Maintenance of vehicles, machines and equipment in view of the ISO9001 requirements

The number of companies managed according to the ISO 9001 requirements is growing. A significant portion of them are those whose activities are closely linked to operating machines, devices and vehicles. When implementing, and then maintaining, a Quality Management System (QMS), they face a dilemma: should they treat the use of technical objects as a process which should be monitored, analyzed and improved, or should it be reduced to a procedure which describes the principles of handling technical objects (which usually means conducting planned maintenance, replacements, greasing, etc.). A question arises whether it is acceptable from the point of view of a certified QSM to apply other common operation strategies, like use of a machine until it breaks down.