Maintenance engineering

Maintenance Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying engineering concepts to the optimization of equipment, procedures, and departmental budgets to achieve better maintainability, reliability, and availability of equipment.

Maintenance, and hence maintenance engineering, is increasing in importance due to rising amounts of equipment, systems, machineries and infrastructure. Since the Industrial Revolution, devices, equipment, machinery and structures have grown increasingly complex, requiring a host of personnel, vocations and related systems needed to maintain them. Prior to 2006, the United States spent approximately US$300 billion annually on plant maintenance and operations alone. Maintenance is to ensure a unit is fit for purpose, with maximum availability at minimum costs. A person practicing Maintenance Engineering is known as a Maintenance Engineer.

A Maintenance Engineer should possess significant knowledge of statistics, probability and logistics, and additionally in the fundamentals of the operation of the equipment and machinery he or she is responsible for.

A Maintenance Engineer shall also possess high interpersonal, communication,management skills and ability to make quick decisions.

Typical responsibilities include:

Institutions across the world have recognised the need for Maintenance Engineering. Maintenance Engineers usually hold a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or other Engineering Disciplines. In recent years specialised bachelor and master courses have developed. The Bachelor Degree program in Maintenance Engineering,at the German-Jordanian University in Amman is addressing the need, as well as the Bachelor Programme in Maintenance Engineering at Luleå University of Technology. With an increased demand for Chartered Engineers, The University of Central Lancashire in United Kingdom has developed a MSc in Maintenance Engineering currently under accreditation with the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Top-up Bachelor of Engineering with honour degree for technicians holding a Higher National Diploma and seeking a progression in their professional career.

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