Why Do Asset Reliability Programs Fail in Food Plants?

5 minute read

Asset reliability programs fail in food manufacturing because preventive maintenance schedules rarely reflect real operating conditions. Daily sanitation, disconnected maintenance data, production pressures, and poor frontline adoption all contribute to equipment failures and unreliable maintenance performance.

This article explains the most common reasons asset reliability programs stall in food plants, how to identify the warning signs, and what manufacturers can do to improve reliability and reduce unplanned downtime.

At a Glance

Calendar-based preventive maintenance often fails in wet, high-sanitation environments.
Disconnected maintenance systems, incomplete asset data, and poor MRO inventory management limit reliability and delay preventive maintenance.
Production demands frequently displace planned maintenance.
Frontline teams resist adoption when reliability programs feel like extra work.
Successful programs combine condition-based maintenance, connected data, and frontline adoption.

What is an Asset Reliability Program?

An asset reliability program is a structured approach to keeping manufacturing equipment operating safely, efficiently, and consistently. It combines preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, equipment monitoring, maintenance planning, and reliability engineering to reduce failures and extend asset life. In food manufacturing, reliability programs must also account for sanitation requirements, regulatory compliance, and demanding production schedules.

Why Is Asset Reliability More Challenging in Food Manufacturing?

Food manufacturing equipment operates in wet, corrosive environments and undergoes frequent washdowns with aggressive cleaning chemicals. These conditions accelerate wear on bearings, seals, motors, and electrical components. Downtime is also especially costly because spoiled product, missed shipments, and food safety risks can quickly compound financial losses.

The cost of downtime in food and beverage manufacturing can exceed $22,000 per minute, or over $1 million per hour.

Why Do Preventive Maintenance Programs Fall Short?

OEM maintenance intervals are typically developed for clean, dry operating conditions rather than food plants. As a result, calendar-based schedules often miss sanitation-related wear.

Daily washdowns can introduce moisture and chemicals into equipment, while over-lubrication may damage seals and allow contaminants to enter critical components. Condition-based monitoring using vibration analysis, oil analysis, and thermography provides a more accurate picture of equipment health.

Related case study: Bringing Consistency and Ownership to a Sanitation Program

How Do Data Gaps Undermine Reliability?

Maintenance decisions are only as good as the data behind them. When CMMS, SCADA, MES, and historian systems operate independently, maintenance teams lack the complete picture needed to identify trends, measure MTBF, and predict failures.

Even when a CMMS is in place, many organizations struggle with poor maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) inventory management. Without dedicated stockrooms, standardized inventory practices, and accurate parts data, maintenance teams often discover that critical spare parts are unavailable or inventory records don’t match what’s actually on hand. These issues can delay preventive maintenance, extend equipment downtime, and force reactive repairs.

Incomplete asset master data creates another challenge. When equipment records lack accurate bills of materials, spare parts lists, or maintenance history, technicians spend valuable time identifying the correct parts instead of completing the work. Building a reliable maintenance program requires not only connected systems, but also accurate asset and inventory data that maintenance teams can trust.

Why Does Frontline Adoption Matter?

A reliability program succeeds only when technicians trust and use it. If maintenance activities become compliance exercises rather than reliability improvements, paperwork increases while equipment performance declines. Training should emphasize practical improvements and measurable operational value.

“The industry is undergoing a cultural shift. It’s moving away from standard maintenance and towards technicians who can anticipate problems early and are willing to change how they work.” – Geoff Olsen, Supply Chain Transformation Practice Leader at Catena Solutions

What Happens When Production Overrides Maintenance?

When maintenance windows disappear to meet production targets, preventive work is deferred until equipment fails. The result is more emergency repairs, higher maintenance costs, and less predictable production schedules.

How Can You Diagnose a Stalled Reliability Program?

Evaluate your program through four lenses:

#1: Operational: Are PM intervals based on actual operating conditions?
#2: Data: Are maintenance and operational systems connected?
#3: Adoption: Do technicians trust the program?
#4: Metrics: Are down time, repeat failures, and maintenance backlog improving, or are PM completion rates masking deeper issues?

How Can You Improve an Asset Reliability Program?

Prioritize assets by criticality, transition toward condition-based monitoring, connect maintenance and production data, establish cross-functional ownership, and provide practical training that reinforces new behaviors.

Related article: How to Unlock Change in a Manufacturing Environment

How Does Catena Solutions Approach Reliability Program Recovery?

Effective reliability programs depend on accurate asset data, maintenance strategies aligned with operating conditions, and strong frontline adoption. Catena Solutions helps food and beverage manufacturers strengthen these foundations through operational assessments, data improvement, maintenance optimization, and change management.

Conclusion: How to Rebuild an Asset Reliability Program That Sticks

Asset reliability programs fail when they are built around assumptions instead of real operating conditions. Organizations that align maintenance strategies with sanitation realities, integrate operational data, and build cross-functional ownership are better positioned to reduce downtime, improve equipment performance, and sustain long-term reliability.

Contact Catena Solutions to discuss how our team can support your reliability improvement efforts with hands-on expertise tailored to food and beverage operations.

FAQs on Asset Reliability

What is the Sanitation Paradox in food manufacturing?

It’s the conflict where the aggressive cleaning required for food safety, which includes high-pressure water and caustic chemicals, is also the leading cause of mechanical failure, accelerating seal degradation, bearing wear, and corrosion faster than standard PM schedules account for.

Why do new parts fail shortly after maintenance?

This is known as “infant mortality” in reliability engineering. In food plants, it’s usually caused by human error during reassembly: improper belt tensioning, seal damage, or moisture introduced into a dry system during inspection. Condition-based monitoring reduces how often these intrusive, high-risk interventions happen in the first place.

What’s the difference between preventive and predictive maintenance?

Preventive maintenance follows fixed calendar intervals regardless of equipment condition. Predictive maintenance uses real-time monitoring (vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermography) to catch degradation when it starts, reducing both unnecessary interventions and surprise failures.

How can I tell if my reliability program is losing traction?

Common warning signs are unplanned downtime rising even as PM completion rates stay high, growing work order backlogs, technicians describing the program as “paperwork” rather than real maintenance, and data too disconnected to support trend analysis.

Why do food plants struggle with data quality for reliability programs?

Because CMMS, SCADA, MES, and historian systems typically don’t communicate with each other. Each one captures a different slice of equipment health, and without integration, no single system shows the full picture needed to make a reliable maintenance decision.

What do common asset reliability acronyms stand for?

Acronym	Stands For	What It Does
CMMS	Computerized Maintenance Management System	Software used to schedule preventive maintenance, manage work orders, track maintenance history, and monitor asset performance.
SCADA	Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition	A system that monitors and controls industrial equipment in real time, collecting operational data from machines and production lines.
MES	Manufacturing Execution System	Software that manages and tracks production activities on the plant floor, including work orders, quality, traceability, and production performance.
OEM	Original Equipment Manufacturer	The company that designs and manufactures equipment and provides recommended maintenance intervals and operating guidelines.
PM	Preventative Maintenance	Scheduled maintenance performed at predetermined intervals to reduce the likelihood of equipment failure.