This study investigates the strategic role of maintenance in advancing sustainability within manufacturing enterprises. While existing literature explores individual sustainability pillars and maintenance strategies, integrating strategic maintenance with comprehensive sustainability performance remains underdeveloped. Drawing on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), the Resource-Based View (RBV), and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, this paper develops a theoretical model linking proactive maintenance practices to economic, environmental, and social outcomes. A bibliometric analysis of 189 publications from 2014 to 2024 reveals an annual growth rate of 52.27%, underscoring the rising global interest in the convergence of maintenance, sustainability, and Industry 4.0 technologies. The analysis identifies dominant research themes—including digital transformation, life cycle assessment (LCA), and institutional influences—that support the conceptualization of maintenance as a strategic enabler of sustainable performance. The proposed framework incorporates digital enablers (e.g., IoT, digital twins), institutional pressures, and maintenance typologies (preventive, predictive, condition-based, TPM). This study offers theoretical and practical insights for aligning maintenance strategies with sustainability goals. Future research should empirically validate the proposed framework using structural models, explore sector-specific applications, and investigate the longitudinal impact of digitalized maintenance strategies on sustainability performance