July 2019 Maintenance Insights: Latest Industry Updates from Fiix

Stay ahead of the curve with our monthly roundup of insightful maintenance news, sourced from leading industry voices.

Global Maintenance Highlights

Preventive Maintenance Could Save National Parks Billions (Marcia Argust, Pew)

National Park Service sites across the United States are grappling with mounting repair demands—from aging historic structures and unsafe electrical systems to deteriorating roads and bridges. These challenges strain visitor experience and NPS budgets. This article explains how deferred maintenance left the agency in this predicament and shows that systematic preventive care could have avoided the current crisis.

Industrial Sector Accelerates Digital Transformation (Beth Stackpole, MIT Sloan)

While manufacturers often face stereotypes of being stuck in the past, the sector is actually leading the way in digital adoption. The rise of augmented reality, IIoT, machine learning, and AI is reshaping maintenance workflows. The piece presents concrete data on this rapid tech uptake and discusses its impact on technician training, asset management strategies, and overall operational efficiency.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Tailoring Technology for Unique Assets (Monroe Blanton, Plant Services)

Every maintenance technology platform is built around generic goals—reducing waste, cutting downtime, and lowering costs. Yet each organization’s asset mix, workforce, processes, and culture differ. This article explores why a blanket approach to digital transformation fails and outlines how a bespoke strategy can unlock the full potential of modern maintenance tools.

Data Deficiency: Boosting Asset Reliability with Accurate Information (Steve Gahbauer, Plant.ca)

Inaccurate or fragmented data is a common obstacle for maintenance teams. Evidence‑based decisions—from preventive schedules to inventory orders—depend on clean, relevant data. The article delves into practical methods for capturing, structuring, and leveraging high‑quality data to elevate maintenance performance.

Fiix‑Focused Updates

Key CMMS Integrations that Accelerate Maintenance Success

Maintenance is evolving faster than ever, and technology alone is no longer enough. Seamless connectivity between systems is essential. This post explains how a CMMS fits into the broader technology ecosystem and highlights integrations that empower facilities to meet their maintenance objectives.

Maintenance Metrics 101: Mastering Data‑Driven Decision Making

Metrics translate actions into numbers, offering transparency across every layer of your facility. This guide covers the fundamentals of maintenance metrics—why they matter, the most common ones, how to select the right ones for your operations, and how to track and apply them to drive continuous improvement.

Digital Transformation in Manufacturing: Insights from Fiix and IDC

Fiix partnered with IDC for a recent webinar that underscored the urgency of digital transformation in manufacturing. The discussion highlighted the mounting pressure on manufacturers to adopt emerging technologies, the shift toward reliability‑centric thinking, and the pivotal role of maintenance in elevating customer experience and data accessibility.

Understanding System Availability: A Maintenance Lens

Boosting system availability reverberates across the organization—optimizing resource use, maximizing production, and strengthening margins. This article breaks down what availability is, how to calculate it, and practical steps to improve it. It also clarifies the distinctions between availability, reliability, and maintainability, and how each metric informs a balanced maintenance strategy.