Rubix says European manufacturers are becoming more confident in their ability to protect machine uptime, with its latest Uptime Index rising five points to 75 despite continued pressure from costs, supply disruption, and skills shortages.
Based on a survey of more than 6,800 manufacturers across the UK and Europe, the index tracks industrial confidence through the practical lens of production continuity. Rather than pointing to easier trading conditions, the latest results show manufacturers changing how they manage disruption, with resilience increasingly built through maintenance discipline, supplier relationships, inventory visibility, and digital workflows.
Years of unstable energy pricing, component shortages, logistics disruption, and labour pressure have pushed manufacturers toward more deliberate operating models. Rubix says companies are tightening day-to-day controls, improving visibility over maintenance and inventory, and using digital tools more consistently across production and engineering teams.
David Cullern, Group VP Key Accounts at Rubix, said: “While manufacturers continue to navigate complexity and instability, we’re seeing levels of confidence rise. That’s not a result of improving market conditions, but rather an ability to manage volatility better.”
The Uptime Index is delivered in partnership with Parker Hannifin and SKF, linking the research to two major suppliers in motion, control, bearings, and industrial reliability. Its focus goes beyond whether production lines are running now, measuring whether manufacturers have the skills, spare parts access, maintenance capability, and investment confidence to keep assets available through external shocks.
Skills remain one of the clearest constraints on uptime. The white paper published alongside the index found that 36% of businesses are focused on strengthening internal skills, while 27% are investing in training and upskilling programmes. Others are improving coordination between teams, using technology to support decisions, and working with external specialists where in-house capability is stretched.
Cullern added: “When it comes to the skills challenge in particular, confident manufacturers are focused on investing in their people to build internal skills, alongside adopting technology and building longer-term partnerships with external specialists.”
The operational effects of the skills gap are already visible. Rubix says 22% of respondents report that maintenance and repairs now take longer to complete, with planned maintenance delayed or skipped, while 19% say problems are being identified later because of reduced expertise on the shop floor.
Delayed maintenance quickly becomes a production risk when fewer experienced people are available to spot early faults, plan interventions, and keep routine work from becoming reactive repair. The research points to a sector trying to balance immediate uptime protection with longer-term capability building, rather than treating labour shortages as a standalone HR issue.
Rubix’s white paper sets out five areas for manufacturers to address: upskilling existing workers, reducing operational complexity, streamlining decisions, blending in-house and external support, and using connected data, AI, and automation more effectively. The full findings and white paper are available through the Rubix Uptime Index.
