Maintenance is innovative!

But to put it jokingly: You can't shoot the grass to make it grow faster. Innovation flourishes best in an ecosystem where everything works optimally.

Innovation trends for 2015

BEMAS, the professional association around maintenance and asset management is organising the easyFairs MAINTENANCE again and the Innovation Award. Of the 37 entries we have for the Best Innovation 2015, we have been able to discern some trends for this year's competition.

We can already say that 2015 is the year of the breakthrough for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), better known as "drones". These devices with four, six or eight rotors are used for inspection, mapping, photography and videography. By equipping them with various types of sensors and cameras, traditional deep, time-consuming and expensive activities are carried out more efficiently. Because of the relatively low cost of the equipment, these advanced features are also accessible to a much wider audience. Innovation in this industry is happening very fast and new applications are constantly coming to the market, such as 3D modelling of installations, in order to better prepare for maintenance operations during shutdowns. 

In addition to this, the world of technical maintenance is also seeing a breakthrough in the "Internet of Things". Mobile measuring devices, applications on smartphones and devices for measuring the condition are connected via the internet to a central system which is responsible for storing and analysing the data. Again here, speed, affordability and ease are the main selling points.

Another major trend is the emergence of 'big data' to predict failures and remaining life. At the moment, the first (affordable) solutions are coming to market. And this is undoubtedly one of the key developments for the years to come. Let's be honest: what maintenance manager doesn't dream of being able to plan failures?

The bigger picture

Industry generates 80% of EU exports and is responsible for 80% of funding for research, development and innovation. The European Commission recognises this central importance of industry as a creator of jobs and organiser of the whole economy. Maintaining and improving a strong industrial base is therefore the European Commission's top priority.

Historically, Europe experienced its most spectacular economic growth between about 1945 and 1990. The growth rates during this period are close to the growth rates in Asia today. The consequence of this is that the assets installed in Europe are becoming obsolete. The average asset life in sectors such as process industry and power generation is between 20 and 50 years.

These assets are increasingly under pressure from other regions. The economic crisis has further slowed down new investments, so the trend is reinforced. The life of assets must therefore be renewed and updated more often and overhauls of existing facilities are chosen during the construction of new plants.

All this means that there is a continued focus on maintenance and asset management. To give you an idea: in the MORE4CORE study, the annual expenditure for maintenance in Europe is estimated at 450 billion euros, for a working machine park of about 10,000 billion euros.

This means that innovation in maintenance and asset management, combined with a transition to clean technologies, is proving to be an important lever to secure our industry and thus the future of generations to come.  It is therefore urgent that policy makers, education, asset owners and service providers invest much more in maintenance and asset management.

Wim Vancauwenberghe
Maintenance Evangelist and Director of BEMAS vzw.