The PdM Playbook: How to Move from Pilot to Plantwide Success

Written by Erik Dellinger | Jul 21, 2025 2:53:18 PM

Let’s be honest. This is how it usually goes: The pilot worked. The alerts came in. The data was useful. The team even acted on a few issues before any unplanned downtime.

Then everything just… stalled.

It’s not because the tech failed. It’s because the team didn’t plan what came next.

This is the fifth and final post in our blog series on breaking through the real-world barriers to predictive maintenance (PdM). If you missed the earlier posts, you can catch up here:

Part 1: Why Manufacturers Struggle to Adopt Predictive Maintenance
Part 2: No Strategy, No Results: Why PdM Fails Without a Plan
Part 3: Legacy Isn’t the Problem: How to Modernize Without Starting Over
Part 4: How to Justify the Cost of Predictive Maintenance (Without Triggering a CFO Meltdown)

Each post tackles a core barrier that holds manufacturers back from scaling analytics and PdM across the enterprise.

Now, we shift from diagnosis to action.

This final post lays out your scaling playbook, the key strategic moves to help your PdM program grow beyond a proof of concept and deliver sustained, enterprise-wide impact.

Why PdM Pilots Stall (Even When They Succeed)

If any of this sounds familiar, you're not alone:

Your pilot showed solid results, but you’re stuck trying to justify the cost of scaling.
Data lives in silos. Great insights, but no unified action plan.
IT handed off the tools, but Ops wasn’t ready to run with them.
The project champion left, and now nobody wants to own it.
Your team’s stuck reacting to alerts without clear response workflows.

Scaling predictive maintenance is not simply a matter of acquiring additional sensors or expanding licensing—it's about cultivating the right organizational framework. Effective scaling requires establishing robust data workflows, clear processes, and a culture of continuous improvement. Without a strategic approach, even the most advanced predictive tools can fall short of delivering sustained value. Successful scale-up depends on creating a foundation that supports ongoing learning, collaboration, and adaptation across the entire organization.

The 7 Strategic Moves to Scale Predictive Maintenance

Download the One-Pager: 7 Strategic Moves to Scale PdM

Here’s the high-level view of what you need in place before scaling:

Define Your Business Objectives
PdM should drive measurable goals like reducing unplanned downtime or extending asset life, not just “collect more data.”
Assess Where You Stand
Take inventory of your current tech, skills, and data gaps. Know your starting point before charting the route.
Build Cross-Functional Alignment
IT, OT, operations, and leadership all need skin in the game. Don’t scale without their input (and buy-in).
Prioritize High-Impact Use Cases
Start where PdM can deliver clear wins: critical assets, high failure costs, or existing sensor coverage.
Establish Data Infrastructure and Governance
Avoid drowning in alerts. Structure your data pipelines, assign ownership, and define how insights become action.
Develop Talent and Tools Together
A powerful platform is useless without people who know how to use it. Upskill internal teams or bring in expertise.
Plan for Change Management
Communicate early and often. Training, trust, and transparency are what turn pilot teams into plantwide advocates.

Don't Just Hope You're Ready. Prove It.

To make things even easier, we created a simple PdM Readiness Checklist so you can pressure-test your team’s ability to scale.

Complete the Checklist

It covers what needs to be in place technically, organizationally, and financially. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being intentional.

Ready to Scale? Let's Make It Happen.

A successful pilot is a "proof of concept". Scaling is proof of commitment.

This blog series has walked through the core obstacles manufacturers face when adopting advanced analytics and predictive maintenance, from unclear strategies and aging infrastructure to budget constraints and pilot fatigue. Now, the real work begins.

If you’re serious about moving from pilot to plantwide transformation, don’t just check boxes. Align your people, your tools, and your goals. Set a plan. Build momentum. Scale with purpose. Predictive maintenance doesn’t just reduce downtime. It redefines what operational excellence looks like in your organization. SMS is ready to help you take that next step.

This wraps our 5-part series on addressing the real barriers to advanced analytics and predictive maintenance.

Scaling PdM isn’t just a technical upgrade. It’s a shift in how your organization sees reliability, risk, and value. And you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Need to revisit something? Explore the full series or share it with your team:
Explore the Full PdM Blog Series
Visit the PdM Resource Hub

We’ve helped manufacturers at every stage of the journey. Now, we’re ready to help you.

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