Maintenance key to improving plant productivity

Maintenance budgets are set to remain buoyant and focus on improving plant productivity, even in these times of austerity, research from MAINTEC 2012 show organiser easyFairs has revealed.

Nearly eight in 10 maintenance and engineering managers interviewed by easyFairs ahead of the 28 February 1 March NEC exhibition say they expect their budget to remain the same or increase over the coming year. Additionally, over a third (36 per cent) said that improving plant productivity is the main driver behind their maintenance spend.

This is welcome news given that 55 per cent of respondents are planning to tackle the economic slump through added investment in predictive maintenance technologies that will extend plant longevity, improve efficiency and avoid catastrophic, costly plant failures.

However, easyFairs found opinion divided when it came to views on the boards attitude to maintenance; 8 per cent said they saw it as expensive, while 8 per cent believed their bosses considered it as good value for money. Nearly two fifths said their respective boards saw maintenance as an invaluable part of the business, but one fifth said directors saw it merely as a necessary evil.

easyFairs UK & Ireland Managing Director Matt Benyon said: Businesses are still finding it tough, but many realise that cutting back on maintenance budgets is false economy. Theres a wealth of advanced, affordable technology on show at MAINTEC 2012 that can deliver significant efficiency savings and help protect machinery and equipment.

Now in its 37th year, easyFairs MAINTEC 2012 is the UKs leading exhibition dedicated to showcasing the latest asset management solutions, and offers maintenance managers an opportunity to source the predictive maintenance technologies to help them tackle the tough economic climate.

Matt added: Theres a lot going on at this years show. Weve launched a new hazard prevention area called HAZEX, plus have put a real emphasise on predictive maintenance technologies, which will come as pleasing news to those who took part in the survey.

Indeed, and in addition to utilising predictive maintenance systems, the research showed that training (45 per cent), energy management (42 per cent), and inventory/spare parts management (39 per cent) were other popular ways respondents planned to boost profits.

Additionally, more companies are responding to the recession by focusing on contracting and outsourcing: of those surveyed over half (55 per cent) do not outsource maintenance and asset management at the moment, but contracting and outsourcing was ranked top priority for them over the coming months.

Other key findings included that 70 per cent said the board uses productivity to measure plant performance, followed by downtime (61 per cent) and running costs (42 per cent). And encouragingly, 41 per cent said that the current climate had not forced them to postpone planned investment in major new equipment.

MAINTEC 2012 takes place from Tuesday 28 February to Thursday 1 March 2012 at the NEC, Birmingham. For more information or to register for the show please visit www.easyFairs.com/MAINTECUK, and for stand bookings and exhibiting enquiries contact Jerry Dawson on +44 (0)20 8843 8823 or email [email protected].