Fluke Corporation has reported a sharp rise in predictive maintenance adoption among UK manufacturers, with new survey findings showing maintenance strategies moving further away from reactive repair work.
The research, conducted by Censuswide, surveyed more than 600 senior decision-makers and maintenance professionals in the US, the UK, and Germany. Among UK respondents, reactive maintenance fell from 42% to 26% year on year, while proactive maintenance rose slightly from 48% to 50%. Predictive maintenance more than doubled, increasing from 9% to 22%.
Capital allocation is moving in the same direction, with manufacturers prioritising technologies that can be tied more directly to uptime, reliability, and asset performance. Over the next 12 months, the main areas of planned investment include Generative AI, cybersecurity, Industrial AI, and data management.
Nearly three-quarters of organisations now allocate between 16% and 30% of their maintenance budgets to new technologies. Instead of funding broad experimental programmes, manufacturers are placing more emphasis on tools that can be embedded into maintenance workflows, condition monitoring, connected reliability programmes, and asset-management processes.
Workforce readiness remains the harder constraint. Fluke’s data shows skills-related issues accounting for approximately 77% of reported obstacles, including knowledge shortages, broad workforce skills shortages, lack of expertise, and gaps in skilled labour.
“Manufacturers are continuing to invest in digital technologies, but progress depends on how effectively those technologies are applied,” said Parker Burke, President of Fluke Corporation. “Our findings show that reliability and workforce skills are now the critical factors in converting technology spend into measurable operational improvement. We need a solution to the skills shortage to supplement technology investment for the best results.”
Expectations around Industry 5.0 have also become more measured. The share of UK respondents expecting completion within six months has fallen from 31% to 20%, while 37% now expect a one- to four-year timeline. The adjustment places greater weight on near-term reliability programmes that can improve operations before wider transformation projects mature.
Connected reliability is becoming one of the clearest routes through that transition, with nearly half of UK respondents planning to advance related initiatives within the next 12 months. These programmes depend on sensor data, maintenance software, analytics, and engineering knowledge working together, rather than operating as separate digital deployments.
“The progress is encouraging, but it’s not enough yet,” said Vineet Thuvara, Chief Product Officer, Fluke Corporation. “Predictive maintenance is no longer a future ambition: it is the baseline. Manufacturers’ next challenge is scaling adoption and integrating it across the organisation, ensuring these capabilities work in harmony across the organisation, not in isolation.”
