• Global
survey commissioned by ABB underscores the close relationship between uptime
and reliability
• It
emphasizes the importance of effective maintenance strategies and service
partnerships
• 91
percent of respondents are interested in how outcome-based maintenance
agreements can boost business success
According to the new “Value
of Reliability” survey from ABB, 88 percent of Indian industrial businesses
experience unplanned outages at least once a month, compared to 69 percent
globally. This costs the typical Indian business* close to INR 7 million per
hour*, compared to INR 10.3 million globally. Despite this, 19 percent of
Indian businesses surveyed still rely on run-to-fail maintenance.
The survey, conducted by
Sapio Research in July 2023, gathered responses from 3,215 plant maintenance
decision-makers globally across the metals, oil and gas, chemicals, energy
generation, food and beverage, plastics and rubber, water and wastewater, rail,
utilities, marine, wind sectors. It is part of a report that provides insights
into how businesses currently manage maintenance and how they can reduce
unplanned downtime.
The findings demonstrate
the importance of equipment reliability and maintenance. Globally, ninety-two
percent reported that maintenance has increased their uptime in the last year,
with 38 percent reporting an improvement of at least a quarter. Also,
three-quarters of respondents said that reliability positively impacts their
business reputation and financial performance, and helps them meet contractual
obligations, prevent waste and secure repeat business. Reliability was rated by
respondents as the top priority when purchasing new equipment.
Looking forward, 60 percent
plan to increase their investment in reliability and maintenance in the next
three years, with a third planning to boost spend by more than 10 percent. Nine
in ten respondents expressed interest in outcome-based maintenance agreements.
Under these, operators pay service partners based on achieved outcomes, such as
increased uptime or energy efficiency. This results in efficient and effective
service delivery with predictable cashflow.
Speaking about the results
of the survey, Amit Gupta, said: “The study's findings make it abundantly clear
that our industry frequently underestimates the genuine consequences of
unplanned downtime, and the survey strongly corroborates this reality. This serves
as a pivotal moment for our industry to shift its collective focus towards
energy efficiency, recognizing the substantial impact of downtime. It's
paramount that we invest in bolstering reliability, incorporate digitalization
to enhance decision-making, and adopt a forward-thinking, outcome-based
approach for the long term. With this in mind, industrial businesses should aim
to progress from a high-risk run-to-fail maintenance approach to a long-term
outcome-based strategy. This will improve reliability, business reputation,
competitivity, cut costs, and provide peace of mind – empowering businesses to
focus on their core competence.”
This new, outcome-based model to maintenance will help industrial businesses meet incoming emissions targets and regulations as the world fights against climate change. In addition, it will help overcome the industry skills gap as experienced technicians reach retirement age.