How to Control Maintenance Entropy, Paper360º January/February 2026

Maintenance has as one of its foundational principles the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics—entropy. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics states that the entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time. Without the proper understanding of entropy, when it comes to modern maintenance management, organizations will continually struggle with meeting their safety, environmental, and financial goals.

Understanding the law of decay and properly managing for our desired outcome is necessary to maximize the utility of our assets. As much as we may wish for our equipment not to degrade, it will. We cannot wish away Newton’s Laws and, when it comes to maintenance, we cannot wish away the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

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