This is my first issue as the Editor-In-Chief of MaintWorld magazine and I hope that the readers will find it as interesting and useful as the previous ones.

My predecessor Henry Mikkonen stated in the first issue of MaintWorld in 2009: “In short our mission is to make MaintWorld the best professional magazine in the field of maintenance and asset management” and I feel that the magazine has fulfilled this statement. However there is always room for improvement – just as there is in the field of Maintenance and Asset Management.

Before joining the MaintWorld team I spent 35 years as a supplier of Automation and Asset Management Solutions for Process Industry, and during these years I have witnessed the giant leap in maintenance philosophies from “if it is broken it is maintenance’s problem” to “reliability and safety are everybody’s responsibility”. Not only the maintenance philosophies, but also the tools for maintenance have gone through a huge technological evolution from “wrench and hammer” to sophisticated expert systems which are able to give early warnings and analyze the root causes of developing faults.

The global financial uncertainty has forced companies to reduce headcount and cut down spare part inventories and maintenance budgets. This situation is creating lots of extra challenges and pressures to the maintenance organizations, which are desperately trying to fulfill their “mission in life” – to make sure that the critical plant assets are performing exactly as they should, at maximized uptime and optimized cost. New procedures, technologies and ideas need to be implemented in order to “get the job done” and MaintWorld is the perfect communication channel to share best practices between the maintenance professionals around the world – we have more than 40 000 readers for our printed and web-based magazine in over 100 countries!

The magazine is only as good and professional as the articles in it, and I want to thank all our writers for their contribution in making MaintWorld what it is today “…the best professional magazine in the field of maintenance and asset management…”

Please continue sharing your experiences and findings with your colleagues in the Condition Monitoring, Maintenance and Asset Management sectors – just send me an e-mail with your ideas so that we can get the ball rolling.