Since October in Copenhagen, the Chairman’s duties have been passed on to me by me predecessor. To start, I want to thank Alex Stuber for the job he did the last years as the Chairman of the EFNMS, as well as for the guidance and tips he has given me in order to take over his function.

So, a new era has started for the EFNMS, or at least the Chairman is new and due to the changing economic reality some other changes may also be coming.

When you go back in history you will find that maintenance has been a topic for centuries. This said, the first time it really came in the picture, at least as far as I could find, was early in the 1500’s when the Princes of Orange, the later Dutch Kings, chose “Je maintiendrai”

(“I will maintain”) as their motto. I couldn’t find the reason behind this choice; perhaps one of our readers could shed more light on the subject?

Maintenance became more mature when the period of “fixing” passed. Technologies improved, machines and components improved and maintenance experienced an evolution from primitive to the more accepted role of a partner in business.

In the 80’s maintenance moved into the world of science, when maintenance became a department, or at least a research domain in various universities. Thanks to our colleagues of the early 70’s, Nowlan and Heap, the first structured approach in maintenance was born.

Everybody was happy until the economic crash of 2008-2009, of which we can still feel the effect today. Economics got a new face as many companies moved from limitless growth and continuous expansion into the direction of sustainable EBIT. In many industries the focus for maintenance changed from intelligent and technologically-supported firefighting to ??? … yes to what?

From the operations point of view, more than ever if asked from marketing, flexibility is the norm. This means to be available at all times became the most important issue.

Availability and reliability – them engine behind availability – are the domains of maintenance and asset management so the playground is determined.

How will maintenance master these new challenges in a situation where the technical crew becomes older and the baby boomers are leaving the industry? The systems are becoming more complex, the impact of IT is higher than ever and, last but not least, thanks to our good maintenance, the exposure time that a technician can collect on a machine decreases.

Dear colleagues, don’t read this as the absolute truth, but more as a few statements to reflect upon. These reflections are given by someone who will try to give, together with you, a better image to maintenance as a significant component in the modern industry.

Herman Baets

Chairman

EFNMS vzW