The engineering skills shortage is an issue with a long history. The battle to make Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) attractive – and adequately included in school curriculums – and the often ill-perceived view of engineering as a career choice have added to the issue. Meanwhile, technology emerges at pace, exacerbating it further. This was one of the key areas to emerge from a recent report from RS which aimed to uncover the challenges facing the maintenance engineering profession, and its priorities.
The ‘Performance in Focus’ 2024 Maintenance Engineering Report was developed in partnership with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), and was based on findings of a survey conducted among its members. With almost 400 UK and Ireland based maintenance professionals responding to the survey, it provides an insightful snapshot of the state of play in maintenance engineering.
An arena facing mounting challenges
Skills topped the concerns list for respondents to this survey, alongside departmental resources and energy management, although the latter was cited by fewer respondents than in last year’s study. More than half of respondents said attracting and retaining talent was a prominent concern, which far outweighed key challenges like inflation and rising costs.
It’s clear that the combined industry effort to raise the profile of engineering in education, and the role of maintenance within that as a valued element, is one that must be continued and grown. The creation of apprenticeships and support to help graduates hone specific industry skills is key, as well as businesses providing greater opportunities to enable people to grow within their roles and evolve their skills.
With technology emergence – from Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices to platforms and solutions that help with data analysis – it’s even more vital to invest in the talent pool creation and ensure skills are kept in line with evolving technology.
Declining departmental resources was a challenge cited by 30 per cent of respondents, and as the biggest one for 10 per cent of those. The knock-on effect is the impact on the ability of those working in the sector to deal with other maintenance-related challenges, including staff attraction and retention. This underpins the importance of investing in people, as much as equipment and technology.
The impact of challenges on maintenance strategies
The survey providing results for the Performance in Focus report was conducted in a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, facilities and intralogistics, manufacturing, energy, and oil and gas. It was expected, therefore, maintenance strategies might be a mixed bag, as these varying organisations have different priorities, and the challenges they are facing will affect the approach.
Many organisations will be using a number of strategies. Planned maintenance was a priority for 36 per cent of survey respondents, which varied according to size of organisation, creating a range of 36 to 52 per cent. Motivations for maintenance strategies included decreasing downtime, cited by 54 per cent of respondents. Reducing failure probability, better productivity, efficiency and cost effectiveness all came in at between 34 and 36 per cent.
However, only 11 per cent of respondents said their organisation’s maintenance was focused on predictive, showing there is much room for improvement when it comes to maintenance strategies. A significant 42 per cent have a more reactive strategy and will run equipment until it fails.
And while data is central to preventative and predictive maintenance strategies, there were significant concerns around its quality, with only 57 per cent of respondents believing their data was reliable or extremely reliable. This could be due to increased reliance on Excel spreadsheets and paper records, although the report highlighted that the use of computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) is up at 62 per cent, from 49 per cent the previous year.
The battle with unscheduled downtime continues
The average organisation spends 15 hours a week battling unscheduled downtime, which is an improvement on the 20 hours cited last year. The average hourly cost of downtime was higher this year at £5,471.95 (£5,121.81 last year), and ageing assets were cited as the biggest single cause of unscheduled downtime by 29 per cent of respondents, followed by mechanical failure mentioned by 21 per cent of those completing the survey.
Managing ageing assets is an ongoing challenge for maintenance professionals. But as Richard Jeffers, solutions and technical director at RS, said: “It’s not the age of the asset that matters but how you care for it. The focus should be on maximising the life of an asset which can increase cash flow for the business, rather than look to upgrade or replace equipment, in many cases.”
When looking to upgrade though, finding the right supplier and product is vital, and 23 per cent of respondents put availability as the biggest factor to consider when looking to do this. Their next biggest considerations were quality assurance and responsiveness (18%) and price (8%). These findings were questioned by Jeffers, who said that in his experience, price shoots to the top of the agenda when it comes to contract negotiations.
RS’ UK & Ireland managing director, Raj Patel, reflected on the report findings and gave recognition to the ‘tricky balancing act’ faced by maintenance professionals, between the day-to-day realities of keeping things moving and the effort to prevent future breakdowns or inefficiencies.
Survey respondents seemed under no illusion about the scale of the challenge they face to do more than simply keep the cogs turning, and the ongoing journey to becoming a mature function. But the results show they are acting where and how they can, and putting more emphasis on both planned and predictive maintenance, as well as looking to develop their own skills base for the future.
In addition, working with the right partners to help them negate issues around product shortages – resulting in unnecessary downtime – or threat of low quality or counterfeit parts, is a proactive approach that should see maintenance continue to move in the right direction.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), is a global organisation with around 115,000 members, and holds the mission to improve the world through engineering.
The RS and IMechE ‘Performance in Focus’ 2024 Maintenance Engineering Report,’ can be downloaded in full here.
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