You are holding the freshly printed Maintworld – the voice and trailblazer of the maintenance sector, now carefully crafted into a visual magazine.

The new EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 takes full effect on January 20, 2027, replacing the long-standing Machinery Directive. It’s not just an update—it’s a whole new rulebook. Are you ready to play by it?

New self-healing, anticorrosive, and antimicrobial coatings can reduce maintenance costs, and their use is expected to increase in the coming years.

The Norwegian Maintenance Association (Norsk Förening for Vedlikehold, NFV) plays an increasingly vital role in promoting best practices, competence development, and strategic thinking across Norway's maintenance sector. With almost 200 corporate and individual members, the association focuses on advancing the perception of maintenance as a value-generating activity, rather than a cost centre.

For Jan Stoker, Researcher & Strategic Advisor for Asset & Maintenance Management, the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 marks a fundamental shift: “Technology is no longer the goal—it’s the tool that helps us create sustainable, resilient, and human-centric value.”

Sustainability has become a decisive factor in industrial competitiveness, shaping how companies invest, operate, and survive. For Europe’s maintenance professionals, this shift offers both a challenge and an opportunity: embracing energy-efficient, low-emission practices is now vital for long-term success.

The EFNMS Thesis Award* is one of the most prestigious recognitions for emerging talent in the European maintenance and asset management community. Last year’s winners, Aleksanteri Hämäläinen and Camilla Munther, earned the honor for research that combines technical depth with real-world impact. In this Q&A, they share what sparked their work, how their findings can be applied on the ground — and where they see themselves and industry heading next.

Van Geloven, a McCain company in the Netherlands, has moved from reactive to predictive maintenance by embracing data, new technologies, and a cultural shift. Since 2020, some of its sites have reduced downtime from 20% to under 4%, with teams leading improvements and AI increasingly supporting operations.

By Michael Hanf, sustainable business strategist and lead author of the Future of Sustainability 2025 study, published by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

When Professor Diego Galar took over as Chair of the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) in May, he inherited not only the leadership of Europe’s umbrella organisation for maintenance but also the responsibility to redefine its role in a fast-changing industrial landscape.