MaintainX® Glossary
The MaintainX Glossary is a reference guide to the terms, features, and concepts used throughout the MaintainX application. Use this glossary to better understand key terminology related to maintenance, operations, and reliability management.
Use the navigation below to browse glossary terms by letter.
Quick Navigation
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
A
Account Plan
The plan of a MaintainX organization that determines what features are available. MaintainX has four subscription-based account plans: Basic, Essential, Premium, and Enterprise. For details, see our pricing page.
Administrator
One of the default user roles in MaintainX. Administrators have full access to the MaintainX site, including managing work orders, approving requests, viewing reports, exporting data, and configuring site settings. For details, see User Roles and Permissions.
Anomaly Detection
Anomaly detection alerts users when a meter reading or a value entered in a procedure field on a work order appears abnormal. For example, an anomaly may indicate that a value is outside the expected range. For details, see AI-Powered Anomaly Detection.
Asset
Any physical item, equipment, or infrastructure that requires maintenance tracking in MaintainX. Examples include machinery, vehicles, buildings, and tools.
Asset Health
Asset Health monitors the availability of your assets, planned and unplanned downtime, costs, etc. You can report on these values through the Reporting module. For more information, see What are Asset Health Insights?.
Asset Hierarchy
The organizational structure that shows relationships between assets and their components (parent assets and sub-assets). For details, see About Asset Hierarchies.
Asset Status
An asset status represents the state of an asset. The status can either be online or offline. You can also choose not to track your asset. You can report on asset statuses through Reporting in Asset Health. For more information, see About Asset Health Reports.
Asset Types
A customizable field in the Asset form where users can define the type of asset of a piece of equipment. For example, if you have different types of heavy machines, perhaps several trucks in your organization, an Articulated Truck could have the asset type, "Truck". For more information, see Asset Types.
Automations
An automation is a custom workflow that triggers actions based on predefined conditions or events. It can create work orders, update asset statuses, or send notifications. Each automation includes a trigger, an optional condition, and an action. Users can create automations manually, and MaintainX can also generate them automatically. For more information, see About Automations.
B
Basic Plan
An account plan in MaintainX. For detailed information on the plan, see the pricing page.
Barcode
A machine-readable code used in MaintainX to identify assets, locations, and parts. When creating a new asset, location, or part, users can input an alphanumeric string that corresponds to a barcode. Barcodes are often used when importing existing records into MaintainX. Scanning a barcode with the MaintainX mobile app instantly pulls up the associated asset, location, or part. MaintainX does not support barcode display. Barcode data appears as a QR code in the user interface.
C
Calendar View
A view option available in the Work Orders module on both the web and mobile applications. The Calendar View displays work orders by week or month.
Categories
Classification systems used to organize and group various entities within MaintainX such as work orders, assets, parts, and procedures. Categories help users filter, search, and report on related items more effectively. Common category types include asset categories, work order categories, and part categories, which can be customized to match organizational structures and maintenance workflows. For more information, see About Categories.
Checklist
A structured list of tasks or inspection points in a procedure that ensures all necessary steps are completed.
Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a software-based solution designed to help organizations efficiently manage and maintain their equipment, assets, and facilities by automating and optimizing maintenance processes. For more information, see CMMS Software Guide: Revolutionize Your Maintenance Management.
Conversation
A series of messages between two or more users in the MaintainX Messages module. When you create a team, MaintainX creates a team conversation automatically.
Corrective Action Work Order
A work order created automatically when a user sets an Inspection Check field in a procedure to Flagged or Failed.
Criticality
Criticality is a field in the Asset form that indicates how important an asset is to your company. For more information, see About Assets.
Custom Dashboard
A custom dashboard is a collection of reports curated by an Administrator. You create custom dashboards in the Reporting module. For more information, see Create a Custom Dashboard.
D
Dashboard
A visual interface that displays key metrics, charts, and summaries of maintenance data and performance indicators.
Dataset
A collection of data attached to a specific entity (e.g., parts, work orders, etc.) when using Report Builder.
Download Center
The Download Center is where all downloaded PDFs of exported data are stored. These PDFs are available for download for a period of 30 days through the Organization Settings.
Downtime
A period when a piece of equipment is offline. Downtime can be planned or unplanned.
Due Date
The Due Date is the expected date for a work order to be completed. The Due Date can also have a Due Time.
E
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) System
A comprehensive software solution designed to manage and maintain an organization's physical assets throughout their entire lifecycle. EAM systems help organizations optimize asset performance, reduce maintenance costs, and extend equipment life through strategic asset planning, maintenance scheduling, and performance tracking.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
An integrated software platform that manages core business processes including finance, human resources, supply chain, and operations. ERP systems centralize data and workflows across departments to improve efficiency and decision-making. MaintainX can integrate with ERP systems to synchronize maintenance data, work orders, and asset information with broader organizational processes and financial reporting.
Enterprise Plan
An account plan in MaintainX. For detailed information on the plan, see the pricing page.
Essential Plan
An account plan in MaintainX. For detailed information on the plan, see the pricing page.
F
Fail
A possible status for an inspection check. You set the status in a procedure's Inspection Check field. A Failed status indicates that a task in the maintenance procedure has failed. You can choose to create a corrective action from this status change.
Field
An area on a form to input information about an entity like an asset or a location.
Flag
A status for an Inspection Check field in a procedure. A Flagged status indicates that you should preemptively consider maintenance for this asset.
Full User
A user role in MaintainX. A Full User can access all modules related to their work, depending on visibility settings in MaintainX. As a Full User, you may have full or limited visibility. For more information, see User Roles and Permissions.
G
Global Leader
A user role in MaintainX with full access to a Global Organization. Similar to the Administrator role, a Global Leader can view reports, export data, configure organization settings, and maintain visibility across assets and activity in all associated sub-organizations. For more information, see Global Leaders.
Global Organization
An Enterprise-only feature that allows management of multiple sub-organizations from a central location. For more information, see About Global Organizations.
H
History
A record of all activities, changes, and maintenance events associated with an asset, work order, or other MaintainX entity.
Hourly Rate
A monetary value per hour of work for a MaintainX user. Adding an employee's hourly rate allows MaintainX to include labor costs in the total cost calculations that appear on work orders.
Hourly Rate Visibility
A permission that controls whether users can view, edit, or hide hourly rates. For more information, see Manage Users.
I
Implementation
The process of setting up your organization in MaintainX. MaintainX offers implementation as a paid service to help you get started. For more information, see the Implementation page.
Import Workbook
A set of spreadsheet templates for importing your company's data into MaintainX. You can import data yourself in MaintainX. For more information, see Import Data Into MaintainX.
Inspection
A systematic examination of an asset or equipment to assess its condition and identify potential maintenance needs.
Inspection Check
A work order procedure field indicating if the current step has either Passed, needs to be Flagged or Failed. Corrective action work orders can be set up and triggered when a Flag or Fail status has been checked. For more information, see Corrective actions.
J
Just-in-Time (JIT)
A lean inventory strategy in which parts and materials are ordered only as needed for maintenance work. JIT reduces excess inventory and carrying costs by aligning purchasing with actual work order demand.
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A metric used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of maintenance operations and asset performance.
L
Location
A physical place or area where assets or parts are located, used for organizing and tracking equipment geographically.
M
MaintainX CoPilot®
An AI-powered maintenance assistant that helps users search asset manuals, create work tasks, troubleshoot issues, and share insights directly in MaintainX. For more information, see About MaintainX CoPilot.
Maintenance Plan
A dedicated planning layer that defines recurrence rules for preventive maintenance tasks and controls when work orders are generated. Maintenance plans separate planning from execution, helping ensure the right work is created at the right time. They support features like nested PM (preventive maintenance) and scheduling horizons for better maintenance planning visibility.
Meter Reading
A measurement taken from equipment meters (hours, cycles, etc.) used to track usage and trigger maintenance schedules.
Mobile App
The software application for MaintainX used on a compatible mobile device. For more information, see Supported Devices and Browsers.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
A maintenance metric that measures the average time an asset operates between failures while functioning under normal conditions. MTBF is used to assess equipment reliability and overall asset performance. For more information, see MTBF.
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
A maintenance metric that measures the average time required to diagnose, repair, and restore an asset to operational status after a failure. MTTR is used to evaluate maintenance efficiency and response effectiveness. For more information, see MTTR.
Module
A feature area in a MaintainX organization where users can manage entities, configure settings, and complete tasks. Examples include Work Orders, Assets, and Messages. On the web app, modules are accessed from the sidebar. On the mobile app, three modules are available in the bottom navigation bar, while others are accessible from the More screen. Some modules are only available on one platform.
N
Notification
An alert or message sent to users about work orders, maintenance schedules, or other important MaintainX activities.
O
Offline
An asset status indicating that equipment isn't operational. Offline status may be planned (e.g., preventive maintenance) or unplanned (e.g., unexpected breakdown).
Online
An asset status indicating that equipment is operational.
Organization
The workspace where a company manages users, assets, work orders, parts, locations, procedures, and settings. Administrators configure organization-wide settings that control how features work for all members. A company can have more than one MaintainX organization. Organizations can operate independently or connect as sub-organizations under a Global Organization for centralized management.
P
Parent Asset
An asset that has one or more sub-assets attached to it in an asset hierarchy. Parent assets can represent higher-level equipment, while their sub-assets can represent individual components. For example, a milling machine (parent asset) might have a cooling system as a sub-asset. For details, see About Asset Hierarchies.
Parent Work Order
A work order that organizes multiple sub-work orders under the same umbrella and tracks their overall progress. When you add sub-work orders to a new work order, the initial work order becomes the parent work order. You complete the parent work order when all its sub-work orders are done. For more information, see Parent and Sub-Work Orders.
Parts Inventory
The collection of spare parts, materials, and supplies tracked in MaintainX for maintenance activities.
Premium Plan
An account plan in MaintainX. For detailed information on the plan, see the pricing page.
Preventive Maintenance
Scheduled maintenance activities performed on assets to prevent failures and extend equipment life. Preventive maintenance includes regular inspections, servicing, and component replacements based on time, usage, or condition. In MaintainX, preventive maintenance can be managed through maintenance plans, recurring work orders, and automated scheduling to ensure consistent upkeep and reduce unplanned downtime.
Procedure
A standardized set of instructions that guide users through specific maintenance tasks or processes.
Procedure Hub
A publicly available digital library of procedure templates for MaintainX users. Users who create their own procedures can add them to the procedure hub. For more information, see our Procedure Hub.
Purchase Order
A document authorizing the purchase of parts, materials, or services needed for maintenance work.
Q
QR Code
A machine-readable code used in MaintainX to identify assets, parts, and locations. When creating a new asset, part, or location, you can generate a QR code for it, or configure MaintainX to generate QR codes automatically. You can also scan existing QR codes with the MaintainX mobile app to associate them with assets, parts, or locations. Unlike barcodes, MaintainX can both display and generate QR codes. For more information, see About QR Codes and Barcodes.
R
Requester
A user role with limited permissions. A Requester can submit work requests but cannot create or manage work orders.
Recurring Work Order
A work order that's automatically generated on a scheduled basis for preventive maintenance tasks.
Report Builder
A feature for building reports using your MaintainX data and visualizing them in tables or graphs.
S
Sub-Asset
A component or part of a larger asset that can be tracked and maintained separately within the asset hierarchy.
Sub-Work Order
A subtask within a parent work order that your maintenance team can complete individually. Sub-work orders inherit key fields from the parent work order, including assignees, due date, work type, priority, and categories. You can link a sub-work order to an asset, but it's not required. For more information, see Parent and Sub-Work Orders.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
An authentication method that allows users to log in to MaintainX using their existing corporate credentials, such as Google, Microsoft Entra ID, or Okta. For details, see About SSO for MaintainX.
T
Table View
A view option available in the Work Orders and Assets modules on the MaintainX web application. Table View displays items in a compact table format, allowing you to sort columns and bulk-edit multiple items at once.
Team
A group of users organized together for assignment and management of work orders and maintenance tasks. For more information, see About Users and Teams.
Template
A pre-designed format that can be reused to ensure consistency. In MaintainX, you can create templates for work orders, procedures, and reports in Report Builder. For more information, see About Work Order Templates, About Procedures, and About Report Builder.
U
User Role
The permission level assigned to a user that determines what features and actions they can access in MaintainX. Administrators can also create custom roles for tailored access control. For more information, see User Roles and Permissions and Custom Roles.
Uptime
The amount of time an asset or piece of equipment is operational and available for use.
V
Vendor
A supplier or service provider that supplies parts, materials, or maintenance services to the organization.
W
Work Order
A document that provides detailed instructions for maintenance tasks, including required parts, procedures, and assignments. Work orders can also be shared with external users outside the organization.
Work Order Visibility
The ability for a MaintainX user to see work orders. Users can have full or limited visibility. Full visibility allows users to see all work orders. Limited visibility allows users to see only work orders they create and work orders assigned to them. For more information, see Edit Permissions.
Work Request
A request for maintenance work to be performed, typically submitted by Requesters and converted to work orders by Administrators. You can also set up request portals so non-users can submit requests. For more information, see About Work Requests.
Workload View
A view option in the Work Orders module in the MaintainX web app. Administrators can use the Workload View to assign work orders, balance workload, see team capacity, etc. For more information, see Schedule Work in the Workload View.
Workstation
A mode that turns public computers or shared devices into multi-user access terminals, making it easier for users to share a single device. For more information, see About Workstation Mode.
X
No glossary items.
Y
No glossary items.
Z
No glossary items.