PM compliance is a workflow problem, not a dashboard problem
A 91% PM number that nobody can explain is worse than a 70% number with a backlog you can work.
Preventive maintenance fails in the last mile: the window was stolen by a breakdown, the procedure PDF was the wrong revision, or the technician could not find the asset because the tag in the field does not match the CMMS.
The number is not the work
A compliance percentage is a residue. It is useful only if you can open it: which routes slipped, which assets are waiting on seals, which jobs were closed without labour. A green tile that cannot be walked is a reporting trick, not a maintenance system.
- Generate work orders from asset usage, not from a calendar nobody respects.
- Attach the current procedure to the WO, not to a shared drive.
- Block close-out without labour, parts, and a condition code.
Make the backlog honest
The backlog is the real dashboard. If overdue PMs sit in a list that nobody owns, the percentage will be gamed: jobs closed from the office, windows moved after the fact, “done” without a condition. Better a 70% you can defend in a morning meeting than a 91% that collapses in an audit (illustrative figures, not a study).
If close-out does not require evidence, the metric will invent it.
