How proactive smart maintenance is reshaping manufacturing operations

Manufacturing today is more competitive than ever. In a landscape defined by global competition, rising costs, tariff uncertainty and a persistent skills gap, the health and efficiency of a factory's equipment have become a pivotal component of a company's success.

A major aspect of manufacturing that impacts business performance is the optimization of facilities, particularly the machines within them. The health and efficiency of manufacturing equipment is a pivotal component of a company’s success, with unplanned downtime being one of the major issues a company can face.

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According to the International Society of Automation, the average manufacturing plant loses 5% to 20% of its annual productivity to unplanned downtime, which can result in a loss of revenue, decreased output, and longer lead times.

Standard maintenance methods are no longer a good fit for most companies, and manufacturers that want to remain relevant and competitive are seeking other options.

By implementing smart maintenance methods, manufacturers can better understand how to keep machines running efficiently, avoid unplanned downtime, and increase the overall success of operations.

The shortcomings of traditional maintenance

With traditional maintenance methods, companies may employ a corrective maintenance approach to repair machines only after they have broken down, or a preventative maintenance schedule to perform upkeep on a fixed schedule, no matter the actual status of a machine.

Both methods present potential challenges for companies, such as lengthy unplanned downtime, waste of time and labor on unnecessary fixes before they’re needed, and a lack of insight and data on a machine’s health and output.

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Traditional methods often rely on technicians manually inspecting a machine for issues, which can lead to misleading diagnoses or technicians missing early signs of machine degradation that are not visible or audible.

Additionally, with a fixed maintenance schedule, maintenance teams may have a tough time optimizing their workload to prioritize machines that need adjustments first.

If a machine is due for maintenance but a technician is tied up with other routine tasks, putting off the work could result in machine failure without the maintenance team receiving any warning.

Another shortcoming is the safety issues associated with machine maintenance. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while only 5% of uptime is dedicated to starting up and shutting down equipment, this is when 40% of workplace accidents occur.

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Whether due to human error, lack of standardized safety procedures, or machine unpredictability, technicians are more likely to get injured when performing maintenance tasks that are not data-backed and coupled with strategic insights.

The power of smart maintenance

Through advancements in machine monitoring, data tracking, and more, manufacturers now have the opportunity to incorporate more modern methods for machine maintenance.

Solutions such as condition-based maintenance or predictive maintenance, that could be defined altogether “smart maintenance,” enable a more tailored approach and dynamic strategy for machine maintenance to enable data-driven planning and decision making.

By using components like sensors and software to track real-time data, smart maintenance tools can monitor equipment health and detect "latent signals,” or subtle anomalies that aren't visible to the human eye but can lead to a machine stoppage.

Another more advanced but increasingly common components of smart maintenance are virtual assistants. These AI-powered virtual agents can analyze data gathered from machines automatically, highlighting performance trends, flagging critical issues such as component failures, and proposing solutions.

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Additionally, AI can enable a more dynamic maintenance schedule to formulate a responsive plan to a machine’s actual condition and needs.
As opposed to a fixed schedule that proposes a standard series of tasks, a smart maintenance system can propose specific troubleshooting steps, such as adding an unplanned maintenance task due to an indication from software.

The world is moving to a new paradigm, where it will be more and more up to the machine to define its maintenance plan, rather than technicians.

The future of smart maintenance

Smart maintenance is gaining acceptance by manufacturers in industries including automotive, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and the tools will continue to evolve as industries push for better performance and heightened innovation.

Over the next three to five years, smart maintenance will likely involve even more predictive insights, moving toward accurately forecasting component failures.

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A major advancement will come through the integration of smart maintenance systems into all aspects of a manufacturing facility. By connecting these systems, manufacturers will be able to achieve interconnectivity to enable more informed, dynamic maintenance planning across entire production lines.

A necessary evolution

Smart maintenance is not a fleeting trend but rather an evolution necessary for manufacturers that want to remain competitive in today’s environment.

By taking incremental steps to integrate smart maintenance tools into operations, manufacturers can work toward eventually developing a fully connected facility that can heighten performance, increase revenue, and mitigate the opportunity for unexpected challenges.

The question for manufacturers today is not whether they will adopt smart maintenance, but how quickly they will embrace this necessary evolution to secure their competitive future.