A recent global survey titled "Value of Reliability," conducted by Sapio Research and commissioned by ABB, revealed alarming statistics about the impact of unplanned outages on Indian industrial businesses. Approximately 88% of these businesses experience unplanned outages at least once a month, causing significant economic losses. The downtime costs them nearly Rs 7 million for every hour of disruption. In contrast, the global average downtime cost is Rs 10.3 million per hour, affecting 69% of businesses.

The survey, based on insights from 3,215 plant maintenance decision-makers across various sectors, aimed to delve into current maintenance management strategies and propose solutions to reduce unplanned downtime. Shockingly, despite the high costs incurred due to unexpected downtime, 19% of Indian firms still rely on a "run-to-fail" maintenance approach.

One key finding of the survey emphasised the importance of equipment reliability and consistent maintenance. A remarkable 92% of global respondents acknowledged that their maintenance efforts had increased uptime in the past year. Among them, 38% reported an improvement of at least 25%. Moreover, three-quarters of the respondents believed that equipment reliability positively influenced their brand's reputation, financial stability, and ability to fulfil contractual agreements. When purchasing new equipment, reliability was the top concern for the surveyed individuals. Additionally, investments in maintenance and reliability are on the rise, with 60% of respondents planning to escalate their investment in this area over the next three years. Notably, one-third of these respondents plan to increase their spending by over 10%.

The survey also highlighted an emerging trend: the growing interest in outcome-based maintenance agreements. In this model, service fees are determined based on achieved outcomes such as improved uptime or enhanced energy efficiency. An impressive 91% of respondents expressed enthusiasm for this approach.

Commenting on the survey, Amit Gupta, President - Motion Services Division, ABB India, emphasised the industry's underestimation of the consequences of unplanned downtime. He stressed the urgent need for the sector to shift its focus toward energy efficiency and digital solutions to enhance decision-making processes.

Source: ET Energy world