How to Track Equipment Maintenance for Small Businesses
Equipment breakdowns cost money. Here's a practical guide for small business owners to track maintenance, prevent failures, and extend the life of their equipment.
Why Equipment Maintenance Tracking Matters
For small businesses, equipment is often the backbone of operations. A broken generator, failed compressor, or down machine doesn't just cost repair money - it costs productivity, customer trust, and potentially safety.
Preventive maintenance - regular scheduled services based on time or usage - is proven to reduce equipment failures by up to 50% compared to reactive (fix-it-when-it-breaks) approaches.
Step 1: Create an Equipment Inventory
Start by listing every piece of equipment that needs regular maintenance. For each item, record:
- Equipment name and description
- Make/manufacturer and model
- Serial number
- Purchase date
- Current hours or usage reading (if applicable)
- Location
This becomes your asset register - a central list of everything you need to maintain.
Step 2: Identify Maintenance Requirements
For each piece of equipment, identify what maintenance it needs. Check:
- Manufacturer's manual for recommended service intervals
- Warranty requirements (some warranties require documented maintenance)
- Industry standards for your type of equipment
- Your own experience with what wears out or fails
Common Equipment Maintenance Tasks
Time-Based
- • Annual safety inspections
- • Quarterly filter checks
- • Monthly lubrication
Usage-Based
- • Oil change every 250-500 hours
- • Belt replacement every 1,000 hours
- • Major service every 2,000 hours
Step 3: Choose a Tracking Method
You have several options for tracking equipment maintenance:
Paper Logs
Simple but error-prone. Works for 1-2 pieces of equipment but doesn't scale.
Limitation: No automatic reminders, easy to lose
Spreadsheets
Better than paper. Can calculate due dates with formulas. Familiar interface.
Limitation: No reminders, formula errors, mobile unfriendly
Maintenance Tracking Software
Purpose-built for the job. Automatic reminders, mobile access, team sharing.
Recommended for 3+ pieces of equipment
Step 4: Set Up Schedules
For each maintenance task, create a recurring schedule. Include:
- Task name (e.g., 'Oil Change', 'Annual Inspection')
- Interval type (time-based or usage-based)
- Interval value (every 30 days, every 500 hours, etc.)
- Last completed date
- Next due date (calculated from last completed + interval)
Step 5: Enable Reminders
The best maintenance system is useless if you forget to check it. Set up reminders that alert you before maintenance is due:
- Email notifications when maintenance is coming due
- Alerts when maintenance becomes overdue
- Weekly digest of upcoming maintenance (if tracking many items)
Ready to Start Tracking Equipment Maintenance?
MaintainLog makes it easy to track equipment maintenance for your small business. Set up schedules, get automatic reminders, and keep a complete service history.
Free for up to 5 pieces of equipment. No credit card required.
Step 6: Record Completed Maintenance
When maintenance is performed, record:
- Date completed
- Who performed the work
- Current hours/usage reading
- Any notes or observations
- Parts used (optional but helpful)
This creates your service history - invaluable for warranty claims, equipment resale, and understanding long-term costs.
Key Takeaways
- Start with an inventory of all equipment that needs maintenance
- Identify maintenance requirements from manuals and experience
- Use purpose-built software if you have 3+ pieces of equipment
- Set up automatic reminders so nothing falls through the cracks
- Record completed work to build a service history