Abstract
{ "background": "Industrial machinery fleets are critical assets for economic development, yet maintenance strategies in many developing economies are often ad hoc, leading to high lifecycle costs and operational downtime. There is a paucity of rigorous field data comparing the long-term cost-effectiveness of structured maintenance methodologies in such contexts.", "purpose and objectives": "This study aimed to empirically compare the cost-effectiveness of three prevalent maintenance methodologies—preventive, predictive, and run-to-failure—for industrial machinery fleets within the local operating environment. The primary objective was to determine which strategy yields the lowest total cost of ownership while maintaining asset availability.", "methodology": "A randomised field trial was conducted using a fleet of 72 similar heavy-duty vehicles from multiple industrial sites. Units were randomly assigned to one of the three maintenance cohorts. Cost-effectiveness was analysed over a full operational cycle using a generalised linear model: $Ci = \\beta0 + \\beta1 Mi + \\beta2 Ui + \\epsiloni$, where $Ci$ is total cost for unit $i$, $Mi$ denotes maintenance cohort, and $Ui$ is utilisation. Inference was based on robust standard errors clustered by site.", "findings": "The predictive maintenance cohort demonstrated superior cost-effectiveness, reducing total maintenance costs by an average of 23% (95% CI: 18% to 28%) compared to the preventive strategy. The run-to-failure approach, while lower in direct maintenance spend, resulted in significantly higher unscheduled downtime costs.", "conclusion": "Predictive maintenance, enabled by condition monitoring, is the most cost-effective methodology for managing industrial machinery fleets in the studied setting, challenging the prevailing reliance on scheduled preventive protocols.", "recommendations": "Fleet managers should invest in condition monitoring technologies and data analytics capabilities to enable a predictive maintenance paradigm. Policymakers should consider initiatives to build local technical capacity for advanced maintenance practices.", "key words": "maintenance strategy, cost-effectiveness, randomised controlled trial