As of January 2025, Jari Kostiainen has taken over the role, bringing fresh leadership to the publication. We’ve also restructured our editorial team, and I’m pleased to welcome back two familiar faces—Nina Garlo and Mia Heiskanen.

For me, this marks the conclusion of my full-time working life, though I won’t be stepping away from the maintenance scene entirely. I will continue contributing to Maintworld as a freelancer, and in my role as a Board Member of the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS), I remain well-positioned to follow the latest developments in maintenance and asset management. Over the years, my work in this field has evolved into a passion, enriched by a strong professional network and many valued friendships.

The Growing Importance of Asset Management

Asset management is becoming an increasingly critical focus for many companies. However, its full implications for maintenance professionals and production teams are still being defined.

Another key topic shaping the future of our industry is artificial intelligence (AI)—a subject we’ve covered extensively in our magazine. Whether AI will completely transform maintenance remains to be seen. Some have already raised concerns about unnecessary hype surrounding AI and its effects.

While AI and asset management are important, we must not overlook the fundamental skills essential to maintenance. After all, industries worldwide quite literally keep moving thanks to a thin layer of oil within machines, components, and moving parts. The expertise required to maintain these essential systems remains irreplaceable.

As I step into a new phase, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the colleagues, professionals, and friends I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years.
This issue will also feature an overview of Jari Kostiainen, who will be leading Maintworld into the future.

We continue to welcome your feedback and story ideas.

Jaakko Tennilä
Editor-in-Chief, Maintworld Magazine (until the end of 2024)

Jari Kostiainen
Editor-in-Chief, Maintworld Magazine (from 1.1.2025 onwards)
jari.kostiainen@kunnossapito.fi

Something for almost everybody. We had our Euromaintenance 2024 event in the same city two months before the Ecomondo event. According to the organizer there were altogether some 3500 visitors.

As important as maintenance is for all of us in our private or business life, the status of the branch is still low. Why is that?

You can say that it is because we – maintainers – are not good at marketing. That might be true. On the other hand, the organizational status of maintenance was (and still might be in some companies) to be the “necessary evil”, whose role is to act as a firefighter and be most of the time invisible. How can this be changed?

For the ISS (International Space Station), the role of maintenance is crucial. I saw just an article explaining that besides performing the scientific tasks, personnel spend most of their time doing maintenance tasks. In a small, closed society it is clear for everybody on board that things need to work, and the importance of maintenance is high.

I think the same applies also on a larger scale, however missing maintenance is not very visible to most of us. When the s..t hits the fan, we see the consequences of missing maintenance – but normally too late. Normally the costs of coming back to normal operational level are much too high. Because of that, decision makers make drastic decisions – close the factories, decrease the level of the services or sometimes just forget the facts.

In addition to AI content, this issue also covers many other topical issues. The Mascot project, for example, explored how the green transition is affecting material choices and the maintenance of process equipment. The article “Thriving in Chaos” looks at how Industry 5.0 is redefining resilience and reliability.

I’m still happy to receive your feedback and story ideas.

The series consists of three articles. In the next episode, we will highlight practical solutions and then take a step towards the future.

Unfortunately, at the moment it seems that artificial intelligence is mainly used to manipulate and distort reality. Some time ago, when I was wandering around social media, I noticed a friend’s update from “Italy”. The picture turned out to be processed, but at first glance the picture did not differ from the real thing. Basic consumers have numerous options for easy editing of pictures and videos, and all the time, what is on offer is increasing. Producing text with the help of artificial intelligence is almost a basic task for everyone. While the initial use of AI has not been very encouraging, I remain hopeful that we can harness it as a valuable tool.

We have been evaluating the position of information printed on paper in our own operations for several years. The fact is that the share of print media has decreased and will continue to decrease. Does print have a place in the future?

When talking about technology, the basics don’t generally get old over the years. Facts always find their readers, and a paper book is still the best user interface according to many.

The Maintworld magazine in your hand is still delivered in print. The PDF-version of the magazine can also be read fresh online. In the last couple of years, the number of clicks online has grown strongly and some of our readers have also indicated their wish to receive the magazine only in electronic form.

In addition to the AI content, this issue also covers many other topical issues. For example, the expert article “The Future of Sustainability Lies in Maintenance” discusses the important role of maintenance in the transition to a sustainable circular economy. In addition, we can read about the results of scientific research on the challenges of measuring the benefits of energy efficiency.
I’m still happy to receive your feedback and story ideas.

Theoretically, asset management could be seen as a systematic approach concerning the governance of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. Responsibility is divided into two areas, tangible assets (equipment, manufacturing plants, infrastructure, buildings) and intangible assets (intellectual property, financial assets). From a maintenance perspective, tangible assets are our main concern, I guess?

The need to develop asset management and make definitions that support the topic started in Europe from England. PAS55 was written some 20 years ago, and the ISO 55000 standard was published in 2014. ISO 55000 provides an overview of asset management, its principles and terminology, and the expected benefits from adopting asset management. The EN 16646 standard introduces physical asset management as a framework for maintenance activities.

Ageing assets are one of the main factors driving the asset management deployment in various organizations. Controlling maintenance debt and avoiding faults that might cause problems force organizations to develop their long-term asset management. Unfortunately, there have been several incidents in Europe caused by the poor management of physical assets.

What is the role of the maintenance organization in asset management? Is it the asset owner or the production organization who runs asset management? These and other questions will be decided based on companies’ strategies and internal competences.

At the same time, technological developments are advancing at incredible speed. In this issue, for example, Professors Diego Galar, Ramin Karim and Uday Kumar reflect on what changes Industry 5.0 will bring. Hanna Heinonen of Kone, a company with operations in more than 60 countries, explores how virtual reality can be used effectively in maintenance. We also look at how maintenance solutions for the ITER fusion reactor are being developed.