Planned maintenance (PM) is a type of maintenance for a production object or equipment "Production (economy)") that is characterized as being scheduled.[1]​ Specifically, planned maintenance is a scheduled service visit performed by a competent and appropriate agent, to ensure that an item of equipment functions correctly and, therefore, avoid any unscheduled interruptions and downtime.[2][3]​.

It is characterized by the progressive awareness of quality and the consequent development of techniques for quality control and assurance.[4]​ At this stage, a great technological development occurs in the means of production, driven by the need to design equipment that can produce goods of the quality demanded by the market.[4]​.

Regarding maintenance, the growing automation of production processes and the complexity of their maintenance led to the introduction of the concept of preventive maintenance in the 1950s and in the 1960s it emerged in the United States.

The concept of planned maintenance (PM) arises within General Electric. This concept refers to the fact that the objective of maintenance is not only to maintain the equipment but to improve quality through design modifications that improve the reliability and maintainability of the equipment. In this way, PM encompasses corrective and preventive maintenance and quality management.

Starting in 1964, PM was introduced in Japan, but not before having given it the characteristic Japanese touch. While in most American companies, maintenance and production were kept separate, the Japanese got all operators to participate in the maintenance of production equipment.[5]​.