August 11, 2025 Overuse Hits Manufacturing Hard – Can Tech Save It?

As consumer demand grows, facilities must turn to proactive solutions to avoid overuse, reduce risk, and keep operations running smoothly.

By Bill Kilbey, Chief Reliability Engineer Officer at Waites

From one-click checkouts to next-day delivery, modern-day consumers are acclimated to limitless online storefronts that make shopping quick and convenient. And they’re spending accordingly. Research shows that global consumer spending is forecast to reach $63.80 trillion in 2025, up nearly 6% ($3.2 trillion) from 2024. But behind every instant purchase from Amazon, eBay, and the trending TikTok Shop, there’s a facility running at full throttle, churning out products at breakneck speed to keep up.

While increased demand means increased profit for organizations, the pressure on manufacturers and distributors could soon become insurmountable as consumption outpaces itself year after year. With overworked machines, ballooning costs, and unsustainable practices, the race to meet consumer appetite could end in catastrophe if facility managers don’t implement modern-day solutions – and soon.

Consumption patterns show no sign of slowing down. To stay ahead of the curve, facilities need to proactively deploy technology that prevents resource depletion, machine overwork, and other unsustainable practices.

Reliability Built for the Rush

Over the past decade, technological advancements and artificial intelligence (AI) have been revolutionizing a strategy for monitoring and supporting machine health, known as predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance leverages sensors, machine data, and AI to identify abnormalities before catastrophic failures cause costly downtime. While maintenance technicians used to check machines on a fixed schedule, oftentimes leaving them unsupervised for weeks at a time, predictive maintenance allows for full-time monitoring and instant alerts when issues arise. Wireless sensors paired with AI monitor metrics like temperature and vibration in near real-time, alerting maintenance teams to signs of failure and providing prescriptive repair insights.

However, technology alone isn’t enough. Human analysts remain essential, interpreting AI-generated data, validating findings, and applying expert judgment to determine the most appropriate actions. This blend of advanced technology and human expertise ensures optimal decision-making for maintenance teams.

As manufacturers and distributors adapt to higher volumes of work stemming from increased consumption, predictive maintenance stands out as a solution for maintaining maximum uptime and optimizing equipment performance, minimizing undue expenses, and preventing waste. These benefits are becoming mission-critical as modern-day industry demands make every minute and every product count.

Predictive Maintenance for Optimizing Equipment Performance

With increased production rates, operators extend work hours and run machines faster than ever. In the short run, many businesses are welcoming the added revenue, but in the long run, the additional wear and tear on machinery could prove detrimental and expensive. In manufacturing, the average loss due to downtime is around $125,000 per hour, and for automakers and some other industries, a single hour of downtime can cost up to $2.3 million. As demand causes machines to deteriorate rapidly, downtime grows more frequent and expensive, particularly as manufacturers boost hourly output and revenue.

With the strategic deployment of predictive maintenance technology, facility managers can prevent critical breakdowns before they happen, saving time and money while ensuring all production demands are met. As machine overuse becomes more mainstream, it’s never been more important to maintain even the simplest machine upkeep strategies.

Most alerts generated by predictive maintenance technology flag first-stage failure indicators that can be fixed with basic lubrication, alignment, or tightening. This real-time insight helps maintenance technicians be near-perfect in their servicing, ensuring machine durability that extends lifespans even when today’s consumption patterns require expedited production.

Predictive Maintenance for Minimizing Undue Expenses

The expectation for rapid distribution is also putting many industry professionals in high-stress situations, environments that distract them from things like product quality and inventory management. As a result, manufacturers are incurring expenses that are entirely avoidable with the right technology.

When machines are used beyond their recommended capacity to meet intense output requirements, there’s a higher likelihood of wear and tear, overheating, or other premature failures, which can result in subpar production and output defects. Companies now incur extra costs for reworks, repairs, and refunds. The key to flawless production is to make sure machines are running correctly at all times, which is exactly what facility managers can do when leveraging predictive maintenance solutions. With data-driven insights, technicians can make repairs or adjustments as soon as something is wrong, significantly reducing the number of product defects and added expenses the company has to bear.

With increased machine use, frequent breakdowns, and shorter lifespans, facility managers often maintain excessive spare parts inventories to be prepared. But the need to optimize spare parts inventory comes with an exorbitant price tag. Instead of shouldering high inventory carrying costs, predictive maintenance takes the guesswork out of order forecasting. With real-time data from sensors, facility managers know exactly when specific parts will be needed, allowing for a repair reserve that is exactly what the plant needs – never more and never less.

Predictive Maintenance for Reducing Waste

Another unforeseen expense of production overdrive is waste, as operators use unprecedented amounts of energy and resources. While the consequences of this overuse may not be glaringly apparent, businesses are bearing the burden of unsustainable practices. With increased operational costs and reduced profitability, plus the possibility of reputational damage and penalties for failing to meet regulatory standards, waste can be detrimental to business margins.

Faulty machines, such as those with worn motors or loose connections, consume excess energy by working harder to function properly. As energy usage creeps up, so do energy bills, resulting in even more expenses and decreased profitability. With these looming repercussions, it is no longer enough to have maintenance technicians checking machines every few weeks. Machine health needs to be monitored continuously to cut back on costs amid increased demand. Predictive maintenance is an easy-to-use, comprehensive solution that makes it possible to do just that.

As mentioned before, increasing manufacturing workloads can lead to product defects and more machinery repairs, which needlessly deplete raw materials for something that will ultimately end up as scrap. With predictive maintenance insights, data-driven resource allocation, and extended equipment lifespans, facility managers can ensure no resource is going to waste, a critical factor in times of increased demand.

Stay Ahead and Stay Competitive

As global consumption rapidly accelerates, manufacturers and distributors are being pushed to their limits. To keep up with relentless demands without sacrificing profitability, quality, and sustainability, operations need advanced technological solutions. Predictive maintenance offers a powerful, future-proof strategy that goes beyond fixing what’s broken. Leveraging cutting-edge sensor data, predictive maintenance prevents failures, optimizes performance, and controls unnecessary costs as facilities adjust to evolving demands. Today, speed is critical to manufacturing success. By deploying a predictive maintenance strategy, facilities won’t just survive the rush; they’ll thrive and prosper.

About the Author:
Bill Kilbey serves as Chief Reliability Officer at Waites Sensor Technologies and was an original designer of the Waites hardware and software. His maintenance and reliability career began in the United States submarine force in the 1980s. He has worked in various industries as a field service engineer conducting vibration analysis and corrective actions of industrial machinery. As a visionary and thought leader in the remote monitoring space, Bill has helped the maintenance reliability community move forward at a fast pace.

Subscribe to Industry Today