Maintenance Planning, Scheduling, and Work Control

Organizations in Abu Dhabi increasingly rely on structured maintenance practices to reduce operational costs and improve asset availability. Clear planning and scheduling provide a measurable way to balance performance, safety, and budget. When applied correctly, these practices help teams use time, materials, and equipment more efficiently, while raising workforce productivity.

The course begins by establishing a practical understanding of maintenance within the asset lifecycle. Participants explore maintenance concepts, strategy selection, cost impact, spare parts management, and performance measurement. This foundation ensures that planning and scheduling are understood not as isolated tasks, but as core functions supporting long-term asset reliability.

Once the fundamentals are clear, the course shifts toward building a functional maintenance planning and scheduling system. This includes the purpose and structure of planning, the coordination process, required roles, workflow design, and the tools used to manage work. Participants learn how to create realistic schedules, prepare resources, coordinate teams, review completed jobs, manage backlog, and ensure work data supports continuous improvement.

Course Objectives 

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Understand the full scope of maintenance within an asset’s lifecycle and its impact on performance and cost.
• Select the most suitable and cost-effective maintenance strategy for different asset types based on risk and operational criticality.
• Recognize the importance of structured planning and scheduling for controlling downtime, improving resource utilization, and supporting decision-making.
• Apply the core principles of planning and scheduling, including processes, roles, responsibilities, tools, and performance indicators.
• Use a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) as an essential enabler for work control, data quality, and traceability.
• Follow the complete work management cycle—from work identification to closing the loop with performance reviews.
• Understand the role of spare parts management, inventory practices, and material coordination in supporting maintenance effectiveness.
• Use key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarking methods to evaluate current performance against recognized industry standards.

Who Should Attend

This program supports professionals involved in maintenance, reliability, operations, and asset integrity, including:

• Maintenance Planners, Schedulers, Engineers, and Leaders
• Maintenance Supervisors and Managers
• Reliability and Asset Performance Professionals
• Integrity and Inspection Personnel
• Operations Engineers, Team Leaders, and Managers

Course Outline

The Maintenance Planning, Scheduling & Work Control course is designed to provide a structured, end-to-end understanding of how effective maintenance systems are built and sustained. Through a progressive learning framework, participants move from core maintenance principles and strategy selection to practical planning, scheduling, CMMS-enabled work control, spare parts management, and performance measurement—developing the capability to improve asset reliability, control costs, and support continuous operational improvement.

Day 1 – Maintenance Foundations (Understanding What We Plan and Schedule)

• Introduction and pre-assessment
• Maintenance in the overall business context
• Major maintenance types and strategies:
• Reactive
• Run-to-Failure
• Corrective
• Preventive (PM)
• Condition-Based (CBM)
• Predictive (PdM)

Day 2 – Maintenance Methods, Tools & Strategy Selection

• Maintenance strategy selection methods
• Asset criticality analysis
• Overview of Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
• Definitions and distinctions between planning and scheduling
• Objectives and business value of planning and scheduling
• Planning and scheduling principles
• Roles and responsibilities
• Planning requirements and system essentials

Day 3 – Planning & Scheduling in Practice, CMMS, and Work Management

• Tools required for an effective maintenance control system
• CMMS as the core platform for planning and scheduling
• Difference between CMMS and AMS/EAM
• CMMS modules, functions, and failure coding
• Work management cycle:
• Work identification and prioritization
• Work planning
• Work scheduling
• Execution
• Completion and documentation
• Review and improvement
• Backlog management and resource coordination

Day 4 – Spare Parts, KPIs & Benchmarking

• Spare parts and MRO inventory management
• Materials coordination in planning and scheduling
• Inventory basics and procurement considerations
• KPIs for planning and maintenance performance
• Leading and lagging indicators
• Benchmarking concepts, objectives, and best practice comparisons
• Post-course assessment

Methodology

This course uses a blended learning approach designed for practical understanding and real-world application. The content is structured using NLP-based clustering to group related concepts, allowing participants to build mental connections between maintenance principles, planning techniques, and workflow processes. Semantic intent mapping is used to ensure each topic contributes directly to operational decision-making. Case examples, structured walkthroughs, and step-by-step workflow demonstrations support clarity, while interactive discussions help reinforce how planning, scheduling, and work control link to organizational performance. The methodology focuses on enabling participants to apply what they learn immediately within their operational environment.