PdM Readiness: Is Your Org Actually Ready for Continuous Monitoring?

Walk into any modern manufacturing facility and you'll see all the industrial internet of things at work. Vibration sensors on critical pumps. Thermal cameras scanning electrical panels. Pilots in place. 

The technology is there. Alerts are firing. 

So why are operations and maintenance leaders still struggling to gain real value from their predictive maintenance (PdM) investments? 

A shift in perspective is needed. Organizations are well past the stage of determining whether PdM is a good idea. That’s proven. The challenge to overcome is whether your team is ready to get value from it.

If you’re still exploring whether condition monitoring is the right strategy, that’s an earlier-stage conversation. This guide is for teams already investing—and looking to maximize results. 

The Hidden Reasons PdM Fails to Deliver

It's not the tech. It's the readiness.

Even among customers who’ve adopted Waites, the ones who succeed fastest are those with strong operational alignment. When ROI lags, it’s almost never the technology; it’s a readiness gap.

Here are the most common internal blockers we encounter:

🛑 CMMS data is outdated or unreliable. A condition monitoring system can generate high-quality insights, but if the CMMS isn’t accurate or integrated into daily workflows, those insights often go nowhere. When equipment records are incomplete, maintenance histories are missing, or work orders aren't properly captured, teams struggle to close the loop and the value of PdM gets lost in the process.

🛑 No clear asset criticality ranking. Without a systematic way to prioritize which equipment matters most to production, teams end up monitoring everything equally—or worse, focusing on the equipment that's easiest to instrument rather than what's most critical to operations.

🛑 Teams get alerts but don't act. The sensors are working and dashboards are populated. But when maintenance planners are already overwhelmed, or when the reliability team operates separately from daily maintenance execution, those insights may never translate into preventive action.

🛑 PdM work is outsourced and siloed. Many facilities hire external consultants to handle vibration analysis, infrared inspections, or oil sampling. While this brings expertise, it often creates a disconnect between the people generating insights and the teams responsible for acting on them.

🛑 No accountability for turning insight into action. It's one thing to identify that a bearing is degrading. It's another to ensure someone creates the work order, schedules the repair during the next available window, orders the right parts, and follows through to completion.

🛑 Skilled labor is stretched or misaligned. Your best technicians are already fighting fires. When predictive maintenance creates additional tasks without clear prioritization or resource allocation, it becomes another burden rather than a strategic advantage.

What PdM Readiness Actually Looks Like

Moving beyond simply having the latest sensor technology, true predictive maintenance readiness is about having the organizational foundation to respond effectively to what that technology tells you. Based on our experience helping facilities mature their maintenance operations, these are the key elements of readiness:

✔️ Clear strategy and ownership. Someone owns the PdM program, and not just the technology, but the business outcomes. There's alignment on goals, success metrics, and how PdM fits into the broader operational strategy.

✔️ Valid asset records and CMMS workflows. Equipment data is accurate and up-to-date. Work order processes are standardized. Maintenance histories are captured consistently. The infrastructure for managing maintenance work actually works.

✔️ Defined roles for PdM-related tasks. Whether it's vibration analysis, infrared inspections, or ultrasonic testing, there's clarity about who performs each task, how often, and what happens with the results. No insights fall through the cracks.

✔️ Coordination between maintenance and reliability teams. The people identifying problems and the people fixing them work together effectively. Predictive insights flow smoothly into maintenance planning and execution.

✔️ Culture that acts on trends, not just failures. The organization has moved beyond purely reactive maintenance. There's trust in predictive insights and willingness to schedule maintenance based on condition rather than just waiting for equipment to fail.

Readiness ≠ Budget.
Readiness = Alignment + Follow-through.

Why Maturity Matters More Than Momentum

One of the biggest missteps we see is organizations trying to implement advanced predictive maintenance programs before they've mastered the basics. It’s like trying to run before you can walk, and it usually ends in frustration for everyone involved.

This is also why the Maintenance Maturity Curve is an important tool to reference. Every organization falls somewhere on this spectrum, from purely reactive maintenance to fully optimized, predictive operations.

When it comes to maturing a technological solution, keep in mind:

It's okay to be reactive—but know you're there. There's no shame in acknowledging where your company stands on the maturity curve. What matters is understanding the starting point so teams can plan realistic next steps.

You don't need to be perfect to start. An organization doesn't have to have flawless CMMS data or world-class maintenance processes to begin implementing condition monitoring. But teams must be honest about readiness levels and plan accordingly.

Skipping steps creates frustration, not faster results. Organizations that try to jump from reactive maintenance straight to advanced predictive analytics often struggle. Building capability incrementally creates more sustainable, long-term success.

A maturity mindset helps you pace PdM adoption realistically and build long-term trust across your maintenance and operations teams. Think of sustainable progress, not quick fixes.

Ready to Benchmark Your Program?

Understanding where you stand on the maintenance maturity curve is the first step toward building a PdM program that actually delivers value. That's why we developed a practical tool to help operations and maintenance leaders assess their current readiness level.

Our Maintenance Maturity Self-Assessment Worksheet helps teams score themselves across five critical areas—from strategic alignment to execution capability—and map their position on the maturity curve. It takes about 15 minutes to complete and gives you a clear picture of where you're strong, where you have gaps, and what your next priorities should be.

Tech Can't Fix Process Problems

Here's what we've learned after years of helping industrial facilities implement successful predictive maintenance programs: PdM success isn't about having the latest sensor technology. It's about making sure your people, data, and workflows are ready to respond to what that technology shows you.

The most sophisticated condition monitoring system in the world won't help if your CMMS data is unreliable, your technicians are overwhelmed, or there's no clear process for turning insights into action. But when you have the right organizational foundation in place, even basic monitoring technologies can deliver significant value.

That's the Waites approach. We meet you where you are and help you build capability systematically. No overselling. No unrealistic promises. Just practical, experienced guidance that helps you move forward with confidence.

Waites goes beyond installing sensors. We’ll help you take the next right step toward smart, sustainable solutions.