The added value of digitalization – Market Survey on Digital Trends in Maintenance & Asset Management
A lot is said and written about digitalization in the field of Maintenance & Asset Management. We see inspiring presentations and read articles about the effective use of digital solutions. So, we talk the talk, but do we walk the walk? In other words, to what extent are we implementing digital techniques and realizing their full potential?
Mobile maintenance, predictive maintenance, digital twins, augmented reality and 3D printing are modern digital techniques that can be of great value to the maintenance and asset management (M&AM) department. However, market research by Mainnovation and PwC shows that these digital techniques are hardly used within M&AM.
Market Survey
We surveyed 127 companies in various industries in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and also in South Africa, which is an emerging country from a digital point of view. "This provided valuable information", says Mark Haarman, Managing Partner of Mainnovation, "because it gave us an insight into the level of implementation of these digital techniques. " Annemieke Moerkerken, Director Supply Chain & Manufacturing at PwC Netherlands, adds: "We also wanted to know what companies are using these techniques for and what they consider to be critical success factors. It was also very interesting to find out why companies are deliberately not implementing these techniques."
Mobile maintenance
The research clearly shows that mobile maintenance already has a strong position within maintenance and asset management. Compared to the other techniques, this solution benefits from more than 20 years of evolution. Haarman: "The first iPhone came out in 2007. Since then, the development of applications and mobile technologies - such as security, Wi-Fi, user interface and available devices - has increased rapidly. It is clear that mobile maintenance is benefiting from these developments. Our own cell phone has become a useful tool in the field. This, along with the development and professionalization of enterprise asset management systems, has led to more reliable, secure, user-friendly and valuable applications within maintenance."
ROADMAP
Mobile maintenance is therefore clearly at the forefront compared to the other technologies. Haarman: "Companies have various reasons for not implementing a digital technique. They do not see a good business case or a certain technique is not relevant for their type of assets. Could be... but we also see good examples where the implementation proved to be very fruitful." The results of the research, four inspiring case stories of top performers and a 'Roadmap to Digitalisation' are bundled in a 40-page report. This report can be downloaded via www.mainnovation.com
