Europe’s maintenance revolution: strategic focus on digitalisation and skills to regain industrial edge
In industrial Europe, maintenance is evolving from a reactive, behind-the-scenes task into a strategic driver of competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability. Tomáš Hladík, Vice Chairman of the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) Training Committee, emphasises the crucial role that maintenance, and particularly spare parts management, plays in this transformation. Based in Prague and involved in both academia and consulting, Hladík advocates for elevating maintenance from a mere operational concern into a boardroom priority that shapes business outcomes across sectors as diverse as manufacturing, transportation, and power generation.
Hladík’s dual role as an academic at the Czech University of Life Sciences and Principal Consultant at Logio allows him to bridge theory and practice in modern maintenance strategies. His research on Reliability-Centred Maintenance and Risk-Based Inspection underpins his practical work with manufacturers and retailers, where data-driven decision-making has led to notable reductions in waste and efficiency gains. Central to this approach is the optimisation of spare parts inventory, a complex task often underestimated in scope and strategic importance. In his paper “Monetising Data in Maintenance,” he outlines eight best practices for spare parts management, including preventive maintenance focus, process optimisation, criticality assessment, and accurate demand forecasting. By implementing these, companies can reduce costly downtime and avoid inefficient stockpiling, thus directly boosting operational reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Hladík’s leadership at EFNMS reflects a broader ambition to modernise maintenance education throughout Europe. As the continent confronts rapid digitalisation, sustainability demands, and demographic challenges, EFNMS aims to harmonise training standards and professionalise the workforce to meet these evolving needs. The federation, a non-profit umbrella organisation for national maintenance societies across Europe, has long worked to raise maintenance competencies through certification, publications, and international conferences. Hladík’s emphasis on integrating new technologies, such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), augmented reality, and predictive analytics, into curricula is designed to equip the next generation of technicians with skills vital for managing increasingly automated, sensor-driven systems. He highlights the rising presence of robotics and electric vehicles as key trends requiring specialized maintenance expertise, noting the current shortage of skilled workshops for EV repairs.
The strategic significance of spare parts management extends beyond inventory logistics to Product Lifecycle Management, especially in complex industries like public transportation. Trams and trains, for instance, contain thousands of components but only a carefully selected subset is viable as readily available spare parts. Misjudging this balance can either lead to costly operational downtime or excessive tied-up capital. Moreover, Hladík sees a growing industry shift in Europe toward performance-based service contracts where customers pay for uptime and results rather than mere ownership of assets. This "service economy" heightens the importance of accurate lifecycle data and reliability forecasting, areas where many manufacturers still face uncertainty, complicating pricing and risk management.
Europe’s industrial sector, however, faces significant headwinds. Years of deindustrialisation and offshoring have diminished competitive capacity in key growth sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable technologies, which are now often sourced from Asia. Demographic shifts, including ageing workforces in major economies like Germany and Poland, add pressure by shrinking the pool of skilled labour. Migration helps to partially offset this, but it is not viewed as a comprehensive solution. Against this backdrop, Hladík urges Europe to define new industrial priorities and seize future markets, particularly pointing to Africa’s demographic expansion as a potential strategic opportunity for long-term growth and influence.
Education remains a cornerstone of meeting these challenges. Hladík insists on the continued value of foundational skills like critical thinking and problem-solving while advocating their integration with emerging knowledge areas. He also stresses the importance of retaining older, experienced professionals and leveraging technologies such as augmented reality to facilitate knowledge transfer between generations. This approach counteracts the loss of institutional memory that often accompanies retirements and is crucial for sustaining expertise in a rapidly transforming field.
Through EFNMS, where Hladík plays a pivotal role, Europe benefits from coordinated efforts to raise maintenance professionalism via certification, research dissemination, and community building among national societies. EFNMS’s activities, including upcoming events like the EuroMaintenance congress and comprehensive publications on maintenance best practices, support the continuous development of the field to keep pace with industrial innovation and workforce evolution.
Ultimately, Tomáš Hladík’s vision positions maintenance as a critical linchpin in Europe’s industrial resurgence, helping companies mitigate risk, improve sustainability, and adapt to an increasingly digital and service-oriented economy. His work underscores the urgent need to align education, practice, and strategic management of maintenance and spare parts to secure Europe’s competitive edge in a global landscape marked by rapid change and new opportunities.