Prioritize Lubrication Programs and Digital Maintenance to Protect Uptime

What happened

Plant Engineering frames lubrication as a frontline uptime strategy rather than routine maintenance. The article emphasizes longer-life lubricants, stronger contamination control and disciplined practices as the routes to extended equipment life and lower operating costs. Procurement should watch supplier bundling of lubricants with contamination-control services and shorter quote windows

Why the category manager should care

Treat lubrication programs as reliability contracts—not just consumable purchases—because better lubrication practice reduces reactive failures and emergency rentals

Key facts

• Lubrication tied to uptime, equipment life and energy use
• Trend toward longer-life lubricants and stricter contamination control

What happened

Plant Engineering reports manufacturers are actively moving from planning to executing on digital maintenance and vendor partnerships. The study highlights rising investment in AI and mobile maintenance apps and a shift toward partnering with outside integrators rather than relying solely on internal training. Watch contract language around data export, firmware updates and SLA commitments as vendors seek recurring revenue

Why the category manager should care

Move toward vendor-partner procurement models and ensure contracts protect data access and update controls because vendors are selling integrated services, not just parts

Key facts

• 39% of surveyed facilities plan to invest in AI within the next year
• Mobile maintenance apps showed the largest year-over-year gain in importance

What happened

Atlantic XL completed a control-system PLC upgrade at a remote Arctic power facility, replacing an obsolete platform with a modern ControlLogix system. The project required careful integration and shipping/logistics planning to keep the plant operational during installation. This case makes obsolescence and remote logistics a tangible procurement risk to address in contracts and spare strategies

Why the category manager should care

Treat obsolescence as a sourcing risk requiring lifecycle clauses, spare-module provisioning and logistics planning because remote upgrades have high execution friction

Key facts

• Complete station PLC replacement at a remote Arctic facility
• Deployed a modern ControlLogix platform with full system integration and commissioning

What happened

Plant Engineering reports strong appetite for robotics, automation and AI across manufacturers, with many planning investments to improve efficiency. The survey found a big lift in planned automation and technology budgets, which increases demand for integrators and standardized spares while raising the bar for on-site skills. Procurement should watch how CAPEX and MRO mix shifts toward integrated automation suppliers

Why the category manager should care

Plan MRO strategy for integrated automation systems and prioritize suppliers that provide spare modules and integration services because robotics reduces commodity-part demand but increases system-dependency

Key facts

• Almost 80% of surveyed manufacturers intend to invest in automation-related technologies
• Phase-based automation maturity from attended to full lights-out defines procurement priorities