Too much maintenance remains reactive

The report, published by Bosch Rexroth and the Institute of Engineering and Technology, surveyed almost 300 engineers in UK industry and found that maintenance practices continue to be a cause for concern.

Of those taking part in the survey, 32% described their maintenance as being reactive with less than 30% implementing either predictive or preventive maintenance regimes.

Richard Chamberlain, UK service manager at Bosch Rexroth, comments: "The fact that nearly 30% of manufacturers in our recent poll would class their maintenance strategy as predictive or preventive is something to be celebrated. However, there is still some way to go both to help bridge the gap for those that continue to take a reactive approach and helping forward looking manufacturers take that extra step towards a more planned maintenance programme."

According to the report, 53% of respondents say that maintenance budgets have stagnated or decreased in recent years, and 64% responded that maintenance personnel numbers have similarly stayed the same or reduced.

"Maintenance resource is the major issue for manufacturers," says Chamberlain. "All-too-often, maintenance teams are stretched too thinly to be able to be more planned and predictive, instead resorting to firefighting to keep machines running."

‘What you don’t repair you destroy – A report into maintenance practices in UK Industry’ by Bosch Rexroth can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/RexrothMaintenance.