Maintenance & Reliability Program Assessment

Forbast Group offers structured review of the systems, practices, and plant-floor conditions that drive uptime, maintenance cost, and equipment performance.

This assessment is designed to show how well the maintenance and reliability side of the operation is actually functioning. We review the written systems, but we do not stop there. We also look at execution in the field, equipment condition, planning discipline, asset care, and the practical barriers that keep teams trapped in reactive work.

Typical review areas include preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, planning and scheduling, work order quality, spare parts control, technician workflow, asset history, root cause practices, basic care standards, backlog visibility, and the alignment between maintenance and production. The exact scope can be adjusted to fit the site, the size of the operation, and the problems leadership is trying to solve.

Unplanned downtime rarely comes from one bad day. It builds through weak standards, repeated shortcuts, poor visibility, inconsistent execution, and decisions made without enough context. A reliability assessment helps separate noise from signal so leadership can stop spreading effort across everything and start addressing the conditions that are actually driving loss.

Clients receive a written assessment that outlines strengths, gaps, and the conditions affecting reliability performance. Findings are prioritized so the result is not just a list of issues, but a practical basis for deciding where to act first. The goal is clearer direction, better maintenance decisions, and a more stable operation.

If repeat failures, maintenance cost, weak PM execution, or poor visibility are starting to feel normal, it is time to look harder. A reliability assessment gives leadership a more honest starting point.

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Return On Investment

Reliability assessments pay because it attacks one of the most expensive problems in manufacturing: hidden loss from poor asset performance and unplanned downtime. Deloitte notes that weak maintenance strategy can reduce productive capacity by 5% to 20%, and Siemens reports that large plants now lose an average of $253 million per year to unplanned downtime, with automotive downtime reaching roughly $2.3 million per hour. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that strong predictive maintenance programs can reduce maintenance costs by 25% to 30%, cut downtime by 35% to 45%, reduce breakdowns by 70% to 75%, and drive up to 10x ROI. A reliability assessment helps you find where those gains are actually available, where your current program is too reactive, and where better standards, planning, and asset strategy can return real money.

Letter for CEOs and CFOs outlining the financial and operational case for a reliability assessment.

CEO/CFO Letter

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a reliability assessment?

A reliability assessment is a structured evaluation of your equipment, maintenance practices, failure risks, and supporting systems to identify weaknesses that reduce uptime, increase cost, and create avoidable operational risk.

Why is reliability important to a manufacturing operation?

Reliability directly affects production output, maintenance cost, quality, safety, and customer confidence. When critical assets fail unexpectedly, the impact usually extends far beyond repair cost into downtime, missed shipments, overtime, and disruption across the plant.

Why should we audit reliability if our equipment is still running?

Equipment can continue operating while hidden risks build in the background. A reliability audit helps identify gaps before they become failures, allowing you to address problems proactively instead of reacting after production is already affected.

What problems can a reliability assessment uncover?

A reliability assessment can uncover weak preventive maintenance practices, lack of critical spare parts planning, poor lubrication control, recurring failure patterns, inadequate planning and scheduling, asset care gaps, documentation weaknesses, and issues with how maintenance supports production.

How does a reliability audit help reduce downtime?

The audit identifies failure drivers, process gaps, and system weaknesses that contribute to repeat breakdowns and lost production time. With that information, leadership can prioritize actions that improve equipment performance and reduce unplanned outages.

What are the business benefits of a reliability audit?

A reliability audit helps companies improve asset uptime, stabilize production, control maintenance spending, extend equipment life, reduce reactive work, and make better decisions about where to focus resources for the greatest operational return.

Will the audit just point out problems, or will it help us improve?

The audit is designed to do more than identify issues. It provides findings that help you understand what the problem is, why it matters, and where improvement efforts should be focused so you can build a more reliable operation.

Why choose an outside firm for a reliability audit?

An outside audit provides an objective perspective that internal teams often cannot fully achieve while managing day-to-day demands. It helps surface blind spots, validate concerns, and create a more credible foundation for improvement planning and leadership decisions.

Maintenance & Reliability Program Assessment

Take a look at what a Reliability finding sample looks like

Return On Investment

Frequently Asked Questions

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