Maintaining equipment in modern manufacturing environments isn’t just about fixing machines. It’s about planning, preventing failures, optimizing uptime, and ensuring teams work efficiently. Over the past few months, we spoke with 50 maintenance managers across industries—including automotive, food processing, plastics, heavy manufacturing, and utilities—to understand their challenges, strategies, and what’s changing in maintenance operations today.
Here’s what we learned.
1. Maintenance Teams Are Still Understaffed
Nearly every maintenance manager told us the same thing:
“We don’t have enough hands.”
Workforce gaps lead to:
- Longer response times
- More reactive maintenance
- Higher overtime costs
- Skills gaps for specialized repairs
Many teams are trying to fill the gap through:
- Knowledge sharing
- Cross-training technicians
- More structured schedules
- Increasing reliance on maintenance software
2. Reactive Work Still Dominates
Planned maintenance is the goal—but reality often looks like this:
| Type of Maintenance | Average Share of Work |
|---|---|
| Reactive (Breakdowns) | 45–60% |
| Preventive | 25–40% |
| Predictive | 5–15% |
Managers said the biggest reasons for high reactive work include:
- Lack of real-time equipment health data
- Unclear asset history
- No consistent scheduling system
“We are always in firefighting mode.”
3. Paper, Spreadsheets & Whiteboards Are Still Common
Even in modern factories, the maintenance “system” often looks like:
- A notebook in someone’s pocket
- A spreadsheet nobody wants to update
- A whiteboard that gets erased
This leads to:
- Lost information
- No accountability
- Difficulty training new team members
Managers said simplicity is the key reason these tools remain:
“Most CMMS systems feel too complex or time-intensive.”
4. Preventive Maintenance Scheduling Is Often Inconsistent
Many teams want a preventive approach, but the schedule slips when:
- A critical machine breaks unexpectedly
- Production requirements override maintenance windows
- Work is assigned verbally instead of tracked
This causes PM task backlogs and higher failure rates.
5. What Maintenance Managers Want
Across all interviews, managers said they want:
| Priority | Description |
|---|---|
| Less Reactive Work | Reduce breakdowns + emergency calls |
| Clear Scheduling | Easy visibility of upcoming tasks |
| Simpler Tools | Software that feels natural, not overwhelming |
| Knowledge Retention | Skills shouldn’t disappear when someone retires |
| Accountability & Reports | Track work done and justify investments |
One manager summed it up perfectly:
“We don’t need more data. We need the right information at the right time.”
6. How Teams Are Moving Forward
Maintenance managers are shifting towards:
- Standardized maintenance plans
- Digital scheduling systems
- Training & skill-sharing culture
- Root Cause Analysis after failures
- More PM tasks based on real usage (not just calendar-based)
The transition is gradual — but happening.
Maintenance managers today are balancing:
- Limited resources
- Increasing production pressure
- Aging equipment
- Rising expectations
The solution isn’t working harder — it’s working smarter, with clearer planning, better collaboration, and tools that support daily workflow rather than complicate it.
The industry isn’t just about fixing machines anymore.
It’s about building reliable, efficient, future-ready operations.