First Global Maintenance Day on 9 June: Call for more focus on technical maintenance

Today, we are living in a high-tech society. In Europe, about 6 million people work in a technical maintenance function on machine parks worth around € 10.000 billion. According to estimates, € 450 billion is spent annually on industrial maintenance across all sectors. Maintenance is essential to keep our companies profitable and to prevent technical incidents that have potentially serious safety, health and environmental consequences.

Yet technical maintenance is rarely, if ever, covered in the media. That is why the GFMAM, the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management, is seizing the first Global Maintenance Day on Friday 9 June to launch an appeal to the media to highlight the importance of maintenance to the general public. After all, there is an acute shortage of maintenance technicians.

The industry is currently grappling with a significant shortage of maintenance technicians, posing a considerable challenge to the smooth operation of various sectors. The rapid advancements in technology, coupled with an ageing workforce and limited investment in training programs, have exacerbated the problem. As highly skilled maintenance technicians retire, there is a scarcity of qualified replacements to fill the void. The consequences of this shortage are far-reaching, as equipment breakdowns and prolonged maintenance downtimes can lead to decreased productivity, increased costs, and diminished competitiveness.

If we as a society fail to address this problem, it can have a huge impact on our economy and on everyone's daily life. Technical installations that are not maintained or are poorly maintained will sooner or later suffer a breakdown, with all its consequences and inconveniences.

But common citizens are also affected by the shortage of technicians. For instance, trains are regularly cancelled due to equipment problems. At water treatment companies, for example, a sophisticated maintenance approach helps to prevent environmental damage in watercourses, flooding in streets and homes and negative consequences for public health due to discharge of untreated wastewater, according to a technical manager at a water treatment company. In windmill parks, maintenance is also of great added value. A managing director states that maintenance technicians are vital, because their work is crucial in helping to build a CO2-neutral energy future and the importance of their function will only increase in the coming years.

Do you want to know more about technical maintenance?

Contact us on info@bemas.org.