Operational maintenance management, as an important cross-functional area, significantly determines a company's competitiveness. However, it often receives little attention, with many organizations resembling maintenance deserts rather than efficient business processes. Andreas Weissenbach explains how to unlock the potential of professional and responsible maintenance, focusing on practical implementation. The discussion covers fundamentals and standards, requirements of relevant DIN standards and VDI guidelines, strategies and concepts, particularly of cooperative maintenance, resource planning with appropriate determination of maintenance costs, as well as personnel and technical capacities, development of measures, and implementation of organization-specific maintenance tools.