#insights

Industrial maintenance is undergoing one of the most profound shifts in its recent history. For years, maintenance management relied on a fragile balance: responding quickly to failures and minimising downtime. Today, however, the pressure to ensure availability, meet sustainability targets and optimise every investment is transforming the way plants operate.

In this evolution, engineering and digitalisation have become the driving forces behind a decisive leap towards more efficient, smarter and more productive maintenance. When this technology is applied in facilities with a key environmental role, its impact multiplies: reliability increases, waste is reduced and the overall sustainability of the process improves.

Modern industrial operations generate an enormous amount of data. The question is no longer whether tools exist to make use of it, but how to turn it into decisions that improve asset reliability and performance. Not all plants start from the same point: each has its own pace, level of technological maturity, culture and challenges. For this reason, maintenance digitalisation cannot be approached as a universal recipe, but as a process adapted to the real needs of each organisation.

While some industries continue to work with reactive models, others are already moving towards predictive maintenance, capable of detecting a deviation in the system before it becomes a failure. This shift is not merely technological: it redefines the role of maintenance within the company. From firefighting to anticipating issues. From focusing on the urgent to working on the important. From intuition to data-based knowledge.

Maintenance managers today face growing pressure: ensuring maximum availability, reducing costs and improving efficiency, all at the same time. And they must do so in an environment where equipment is more complex, standards more demanding and reliability more critical than ever.

An example of how this transformation takes shape can be found at the Zabalgarbi waste-to-energy plant, where Sener has developed a project with a clear objective: to guarantee the stability and availability of the equipment most critical to operations. In a facility that converts municipal waste into electrical energy, every minute of operation counts—for energy supply as well as environmental sustainability. Unexpected shutdowns cease to be a mere inconvenience: they become an operational, economic and environmental risk.

The approach adopted was simple in concept yet demanding in execution: thoroughly understanding the real needs of the plant and applying technology only where it would provide tangible value. Advanced monitoring of critical equipment now enables a far more accurate view of its condition, early detection of abnormal behaviour and decision-making based on reliable, up-to-date information. The result is a more stable operation, more efficient maintenance and, above all, greater confidence in the day-to-day management of the facility.

But the most important aspect is not the tools themselves, but how they are integrated. The solution was designed to adapt to the client’s way of working, without imposing unnecessary changes or creating friction. Technology thus becomes a natural ally, not an additional burden. This ability to adapt is what today distinguishes useful digitalisation from frustrating digitalisation.

The case of Zabalgarbi is not an exception but a reflection of an unstoppable trend across the industry. More and more plants are realising that maintenance is not an unavoidable expense, but a strategic investment in competitiveness. Availability means production. Production means business. And business, ultimately, means future.

That is why the question many maintenance leaders are now asking is no longer whether they should take this step, but when and how. Experience shows that it is possible to begin progressively, with concrete improvements that generate real impact from day one. What matters is having technical support capable of listening, understanding and evolving alongside the client.

Industrial maintenance is thus entering a smarter, more efficient phase, focused on what truly matters: ensuring the plant operates as it should. The transformation is already under way. The only thing left to decide is what role each organisation wants to play in this paradigm shift.

The data is there.
The question is: are you using it to be more efficient than yesterday?