Reactive maintenance is not always wrong. Low-cost, low-criticality assets (a backup blender, a secondary coffee grinder) are fine to run to failure. But for revenue-critical equipment — fryers, walk-ins, hoods, primary refrigeration — the math almost always favors a PM program.
Industry data consistently puts the all-in cost of a reactive program at 3-5x a preventive program once you include downtime, emergency rates, expedited parts, and equipment-life impact.