Advancing your EAM maturity: what it takes to become proactive in 2025
Organisations across manufacturing and food production are heading into 2025 with a familiar challenge: systems are in place, teams are working hard, yet maintenance performance isn’t improving as quickly as expected. Many sit at a solid operational baseline, but struggle to take the next step toward higher uptime, better insight and stronger cost control.
According to industry data, 62% of asset managers remain in the “in control” stage of the EAM Maturity Model, relying on a mix of corrective and preventive work, supported by software. It’s a good starting point, but it leaves untapped potential on the table.
The shift into the “proactive” stage doesn’t require a major transformation. With the right structure, small adjustments can generate significant improvements in reliability and efficiency.
Understanding the leap from ‘in control’ to ‘proactive’
The “in control” stage is defined by structure, documented work, and consistent preventive maintenance. Teams use software, register costs, and perform scheduled tasks reliably. But gaps remain:
- Limited insights into why failures happen
- Inconsistent root-cause analysis
- Spare parts management not fully optimised
- Silos between operations and maintenance
- Limited use of condition data
- Reliance on experience rather than predictive indicators
In contrast, proactive organisations operate with greater foresight. They monitor asset condition, analyse trends, align departments around shared KPIs, and identify failure patterns before they escalate.
This stage unlocks:
- Lower unplanned downtime
- Higher workforce efficiency
- Stronger audit trails
- Improved reliability
- More informed cost management
Most organisations can reach Stage 3 without significant investment, they simply need to focus on the right levers.
#1: Strengthen failure analysis with standardised data
A major barrier to maturity is inconsistent failure information. Teams record work orders, but not always the patterns behind the failures.
Introducing standard failure types, a failure coding structure, and a simple root-cause workflow creates immediate clarity.
Why it works:
- Trend identification becomes far easier
- Maintenance decisions become data-driven
- Hidden performance issues surface quickly
- Condition-based strategies become achievable
Where it ties to industry research:
Ultimo identifies structured failure analysis as a core capability of Stage 3 maturity, supporting cost control and reliability gains.
Fast win #2: Optimise spare parts and stock visibility
Spare parts inefficiencies slow maintenance teams and drive unnecessary spend. Organisations in Stage 2 often rely on informal knowledge to determine stock levels.
A proactive approach includes:
- Basic min/max settings
- Linking spare parts to assets (BOM completeness)
- Stock insights for cost control
- Purchase recommendation workflows
These are all available in the Ultimo baseline setup and create instant efficiency.
Why it matters:
- Reduces delays in urgent repairs
- Improves planned maintenance accuracy
- Supports cost forecasting
- Prevents over-ordering and waste
#3: Bring operations, maintenance and HSE closer together
According to industry reports, poor communication between operations, maintenance and HSE is a top driver of downtime in food and manufacturing facilities .
Simple integrations can dramatically lift maturity:
- Shift handover
- Downtime registration
- Operator inspections
- Autonomous maintenance
- Sign-off procedures between teams
These additions help remove silos and create a shared understanding of asset health — a key requirement for proactive maturity.
#4: Introduce condition-based maintenance (CBM) on high-value assets
You don’t need to overhaul the whole maintenance strategy. Start small.
Choose:
- Your most failure-prone asset
- Your most critical production asset
- Your highest downtime cost driver
Then introduce a single condition measurement such as:
- Vibration
- Temperature
- Pressure
- Run hours
Ultimo already supports measurement point registration and IoT integration as Stage 3 readiness indicators .
This unlocks:
- Faster fault detection
- Better scheduling decisions
- More accurate risk assessment
- A foundation for predictive analytics
#5: Align KPIs between operations and maintenance
When maintenance has one set of KPIs and operations has another, proactive asset care becomes almost impossible.
The quickest, highest-impact alignment is to establish shared metrics:
- MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)
- MTTR (Mean Time To Repair)
- Planned vs unplanned downtime
- Schedule compliance
The Teamwork 2.0 whitepaper highlights that shared KPIs transform the relationship between production, maintenance and EHS, reducing blame culture and empowering collaboration .
Make knowledge capture part of daily work
The ageing workforce is the #1 expected future impact on asset management according to the EAM Trend Report .
Moving toward proactive maturity requires dependable knowledge transfer. This doesn’t need complex AI tools — it starts with:
- Operators documenting anomalies
- Technicians using mobile tools
- Work instructions kept central
- Photos/videos attached to work orders
- Repeat failures logged consistently
This strengthens continuity and lowers risk.
#7: Use reporting dashboards for weekly decision-making
Reporting and analytics are the #1 focus for asset managers over the next 12 months .
Moving to proactive maturity requires a regular reporting cadence. Suggestions include:
- Weekly reliability review
- Monthly cost review
- Quarterly uptime analysis
- Annual strategy refinement
Ultimo’s dashboards simplify this process, making it easier for leaders to prioritise the right improvements.
What a proactive organisation looks like
Companies operating at Stage 3 typically show:
- Strong alignment between departments
- Reduced unplanned downtime
- Faster response and repair capabilities
- Clear visibility of maintenance performance
- Higher asset reliability
- Improved cost control
- Better audit readiness
These organisations are also well-positioned for the next steps: predictive analytics, risk-based maintenance and long-term asset planning.
The transition from “in control” to “proactive” is the most valuable shift an organisation can make.
It improves safety, supports compliance, increases reliability, and future-proofs the operation.
Most importantly, it doesn’t have to be difficult. The fastest wins often begin with structure, collaboration and clearer insight, not large-scale technology investments.
With the right approach, organisations can enter 2025 with greater confidence, more predictable performance and a more resilient maintenance strategy.
Ready to move up the EAM Maturity Model?
MCGlobal Solutions helps organisations strengthen their maintenance processes, improve uptime and embed more proactive ways of working. Our specialists guide teams through practical, achievable steps that build maturity without disrupting operations.
Book a discovery call to explore how your organisation can accelerate its EAM maturity in 2025.
