Key Takeaways From The 2024 Global Survey On Industrial Operations And Maintenance Services

Key Takeaways From The 2024 Global Survey On Industrial Operations And Maintenance Services

Industrial operations and maintenance service providers are a critical resource for firms looking to advance their digital transformation, secure their net zero roadmap or optimize their existing production processes. To better understand how industrial firms are leveraging third-party service providers, Verdantix undertook a global survey of 120 respondents responsible for investment in consultant-led initiatives across 11 industries and 8 economic regions. Our research finds that:

• Three-quarters of firms plan to increase spend on GenAI implementations.
  Organizations in asset-intensive sectors have access to tremendous amounts of structured and unstructured data – but contextualizing those data and drawing actionable insights can still be a challenge. As a result, firms are looking to generative AI to accelerate data initiatives and help optimize operations through predictive maintenance, supply chain management and asset performance management capabilities. However, this technology is still new, and most industrial firms lack the necessary in-house expertise to successfully implement it on their own, hence 74% stated that they would be increasing spend on consultant-led GenAI implementations in 2025.
  
  
• EHS and net zero are top areas of spend on service providers.
  Increasing demands for transparency and assurance are compelling firms to refine their decarbonization strategies and enhance their management of EHS activities. Amongst global survey respondents, 58% are already using third-party consultants such as Arcadis, dss+ and ERM for their EHS compliance activities, with 68% planning to increase spending on third-party consultants for their EHS activities over the next 12 months. Almost two-thirds (60%) of organizations are already working with service providers on emissions reduction and decarbonization road mapping, and 43% are planning spending increases for 2025.
  
  
• Firms want an unbiased perspective and better access to digital solutions.
  Nearly all organizations note that they are engaging third-party consultants for their unbiased and independent perspective and for their increased access to new technologies and digital solutions. This trend is evident in the increasing spend on consultant-led initiatives that demand in-depth industry expertise or better access to new technologies, with support for implementation and integration. Simultaneously, firms are seeking unbiased and independent insights regarding their operations to benchmark against industry peers and to implement best practices to meet their sustainability, performance and safety targets.

For more information on how firms are leveraging industrial service providers across heavy asset industries, please read Global Corporate Survey 2024: Industrial Operations And Maintenance Services Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences.