Maintenance Transformation: Leverage AI and Digital Tools to Preserve Knowledge and Reduce Downtime

MaintainX's 2025 State of Industrial Maintenance report shows 65% of organizations planning to adopt intelligent maintenance solutions by 2026 amid rising repair costs

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MaintainX, the leading maintenance and asset management platform, today released its second annual State of Industrial Maintenance report, revealing how teams are leveraging AI and shifting strategies to tackle the ongoing talent shortage and surging repair costs.

Based on insights from 1,320 maintenance professionals across the U.S. and Canada, the report reveals that industrial maintenance is undergoing a major transformation.

"Industrial maintenance is shifting from reactive troubleshooting to strategic future-proofing," said Chris Turlica, CEO and co-founder of MaintainX. "While facilities are making impressive progress reducing downtime incidents, they're simultaneously battling increased costs and expertise gaps. MaintainX's AI-powered platform not only streamlines operations but also preserves critical knowledge and accelerates the transition to predictive maintenance strategies."

AI Adoption Surges as Downtime Solution

AI is rapidly gaining traction as a core component of industrial maintenance programs. The report reveals that 65% of organizations expect to implement AI-powered maintenance solutions by 2026. Currently, 44% have either adopted or are piloting AI technologies, with another 21% evaluating options or planning implementation in the next 12 months.

Notably, companies experiencing more downtime than expected are more than twice as likely to fully implement AI across multiple maintenance processes (40%) than those with less downtime (18%).

"It's telling that companies experiencing higher-than-expected downtime are twice as likely to fully implement AI across their maintenance processes. Organizations are recognizing that AI doesn't just reduce breakdowns—it preserves critical knowledge as experienced workers retire, which addresses the industry's most pressing challenge,” said Turlica.

The Preventive Maintenance Execution Gap

While 71% of leaders say preventive maintenance is a core strategy, less than 35% allocate the majority of their maintenance time to it. Most teams (58%) still spend more than half their time reacting to breakdowns.

"In a lot of facilities, maintenance teams tend to be firefighters. Something breaks and they go and fix it, versus trying to be proactive and stay on top of the maintenance to prevent breakage," explained Jeremiah Dotson, equipment maintenance technician manager at Amfab Steel, who was interviewed for the report.

MaintainX helps close this execution gap by automating scheduling, surfacing preventive work, and turning reactive routines into data-driven strategies.

Downtime Decreasing, But Costs Continue to Rise

Although 74% of facilities reported stabilized or decreased downtime, 31% saw their downtime costs increase. Key cost drivers include:

• Deteriorating equipment (fixed assets now average 24 years old, the highest since 1947)
• Rising parts and shipping expenses
• Labor shortages and wage increases

Despite these headwinds, organizations are doubling down on maintenance as a strategic priority. 32% expect team size increases, and only 4% anticipate reductions, a signal that maintenance is no longer viewed as a cost center, but as a competitive advantage.

Proven Strategies for Reducing Downtime Costs

Facilities that successfully reduced costs shared three key tactics:

1. Implementing an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) or Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
2. Improving parts and inventory management
3. Embracing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Lean practices

“We’re able to reduce downtime due to long lead times on spare parts orders because we can catch those things a lot sooner,” said Julie Lisea, operations administrator at Maas Energy Works. “I run a parts report weekly on MaintainX. I can reconcile parts across four states in 20 minutes.”

Download the full State of Industrial Maintenance 2025 report to uncover actionable strategies for reducing downtime costs and implementing AI in maintenance programs.

About MaintainX

Headquartered in San Francisco, MaintainX is a technology company pioneering a mobile-first approach to intelligent maintenance and operations management. It empowers frontline teams to manage work orders, assets, parts inventory, and purchase orders more efficiently, reducing unexpected downtime and boosting production capacity. MaintainX leverages AI and IIoT to connect asset and work data, providing real-time insights that drive proactive maintenance and operational excellence for 10K+ customers across physical asset-driven industries. MaintainX operates in North America with additional support worldwide. MaintainX is reimagining how maintenance and operations can be designed and managed to address the realities of today and the future ahead. For more information, visit www.maintainx.com.

MaintainX® is a registered trademark of MaintainX Inc.