than seeing maintenance as a cost center, Lean Maintenance repositions it as a strategic enabler of Operational Excellence.

The Seven Wastes of Maintenance

In Lean terminology, “waste” (Muda) is anything that consumes resources but doesn’t add value to the customer.

And yes — this happens in maintenance every day.

Here’s how the classic seven wastes show up in your maintenance world:

Lean thinking asks: “Is this activity moving us closer to reliable, efficient operations — or is it just adding friction?”

Applying Core Lean Principles to Maintenance

Lean isn’t a one-size-fits-all checklist. It’s a way of thinking. But there are five key principles that can transform how your maintenance function operates:

1. Identify Value (From the Customer’s Perspective)

Your “customer” might be production, quality, or even your end-user. Ask:

• What do they value most from maintenance? (Hint: Uptime. Consistency. Responsiveness.)

• Are your maintenance activities aligned with delivering that value?

Example: If your team spends more time on admin than actual inspections or repairs, value delivery is misaligned.

2. Map the Value Stream

This means documenting every step in a maintenance process — from work order creation to task execution to sign-off — and identifying:

• Where are the delays?

• Where do handoffs fail?

• What steps don’t add value?

Quick win: Walk through a common PM task and time each step. You’ll likely find delays, redundant approvals, or missing tools slowing things down.

3. Create Continuous Flow

Instead of stop-start, batch-style maintenance, aim for smooth, predictable flow. This includes:

• Pre-staging parts and tools

• Scheduling jobs based on asset criticality and downtime windows

• Cross-training technicians so one absence doesn’t create a bottleneck

Example: One packaging facility improved wrench time by 35% just by prepping tools and parts the day before scheduled maintenance.

4. Implement Pull Systems

In Lean, pull systems mean work is triggered by actual demand, not by arbitrary schedules or guesswork.

In maintenance, this could look like:

• Condition-based monitoring triggering PMs

• Just-in-time delivery of MRO parts

• Automated alerts from sensors feeding into your CMMS

Consultant tip:

“Shift from time-based PMs to usage- or condition-based wherever possible. It reduces over-maintenance and frees up capacity.”

5. Pursue Perfection (Kaizen)

Kaizen — the practice of continuous, incremental improvement — is at the heart of Lean.

In maintenance, that means:

• Encouraging technicians to flag inefficiencies

• Reviewing failed jobs or repeat breakdowns

• Holding short daily huddles to identify and act on process gaps

• Creating a visual improvement board for the team

Consultant advice:

“Perfection is a direction, not a destination. Make improvement part of the routine, not a reaction to problems.”

Real-World Story: Lean Win on the Shop Floor

A heavy equipment manufacturer applied Lean to their reactive maintenance process. By analyzing work order flow, they found:

• Technicians spent 22% of their time retrieving parts

• 18% of PMs were done on non-critical assets

• 12% of work orders lacked full task descriptions

They made three simple changes:

1. Pre-staged kits for recurring PMs

2. Re-prioritized assets based on criticality

3. Standardized task instructions with visual aids

The result? 26% higher schedule compliance, 31% faster work order closure, and a 15% drop in repeat failures.

 Practical Tip: Knowledge Capture = Risk Reduction

Create simple systems to capture tribal knowledge:

• Record “day-in-the-life” videos with senior techs

• Build visual job aids and standardized work instructions

Embed checklists into your CMMS tied to specific asset conditions

Practical Tip: Start with a “Lean Maintenance Walk”

Choose one area — tool room, lube station, or CMMS workflow.

• Observe: What’s working smoothly? What’s causing friction?

• Ask: “What would make this 10% easier for the technicians?”

• Act: Implement a small, team-driven change in one week.

Data shows: Small Lean improvements often yield 10–15% performance gains — with little to no capital investment.

Chapter Takeaways

• Lean Maintenance helps your team eliminate waste and focus on value-added work

• It's not about doing more work — it's about doing better work with less effort and waste

• Engage your technicians in identifying inefficiencies — they see what leaders can’t

• Lean principles drive sustainability, flexibility, and cultural ownership

“Improvement becomes habit, not a special event.”

Actionable CTA:

Run a Lean Maintenance Mini Kaizen

1. Pick one recurring maintenance task

2. Map the steps — from request to close

3. Identify waste (waiting, walking, overprocessing)

4. Implement a “one-week fix”

5.  Measure: Was it easier, faster, safer, or clearer?

Repeat monthly with a different task.

P.S.

If you found this helpful, share it with your team—or anyone else working to build reliability from the ground up.

Got thoughts, questions, or a challenge you’d like covered in a future issue? Just comment or reply—we’d love to hear from you. Your insight could help shape the next conversation.

About the Author:

Albien Leyco is a technical consultant and digital transformation advocate, a seasoned engineering and maintenance professional with over 26 years of rich and progressive experience in manufacturing industry. He has led cross functional teams across multiple plants, driving initiatives in maintenance reliability, utilities optimization, sustainable operations, and capital project execution.

Known for bridging practical execution with forward-thinking strategy, Albien helps organizations break free from reactive firefighting and shift toward proactive, data-driven maintenance—without unnecessary complexity. His approach blends deep technical know-how with real-world insight, making transformation both achievable and sustainable.