Predictive Maintenance vs Maintenance Cost

Business Context

Predictive maintenance allows municipalities to identify infrastructure deterioration before failures occur, reducing emergency repairs and service interruptions. However, implementing predictive technologies requires sensors, analytics platforms, inspections, and specialized personnel, increasing maintenance expenditures in the short term. Municipalities must improve infrastructure reliability while controlling maintenance costs.

Smart CityTRIZ Resolution

Instead of deploying predictive maintenance across every asset simultaneously, municipalities should prioritize critical infrastructure using asset criticality assessments, risk-based maintenance strategies, and phased technology deployment. Predictive maintenance should focus first on infrastructure where failures would have the greatest operational and public impact.

Applicable TRIZ Principles

Principle 10 – Preliminary Action detects deterioration before failures occur.

Principle 21 – Skipping prioritizes monitoring for the most critical assets.

Principle 3 – Local Quality applies different maintenance strategies based on asset importance.

Expected Outcome

Improved asset reliability

Lower lifecycle costs

Reduced emergency repairs

Better maintenance planning

Decision Indicators

Early indicators that predictive maintenance programs require adjustment include:

Maintenance costs increase without measurable reliability improvements.

Critical failures continue occurring unexpectedly.

Sensors monitor low-risk assets while high-risk assets remain unmonitored.

Planned maintenance activities are frequently postponed.

Emergency maintenance remains a significant portion of total maintenance work.

Monitoring these indicators supports effective predictive maintenance.