Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) constitute approximately 70% of the gross national product and account for 80% of the global economic growth. SMEs could thus be seen as a driving force of economic growth. Maintenance management plays a critical role in enterprises’ strategic objectives and achieving the competitive advantages desired, and affects the enterprises’ internal effectiveness. To apply an efficient maintenance strategy is therefore of importance for SMEs as well as lager enterprises. As a prerequisite for improvement, one must understand the current situation. But few studies of the maintenance practices in SMEs have been carried out in the past. This paper combines findings from two studies of Swedish industry, one covering SMEs as well as large industries, and one covering only SMEs, in order to depict the current maintenance practices in Swedish SMEs.

Results show that SMEs put most time on execution of maintenance and less on planning and following up and that personnel and spare parts bear the largest costs. The most common trigger of maintenance actions is reported problems, followed by original equipment manufacturer recommendations and sudden failures. Condition monitoring data and statistical analysis are less common triggers though. Quite surprising, the practices in SMEs did not differ that much from the ones in larger enterprises. Sudden failures were less common as trigger for larger companies, and they utilise condition monitoring to a higher extent. Moreover, some more time is allocated for planning in larger companies compared with SMEs. The spare parts cost forms a smaller part in the total budget for larger enterprises. It is concluded that SMEs and large industries have more in common with respect to maintenance practices than they differ.