Je maintiendrai*

The elected representatives of the people now have the (difficult) task of implementing a decisive policy as quickly as possible.

Irrespective of all party ideologies, it is clear that this must be done with a view to further economic recovery. Our country needs clear measures that strengthen the real economy. BEMAS, the Belgian trade association for maintenance and asset management, calls for special attention to be paid to a positive investment climate for the industry. Just about every province, region and country in Europe has organisations such as Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), which try to woo potentially interested foreign investors and try to lure them with all kinds of (tax) benefits. In doing so, they mainly target greenfield projects, in which a new factory is built from scratch.

Importance of brownfield projects

Smart regions, however, also focus on the less visible but very important brownfield projects, in which existing plants are expanded or partially replaced. In the Netherlands, for example, there is active lobbying for such projects. 

BEMAS is a partner in the MORE4CORE project, which is currently running in four north-western European countries. An important component is a benchmark study on maintenance and asset management. Although the benchmark is still ongoing, we can already draw some interesting conclusions from the preliminary results. 

In the graph below, we see the residual life of existing installations. In the Netherlands almost 7 out of 10 installations have a remaining technical lifetime of more than 30 years, while in Belgium this is less than 2 out of 10. 10% of the existing assets in Belgium are already technically outdated and another 12% will reach this stage in the next 10 years. 

The difference between the Belgian and Dutch situation is striking. I am not going to claim that this difference can be attributed to the active policy on brownfield projects, but somehow the Dutch companies that have participated in the benchmark so far, have approached the issue of ageing assets differently.

Preliminary results of remaining technical lifetime of installations based on a sample of 120 companies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Source: MORE4CORE project

This last option seems very attractive: it requires less investment capital, it allows our industrial companies to continue with a local production activity, and it is also the most sustainable solution. Asset lifetime extension can thus halt deindustrialisation in our country and form the basis for the 'factories of the future'. 

It is therefore high time to take the necessary policy measures to support this form of sustainable anchoring of industrial activity in our regions. 

Wim Vancauwenberghe

Maintenance Evangelist

PS: The MORE4CORE benchmark study is still ongoing. Participants receive a personal report on performance and improvement opportunities in the field of maintenance. BEMAS is giving a FREE benchmark to the first 10 companies that sign up with reference to this foreword in Maintenance Magazine via info@bemas.org.

(*) Je maintiendrai (I shall maintain) is the motto of the Netherlands introduced by William of Orange.