Stop Fixing What Ain’t Broken: How Woven’s Preventative Maintenance Keeps Gyms Running at Peak Performance

If you manage multiple gym or fitness locations, you already know the grind: machines breaking mid-workout, techs drowning in work orders, and your inbox blowing up with “this treadmill is making a weird noise” emails.

The conventional “solution” has been to run preventative maintenance (PM) on an arbitrary calendar schedule—regardless of whether equipment needs it or not. Every three months? Every six months? Sure. It’s easy to slap on the calendar. But it’s also a fast way to waste technician hours and vendor budgets without actually improving uptime.

Here’s the problem:

• You’re pulling techs off real issues to perform unnecessary tune-ups.

• You’re wasting resources checking machines that are barely broken in.

• You’re missing opportunities to prioritize high-use or high-risk equipment before it fails.

It’s like changing your car’s oil every month—no matter how much (or how little) you’ve driven. You might feel like you’re “staying ahead,” but in reality, you’re just spinning your wheels.

That’s where Woven’s Preventative Maintenance feature comes in: PM schedules that are triggered by real usage or logical time ranges—not arbitrary calendar dates.

The Problem With Arbitrary PM Dates

Most gym operators inherited a PM schedule from either a vendor, a past manager, or a “this is how we’ve always done it” policy. The logic goes something like this:

“If we check every machine every quarter, they won’t break as often.”

The truth is murkier. Arbitrary PM schedules create two major inefficiencies:

1. Over-maintenance
   Your techs are servicing machines that don’t need it, burning hours on low-value work. Meanwhile, that rowing machine that gets hammered every day? It’s not due for a checkup for another month—too late.
   
   

2. Under-prioritization
   Calendar PM doesn’t care if a bike has 500 miles on it or 5. Both get checked at the same interval, even though wear and tear is wildly different.

In a multi-location operation with hundreds (or thousands) of assets, this approach snowballs into higher costs, lower productivity, and—ironically—more downtime.

Woven’s Smarter PM: Trigger by Date Ranges or Metered Usage

Woven’s Preventative Maintenance feature flips the script. Instead of forcing your techs to follow a rigid date schedule, you can set PM tasks to trigger based on:

• Date ranges: “Service this between the 20th and the 25th of every other month” (ideal for managing staffing schedules and preventing calendar pileups).

• Metered usage: “Check this treadmill every 200 miles logged” or “Service this elliptical after 500 hours of use” (based on actual wear and tear, not guesswork).
  
  

This makes PM:

• More targeted: You only service what needs servicing.

• More predictable: You control when PM falls, so you can balance workloads across teams.

• More valuable: Every PM task done has a purpose, which means higher ROI.

How It Works in the Real World

Let’s say you’re running 75 gyms across the country. You’ve got a mix of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, rowers, and resistance machines from different manufacturers—some see non-stop action, others are basically decoration.

With Woven:

1. You connect your equipment’s usage data (through integrations with vendors like ecoFit, Matrix, Life Fitness, and more).

2. You set PM triggers based on actual performance metrics—mileage, run hours, resistance cycles, whatever matters most.

3. You assign these tasks directly to your techs or vendors, complete with notes, photos, and location info.

4. Woven automatically opens a work order the moment a trigger is hit—whether that’s on the 15th of the month or the moment that treadmill passes 2,000 miles.
   
   

This way:

• The busiest machines get the most attention.

• Low-use machines aren’t wasting anyone’s time.

• PMs get spread out logically across the month instead of clumping into unmanageable bursts.
  
  

The Benefits Go Way Beyond “Less Downtime”

Sure, reducing equipment downtime is a big win—but that’s just the start. With Woven’s Preventative Maintenance setup, you also get:

1. Better Tech Efficiency

Your techs spend less time checking perfectly fine equipment and more time fixing or maintaining what matters. No more wasted truck rolls.

2. Stronger Vendor Relationships

Vendors love working with operators who have their act together. You’re no longer calling them for unnecessary visits, and when you do, you have clear, data-driven reasons for the work.

3. Cleaner Data & Smarter Reporting

Every PM is logged in Woven with exact usage data, photos, and technician notes—so you can spot patterns, justify budgets, and forecast replacement timelines with actual numbers.

4. Scalable Operations

At 10 locations, you might be able to “manage by memory.” At 100, you can’t. Woven’s PM system scales seamlessly, making sure every location follows the same smart, consistent process—without you micromanaging.

Case Example: Cutting PM Costs by 30%

One multi-location gym operator running over 100 locations recently switched their PM scheduling to Woven.

Before:

• PM was set quarterly for all equipment, regardless of usage.

• Techs often found machines in perfect condition but still had to run through the checklist.

• Vendors billed for unnecessary visits.
  
  

After:

• PM was triggered by a mix of date ranges (to keep audits organized) and metered usage (to handle high-use gear).

• Low-use machines went 6+ months between service without issue.

• Overall PM-related labor hours dropped by 30%—with no increase in breakdowns.

The kicker? Member satisfaction went up, because equipment downtime actually dropped thanks to prioritizing real issues.

Why This Matters for Scaling Operators

If you’re running 50, 100, or 200+ gyms, preventative maintenance is not just about “keeping stuff working.” It’s about managing complexity. The more locations you have:

• The more assets you own.

• The more variation in usage patterns.

• The harder it is to standardize without a system.

Arbitrary dates might limp along for a handful of sites. But at scale, they become a resource drain. Woven’s Preventative Maintenance lets you standardize without overspending—the perfect combo for operators who want control without chaos.

Features That Make the Difference

• Flexible Trigger Settings – Choose usage-based, date range, or hybrid schedules.

• Integration with Usage Data – Pull directly from manufacturer APIs like ecoFit, Matrix, and Life Fitness.

• Auto-Generated Work Orders – PM tasks appear automatically when triggers hit.

• Built-in Communication – Chat and notes live inside the work order, so nothing gets lost in email or text.

• Full Audit Trail – Every completed PM is logged for compliance and asset history.

From “Always On” to “Always Right”

Old-school PM says, “Always check everything, all the time.” Woven says, “Check the right thing, at the right time.”

The result?

• Techs who aren’t burned out.

• Vendors who trust your data.

• Members who find working equipment every time.

• A bottom line that doesn’t bleed money into unnecessary maintenance.

Preventative maintenance isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing smarter. Woven gives you the tools to ditch the guesswork, ditch the waste, and keep your gyms in top shape without drowning your team in pointless tasks.

Ready to Stop the PM Hamster Wheel?

Switching to usage-based and date-range PM is the simplest, most impactful step you can take to improve efficiency across your fitness locations. Woven’s Preventative Maintenance feature gives you:

• Centralized control across all locations
  
  

• Automated task creation
  
  

• Vendor integrations for real-time data
  
  

• A proven path to lower costs and better uptime

Stop fixing what ain’t broken. Start maintaining what matters.

Want to see it in action? Book a demo with Woven and discover how easy it is to run preventative maintenance the right way—targeted, efficient, and built for scale. Our team will walk you through exactly how to ditch the arbitrary dates, tap into usage-based triggers, and keep every location running like a well-oiled machine.