Asset Criticality
Asset criticality ranks equipment by the consequence and likelihood of its failure — how badly a failure hits safety, production, quality, cost or environment. The ranking focuses maintenance and monitoring effort and spend where failure hurts most.
A criticality assessment scores each asset on failure consequence and probability, producing a ranked list that drives maintenance strategy: predictive monitoring for the critical few, preventive for the middle, run-to-failure for cheap non-critical items. It is the essential first step before any predictive-maintenance or reliability programme, ensuring limited effort and budget go to the assets that matter.
Related terms
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) · RCM (Reliability-Centred Maintenance) · FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) · Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM)
Related guides
Software
AVEVA Predictive Analytics
Early-warning analytics for critical process and power assets.
IBM Maximo Application Suite
Enterprise asset management with built-in monitoring and AI.
Where this applies
Rolling out reliability-centred maintenance · Running an asset criticality ranking exercise · Running a defect elimination programme · Deploying a computerised maintenance management system · Criticality-based spare parts stocking · Planning a shutdown or turnaround · Condition-Based vs Time-Based Maintenance · CMMS vs Spreadsheet Maintenance