The 2026 Plant Engineering State of Manufacturing Operations & Maintenance report makes one point clear: manufacturers are no longer debating whether to modernize maintenance and operations. They are moving ahead with digital tools, outside partners and smarter infrastructure to improve reliability, efficiency and resiliency. For plant engineers and managers, that shift should feel less like a trend and more like an edict. For years, the industry has treated digital transformation as a future-state ambition. That time may have already passed us. The percentage of facilities planning to implement artificial intelligence (AI) within the next year jumped to 39%, up from 28% a year earlier. Mobile applications for maintenance tracking posted the largest year-over-year gain in perceived importance, rising 16%. At the same time, resistance to smart factory initiatives continues to erode, with the share of respondents saying they are not implementing such initiatives falling by 13%. That matters because competitive risk now belongs to industrial plants that continue to wait. Just as notable is the industry’s changing response to the skills gap. Respondents reported an 11% drop in plans to train employees on predictive maintenance, matched by an 11% increase in plans to partner with technology vendors. That is not a retreat from workforce development — it is a more realistic recognition that internal teams cannot be expected to master every emerging technology while also keeping production running. Plant leaders should act on two findings immediately. 1. First, prioritize mobile and real-time visibility. If your maintenance team still depends heavily…
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