What is your vision of tomorrow’s manufacturing?

Ideally, machines would never break, never need new parts, or if that if is not possible they could fix themselves. With planned obsolescence from OEM, utilization of sensitive, light, non durable components, electronic systems, with natural disasters or just seasonal weather stresses, excessive highs and lows temperatures, contaminants from smog or fires in the filtration systems, won’t we always need maintenance technicians on staff or at least a team of contractors or suppliers to help stay operational?

Maintenance: When all goes well: normally no one acknowledges Maintenance staff or their work and training that was involved in attaining production.

When it goes badly, they say we don't have maintenance and find a scape goat that could not get the resources to accept the blame.

When money is involved for training, performance, continuation, fixing the problems, shutting down production equipment, many top management officers say not necessary.

We are about to share some of the latest research and efforts to fight the reactive Maintenance Zombies but first we want to hear from you.

What are you doing to move from reactive to planned maintenance?

Amazingly, 12 years into the new millennium, many major companies either have not implemented a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) or aren't getting the expected value from it. As opposed to being able to have complete maintenance records, performing routine PM schedules, tracking and managing MRO inventory stores, and strategizing better paths forward, many companies' maintenance staffs will wander aimlessly without direction or purpose and just react to the latest emergency request.