Industrial Maintenance in the Digital World

For most industrial goods, markets have become global and highly competitive. Manufacturers, whose products are reaching the maturity phase of their life cycles, have to differentiate their offerings through complementary services (e.g., maintenance, repair, and overhaul). Driven by changing customer demand and the widespread adoption of cyber-physical systems, maintenance providers are pursuing performance or facilitator contracts as well as condition- and prediction-based maintenance policies to differentiate their offerings. However, many companies struggle to adapt their processes and develop sustainable offerings—even though these changes could address the principal-agent problem associated with maintenance outsourcing. This chapter outlines why innovation in industrial maintenance requires an integrated approach that leverages these opportunities simultaneously and how this approach addresses the principal-agent problem associated with maintenance outsourcing.