Top management must start factoring maintenance into their strategies to enhance their competitive positions. The results indicate that by properly utilizing the maintenance function a company can potentially increase its production and revenue through higher levels of availability. This is important for those companies that are capacity constrained. Alternatively, by adopting a maintenance policy appropriate to its equipment, a company can reduce maintenance costs and production costs by reducing disruptions to the production process. Regardless of which financial ratios a company uses, the bottom line is an improvement in profitability