Delivered reliability programs across 41 U.S. states and 9 countries since 2007 — every engagement tracked in our internal registry and benchmarked against the MDG Reliability Maturity Index.
01 / Overview
Engineering the reliability layer behind the world's most demanding facilities.
Maintenance Design Group is an independent maintenance and reliability engineering firm that designs, implements, and sustains asset-care programs for industrial operators — turning maintenance from a cost center into a measured, data-driven competitive advantage.
+8–14pts
OEE lift, 12 months
−40–60%
Unplanned downtime
5.8×
Audited ROI, 18 mo
02 / What we do
An independent maintenance and reliability engineering firm — converting maintenance from a cost center into a measured competitive advantage.
Maintenance Design Group designs, implements, and sustains asset-care programs for industrial operators across food and beverage, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, petrochemical, and utility sectors. Our work begins where vendor playbooks end: at the asset, the work order queue, the planner's desk, and the capital project PID. We staff every engagement with senior principal engineers — never junior consultants, never offshore analyst handoffs — and we measure what we deliver against your own plant's audited baseline.
The result is a maintenance function that leadership can finally govern with the same rigor as production, quality, and safety: planned work rising to the mid-70s as a percent of total, Mean Time Between Failures extended on critical trains, storeroom accuracy above 96%, and an auditable return profile your CFO can sign off on.
Operating philosophy
- Independent. No software resale, no OEM alliance, no platform to license back to you. Our recommendations are selected against your failure modes, not our channel.
- Senior-only. Every diagnostic, design, and sustainment engagement is led by a principal engineer with 15+ years of plant-floor practice. Junior staff support; they do not lead.
- Measured. We benchmark your program against the proprietary MDG Reliability Maturity Index — the same instrument applied across 600+ North American plants — and we publish ranges, not guarantees.
- Sustained. Implementation timelines for full enterprise programs are quoted honestly at 6+ months. Our 98% retention rate across multi-year managed reliability programs is the proof we outlast the launch.
For the VP-level reader
If you are weighing whether to keep reliability work in-house, hand it to a systems integrator, or commission a diagnostic from an independent firm, the next paragraph is the one to forward to your plant manager and your CFO.
See how we engage →
03 / Evidence
The numbers a VP reads before opening a diagnostic conversation.
Every figure below is sourced from our internal engagement registry (2018–2024 cohort) or our third-party DNV audits. Where a number is a range, we publish the range.
Trusted by 47 F1000 operators — including named engagements with Cargill, Tyson Foods, WestRock, and Dow Chemical. Case studies are available under NDA; anonymized references are open on request.
A 98% retention rate across multi-year managed reliability programs in the 2018–2024 cohort. We do not win on the proposal; we win on the second contract.
Average engagement produces a 5.8x return inside 18 months, verified through independent client-side audits run by the customer's own finance team. We reference audits; we do not promise percentages.
Top Reliability Consultancy
North America · 2022 · 2023 · 2024
Reliabilityweb.com
ISO 9001:2015
Certified since 2014
DNV-audited annually
ISO 55000-aligned
Methodology audited annually
DNV
SMRP 2024
Keynote speaker, Orlando
"Maintainability as a Capital Project Deliverable"
If the figures above match the operating problem on your desk, the next step is a 30-minute Reliability Diagnostic with a senior principal engineer — no sales layer, no deck.
Book a Reliability Diagnostic
04 / METHODOLOGY
How an engagement actually runs.
Every Maintenance Design Group engagement follows a three-phase arc — a measured baseline, a designed program architecture, and a sustained managed reliability practice. The diagnostic call is the entry point; it scopes the baseline, not a multi-year contract.
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01
Assess — Reliability Maturity Index baseline
We benchmark the site against the proprietary MDG Reliability Maturity Index, scored across 11 domains — work identification, PM optimization, defect elimination, planning & scheduling, materials, skills, condition monitoring, MOC, contractor management, KPI integrity, and leadership cadence. Output: a single maturity score, a delta to best-in-class, and a prioritized gap list. Typically 4–6 weeks on site.
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02
Design — program architecture, ISO 55000-aligned
We architect the asset-care program: reliability strategy, PM/PdM libraries, defect-handling standards, planning & scheduling workflow, materials strategy, competency matrix, and a KPI tree that survives audit. Aligned to ISO 55000 and audited annually by DNV. Maintainability requirements are written back into the P&IDs for any greenfield scope.
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03
Sustain — multi-year managed reliability
A senior principal engineer embedded alongside your team, monthly maturity re-scoring, quarterly steering reviews, and a rolling 90-day action plan. Measured on OEE lift, unplanned downtime reduction, and audited ROI — not on hours billed. 98% of clients who reach this phase stay multi-year.
The diagnostic call is the entry point. It scopes phase one — no multi-year commitment on the first call.
Book a Reliability Diagnostic →
05 / SECTORS
Six industrial sectors. One reliability discipline.
We work where unplanned downtime is measured in revenue, regulatory exposure, and public safety — not in calendar days. Each sector brings a different failure mode and a different cost curve. The methodology is constant; the engineering is not.
F&B
Food & Beverage
Sanitary PM/PdM programs, allergen-bearing line changeovers, filler and packaging line reliability, cold-chain compressor integrity. Typical pain: scheduling PM against continuous shift coverage without throwing OEE into the floor.
- Filler & packaging line availability
- Sanitary condition-monitoring standards
- Sanitation-to-startup defect handoff
PHARMA
Pharmaceutical & Medical
GMP-critical asset qualification, deviation-prevention reliability, validated PM, cleanroom-compatible monitoring. Typical pain: reconciling FDA documentation cadence with maintenance records on the same equipment.
- Validated PM in GMP scope
- Deviation-root-cause integration
- Audit-ready maintenance records
P&P
Pulp & Paper
Recovery boiler integrity, refiner reliability, dryer section uptime, lime kiln availability. Typical pain: balancing turnaround windows against seasonal grade changes on a machine that doesn't stop cleanly.
- Recovery & power boiler integrity
- Refiner & machine uptime programs
- Turnaround scope optimization
PETRO
Petrochemical & Refining
PSM-aligned reliability, rotating equipment programs, fixed equipment RBI, instrumented protective systems. Typical pain: getting reliability improvements past operations review without re-triggering MOC churn.
- PSM/Mechanical integrity alignment
- RBI & fixed-equipment programs
- SIS & protective function integrity
UTIL
Utilities & Power
Generating fleet reliability, T&D substation asset management, water/wastewater pumping integrity, NERC-aligned documentation. Typical pain: defending a reliability budget against regulator-driven capex cycles.
- Fleet EFOR & critical-Asset programs
- Substation & transformer strategy
- NERC documentation alignment
HEAVY
Heavy & Discrete Manufacturing
CNC uptime, stamping & press reliability, paint-line defect elimination, robotic cell OEE. Typical pain: chasing the same chronic failure across multiple cells without converging on a root cause class.
- Chronic-failure elimination
- Robotic & CNC availability programs
- Production-line OEE lift
06 / CASE DOSSIER
Anonymized engagements. Audited numbers.
Most of our enterprise clients operate under NDA; the engagements below are representative, anonymized, and verified through the client's own finance or operations audit team. Numbers are reported as ranges where individual plant conditions vary.
Large packaged-food manufacturer, six plants, Midwest & South
Problem. Filler-line availability collapsing through 3rd shift; PM compliance at 41% on packaging assets; sanitation-to-startup defects driving 12–18% of weekly waste.
Intervention. Reliability Maturity Index baseline across all six plants in 11 weeks; redesign of PM/PdM library against FMEA; embedded planner-coach program; weekly defect-elimination cadence with plant reliability leads.
Outcome. OEE up 11.4 points on the pilot plant within 14 months; unplanned downtime cut 52% across the network. Audited 5.6x ROI at month 16.
Multi-site pharmaceutical manufacturer, eight oral-solid-dose facilities
Problem. Maintenance records failing FDA inspection review; PM scope drifting across sites; deviation backlog sitting with engineering for an average of 47 days.
Intervention. Single validated PM standard deployed across all eight sites; deviation root-cause analysis integrated into the maintenance work-order closeout; reliability maturity re-scored quarterly by site.
Outcome. Maintenance-driven deviations down 61% across the network; PM compliance held above 94% under audit. Client-side finance audit verified a 5.8x ROI at month 17. Engagement entered year-three sustain.
Northeast U.S. investor-owned utility, 14 generating units
Problem. Forced outage rate eroding 7-year reliability trend; rotating equipment program fragmented across business units; no common root-cause taxonomy across the fleet.
Intervention. Fleet-wide Reliability Maturity Index baseline in 9 weeks; unified rotating-equipment strategy with vibration, lubrication, and thermography standards; cross-fleet defect-elimination board.
Outcome. EFOR improved 9.1 points across the peaking fleet; forced outage rate down 43%. Sustain phase extended through 2026; recognized with the client's internal Operational Excellence award.
Named Fortune 500 engagements are available under NDA. Reference audits and redacted case files provided during a Reliability Diagnostic.
View full case dossier →