19 Manufacturing Maintenance Statistics to Consider

When manufacturing leaders and managers set strategic plans for the year ahead, their decisions must be guided by solid, actionable data.

Maintenance is a major lever for driving operational efficiency, productivity, and safety on the shop floor, but to make the right investments, you need to know how your plant is performing. For maintenance teams, this process requires looking back at the data around your own operations to create a maintenance management strategy that builds on what is successful and doubles-down on areas for improvement.

It also helps to know what’s happening in the manufacturing industry as a whole; that way, your own plans can be seen within a larger context and trends—which is particularly important when it comes to deciding what maintenance programs and technologies to invest in next year that will make the greatest, quickest impact on improving overall operational productivity, quality and safety.

To help you get started, we’ve gathered the most recent and impactful maintenance-related data. These statistics offer valuable context that helps you validate your priorities, support business cases for new investments, and build a modern maintenance strategy grounded in best practices.

Maintenance Work Execution Statistics

Effective maintenance execution impacts everything from equipment uptime to worker safety. These statistics offer a glimpse into how much time and budget organizations are dedicating to maintenance and what the workforce outlook looks like moving forward.

• Nearly half (47%) of manufacturing facilities allocate up to 10% of their annual operating budget to maintenance activities (Plant Engineering)
• Facilities spend an average of 33 hours per week performing scheduled maintenance tasks (Plant Engineering)
• Employment for industrial maintenance roles is projected to increase by 15% between 2023 and 2033—a rate much faster than the average across all U.S. occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• An estimated 53,000 new job openings are expected annually for industrial machinery mechanics and related maintenance roles (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Lockout/tagout (LOTO) violations remain a top safety issue, ranking as the third most cited OSHA offense in fiscal year 2024 (Occupational Health and Safety Administration)

Manufacturing Downtime Statistics

Downtime—especially unplanned downtime—is a massive cost driver for manufacturers. These statistics reveal the financial and operational risks tied to equipment failure and highlight the urgent need for proactive maintenance strategies.

• Industrial manufacturers lose an estimated $50 billion annually due to unexpected equipment downtime (IndustryWeek)
• The average cost of equipment downtime per hour is approximately $260,000 (Aberdeen)
• The top causes of unplanned downtime include aging equipment, mechanical failure, human error, and insufficient training (Plant Engineering)
• More than 50% of manufacturing plants are planning capital investments to replace outdated equipment and minimize downtime risks (Plant Engineering)

Maintenance Approaches & Technology Statistics

Modern maintenance programs are evolving with the help of smart technologies. These statistics show how manufacturers are leveraging computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), predictive maintenance, and other systems to stay competitive and reduce operational disruption.

• 88% of facilities employ a preventive maintenance strategy to extend equipment life and reduce failures (Plant Engineering)
• Over half (52%) of manufacturing organizations utilize a CMMS to streamline and document maintenance activities (Plant Engineering)
• A surprising 51% of industrial facilities still rely on a run-to-failure maintenance method for at least part of their equipment (Plant Engineering)
• Predictive maintenance can reduce machine downtime by 30‒50% and boost equipment lifespan by 20‒40% (McKinsey)
• 92% of manufacturers believe smart manufacturing is critical to maintaining competitiveness in the next three years (Deloitte)
• 78% of manufacturers are dedicating more than one-fifth of their operational improvement budgets to smart manufacturing initiatives (Deloitte)
• 48% of plants are using connected devices for real-time monitoring of production equipment (Plant Engineering)
• 57% of manufacturers are adopting cloud-based technologies to enable greater scalability and flexibility (Deloitte)
• Nearly half (46%) of manufacturers are leveraging industrial IoT solutions to enhance maintenance precision and data visibility (Deloitte)
• 29% of manufacturers are integrating AI and ML at the plant or enterprise level to optimize operations (Deloitte)

How Parsable Helps Manufacturers Improve Maintenance Efficiency

These statistics make it clear: Manufacturers are investing heavily in preventive strategies, connected technologies, and workforce efficiency to reduce costly downtime, optimize maintenance, and stay competitive.

And now that you’ve considered the landscape of the manufacturing industry and—hopefully—reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of your own operation, we’d like to introduce you to Parsable, our software solution that directly addresses these needs with a mobile-first, connected worker platform designed to modernize maintenance operations.

Parsable helps bridge the skills gap highlighted by the 15% projected job growth in maintenance roles by providing intuitive, step-by-step digital work instructions that accelerate training and reduce reliance on undocumented, experienced-based know-how. With robust mobile workflows, Parsable ensures that maintenance tasks are executed consistently and accurately, mitigating common causes of downtime like human error and incomplete procedures.

In an environment where more than half of plants plan to invest in new equipment and preventive maintenance is the norm, Parsable ensures your teams can execute and document every maintenance task in real time. It supports compliance with safety regulations like LOTO—an area where violations are still prevalent—while feeding data into your CMMS or analytics tools to enable smarter, predictive strategies.

Whether your goal is to reduce the $260,000/hour cost of unplanned downtime, ensure adherence to safety protocols, or support digital transformation with IoT and AI-ready infrastructure, Parsable gives your maintenance teams the visibility, standardization, and agility they need to lead the way.

Transform Manufacturing Maintenance with Parsable from CAI

Staying competitive requires a modern, data-informed approach to maintenance. By implementing a connected worker solution like Parsable, manufacturers can boost efficiency, reduce costly downtime, and create a safer, more productive plant environment.

Contact CAI today to learn how Parsable can help modernize your maintenance operations and drive measurable results.