This article is based on insights shared by Lisa Pansing, Strategic Enterprise Account Executive at Fluke Reliability, during her session “Standardization + Automation: Training and Retention in the Workforce” at Xcelerate 2025.

The maintenance industry is changing rapidly. As industrial equipment becomes more connected and sophisticated, maintenance teams are increasingly relying on automation, data, artificial intelligence and condition monitoring to improve reliability and reduce downtime.

At the same time, organizations face another challenge: developing and retaining skilled maintenance professionals.

Experienced technicians are retiring, younger professionals are entering the industry, and organizations must find better ways to transfer practical knowledge while preparing employees to work with increasingly digital technologies.

This raises an important question:

How can organizations adopt new technology without losing the human expertise that makes effective maintenance possible?

According to Lisa Pansing, the answer lies in finding the right balance between standardization, automation and human expertise.

“Automation and standardization don’t replace experience — they amplify it.”

When implemented correctly, these technologies can make maintenance processes more consistent, improve training, support better decision-making and give technicians more opportunities to focus on higher-value work.

The Changing Maintenance Workforce

For many years, maintenance expertise was primarily developed through hands-on experience. New technicians learned by working alongside experienced professionals, observing equipment behaviour and gradually developing their troubleshooting skills.

That practical experience remains extremely valuable. However, today's maintenance environment requires a broader range of technical capabilities.

Modern technicians may need to understand condition monitoring, vibration analysis, industrial IoT, data analytics, automation, robotics and AI alongside traditional mechanical and electrical skills.

As a result, maintenance training must evolve.

Digital learning, simulations and virtual training can provide technicians with faster access to knowledge and allow organizations to deliver consistent training across multiple locations. However, technology should complement—not replace—hands-on experience and mentorship.

The strongest approach combines both.

Why Standardization Matters

Standardization provides the foundation for consistent maintenance.

Clear procedures help technicians understand how equipment should be inspected, how measurements should be taken, how faults should be documented and when corrective action should be initiated.

For organizations operating across multiple facilities, this consistency becomes particularly important. Without standardized processes, different technicians may approach the same maintenance task in completely different ways, making performance difficult to measure and improve.

Standardization also makes training easier. New employees can learn an established process and then build their practical knowledge around it.

However, standardization should not become so rigid that it prevents technicians from applying professional judgment.

An experienced technician may notice an unusual vibration, sound or operating condition that does not fit neatly into a standard procedure. Organizations must therefore create an environment where employees can raise concerns and contribute their experience.

Standardization should create a framework for good decisions—not eliminate human judgment.

Automation Can Improve Learning and Retention

Automation is often associated with productivity, but its benefits extend beyond simply completing tasks faster.

By automating repetitive inspection and monitoring activities, organizations can give technicians more time to focus on analysis, troubleshooting and improvement.

Consider condition monitoring. Instead of manually inspecting equipment at fixed intervals, sensors and monitoring technologies can continuously collect information about asset condition.

This allows maintenance teams to identify changes in equipment behaviour earlier and make better-informed decisions.

For example, vibration monitoring can help identify developing problems in rotating equipment before they result in a major failure. Instead of waiting for equipment to break down, technicians can investigate the condition, plan the necessary intervention and schedule maintenance at an appropriate time.

This changes the technician's role from simply reacting to failures to actively managing equipment health.

The Role of AI and Data

Industrial organizations are generating more equipment data than ever before. The challenge is no longer simply collecting data; it is understanding what that data means.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help maintenance teams analyse large volumes of information, identify patterns and detect anomalies that may otherwise be difficult to recognize.

This creates an opportunity to move from:

Data → Information → Insight → Action

For example, an intelligent monitoring system may identify a gradual change in the vibration behaviour of a machine. Rather than waiting for the equipment to fail, the maintenance team can investigate the developing issue and determine the appropriate response.

AI does not eliminate the need for maintenance professionals.

Instead, it gives them better information with which to make decisions.

The technician still needs to consider the equipment's operating environment, maintenance history, safety implications and business impact.

Combining Digital Training With Experience

Technology can make training more accessible, but practical experience remains essential.

A technician can learn the theory behind vibration analysis through an online course or simulation, but understanding how that information applies to a real machine requires practical exposure.

This is why a blended approach to training is becoming increasingly important.

Digital training can provide:

• Flexible and accessible learning
• Consistent training materials
• Simulations and interactive learning
• Progress tracking
• Self-paced development

Human mentorship provides:

• Practical experience
• Troubleshooting skills
• Professional judgment
• Equipment-specific knowledge
• Real-world problem-solving

Combining both approaches allows organizations to develop technicians who are comfortable with modern technology while still benefiting from the experience of established professionals.

Protecting Institutional Knowledge

One of the biggest challenges facing the maintenance industry is the loss of institutional knowledge.

When an experienced technician retires, an organization may lose decades of knowledge about specific equipment, common failures, troubleshooting techniques and lessons learned.

Digital technologies can help capture some of this knowledge.

Maintenance records, equipment histories, inspection results and condition monitoring data can create a valuable information base that future technicians can use.

This does not replace mentorship, but it helps ensure that important knowledge is not lost.

Younger technicians can then combine this information with modern analytical tools to develop their own expertise.

Building a Future-Ready Maintenance Team

Organizations looking to modernize their maintenance operations should focus on several key areas:

1. Standardize critical processes
Create consistent procedures for inspection, testing, reporting and maintenance.

2. Invest in continuous training
Give technicians opportunities to develop both technical and digital skills.

3. Use condition monitoring strategically
Focus monitoring technologies on critical assets where failures could have significant operational consequences.

4. Introduce automation thoughtfully
Automate repetitive activities where doing so creates measurable value, while keeping skilled professionals involved in decision-making.

5. Capture knowledge
Document equipment history, maintenance findings and lessons learned.

6. Encourage collaboration between generations
Create opportunities for experienced technicians and younger professionals to learn from each other.

The Future Is Human and Digital

The future of maintenance will not be defined by technology alone.

AI, automation, condition monitoring and digital training will continue to transform how maintenance teams operate, but human expertise will remain essential.

Technology can collect data, identify patterns and highlight potential problems.

People turn those insights into decisions.

The most successful organizations will therefore be those that do not view automation as a replacement for their workforce. Instead, they will use technology to remove repetitive tasks, improve access to information, accelerate learning and allow technicians to concentrate on more complex and valuable work.

Ultimately, standardization creates consistency, automation creates efficiency, data creates visibility and human expertise creates understanding.

When these elements work together, organizations can build maintenance teams that are better equipped to reduce downtime, improve reliability, develop their people and adapt to the future of industrial operations.

Key Takeaways

• Standardization creates consistency across maintenance teams and locations.
• Automation reduces repetitive work and allows technicians to focus on higher-value activities.
• AI and data analytics can improve fault detection and decision-making.
• Condition monitoring supports proactive and predictive maintenance.
• Blended training combines digital learning with practical experience.
• Knowledge transfer is essential as experienced technicians leave the workforce.
• Technology should support human expertise—not replace it.