In 2016, research conducted by Plant Services into predictive maintenance (PdM) uncovered an unsettling trend: despite planned and actual investments in their PdM programs, a majority of respondents were not satisfied with program results. One year later, an update to that survey revealed that more PdM technologies than ever are being deployed, often in targeted and complementary fashion, and levels of satisfaction with PdM programs had increased by 34%. In addition, respondents told us that their most significant challenges had shifted away from how to define the expected benefits, and more onto whether they had enough people (as well as the right people) to execute effectively.

This presentation will deliver key findings from the upcoming 2018 Plant Services PdM Survey, to be administered in June-July 2018. Topics to be covered include: the types of predcitive maintenace technologies being deployed, as well as the ways users are applying them, and on which assets; the ways that digital technologies are impacting maintenance best practices; and the extent to which plant teams are willing to share their data outside their facilities. The presentation also will draw data from two other 2018 Plant Services surveys, on Workforce and on Electrical Safety, in order to provide additional context in which to understand data from the PdM survey.

Christine LaFave Grace joined Plant Services as managing editor in 2015. She is a co-founder of Putman Media’s Influential Women in Manufacturing program. Previously, LaFave Grace worked as an editor at Technomic and at Crain Communications’ Modern Healthcare magazine, among other publications. She has a BA in journalism from Indiana University-Bloomington.