Shifting from calendar to usage-based maintenance: Proven results that demand your attention

Across upstream operations, maintenance strategies are being reevaluated, as operators balance capital discipline, aging assets, and the need to sustain uptime. A key question has emerged: should maintenance be driven by fixed schedules, or by actual equipment usage and condition? 

A recent case study from NOV highlights the measurable impact of transitioning from calendar-based to usage-based maintenance within a high-demand manufacturing environment supporting oilfield operations.  

Within two years of implementing a usage-driven model, the facility achieved:  

• 71% reduction in work orders
• 70% reduction in planned maintenance costs
• 54% reduction in maintenance man-hours
• 40% decrease in unplanned maintenance costs

Quarterly maintenance spending declined by more than $50,000, while equipment reliability was maintained or improved. These results demonstrate that reducing maintenance activity does not necessarily increase risk, when interventions are aligned with actual asset conditions.  

LIMITATIONS OF CALENDAR-BASED MAINTENANCE 

Many upstream facilities continue to rely on fixed-interval maintenance schedules. While predictable, this approach often results in unnecessary interventions, inefficient use of skilled labor, and inflated maintenance budgets. More critically, it does not eliminate unplanned failures, particularly in assets operating under variable loads and conditions. 

Fig. 1. A Max™ Maintenance screen.

In the case study, maintenance teams were executing high volumes of scheduled work but still experiencing reactive events. This indicated that maintenance activity was being driven by time-based assumptions rather than real operating data. 

ENABLING USAGE-BASED MAINTENANCE 

The transition was enabled through NOV’s Max™ Maintenance platform, which integrates asset data, work order management, and condition-based insights into a centralized system, Fig. 1. By leveraging real-time usage metrics and equipment condition data, maintenance triggers were aligned with actual asset needs. 

This approach allowed teams to eliminate low-value tasks, prioritize critical interventions, and improve planning accuracy. As a result, emergency call-outs declined, technician productivity increased, and visibility into asset performance improved.  

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR UPSTREAM OPERATIONS 

For operators managing pumpjacks, compressors, rotating equipment, and processing facilities, the shift to usage-based maintenance presents a practical opportunity to reduce costs while improving reliability. In environments constrained by labor availability and capital budgets, optimizing maintenance execution can directly impact operational performance.  

The broader takeaway is clear: transitioning from time-based to condition-driven maintenance can deliver measurable gains in efficiency, uptime, and asset longevity. 

To review the full case study and performance data, visit NOV’s Max™ Maintenance platform overview.