Sustainability perceptions towards digitalization of maintenance services – A survey

Digital maintenance has the potential to leverage data and advanced analytics to forecast, prevent, diagnose, and rectify equipment problems. To better fulfill the maintenance objective, digital maintenance combines traditional maintenance functionalities with modern digital tools and techniques. It also serves as a sustainable and strategic component for achieving several corporate goals, including profitability and overall business performance. Despite the immense value of sustainable digital maintenance, only a few industries have adopted and started using it. Early adopters benefited greatly from the early and widespread transformation of their maintenance and reliability functions. However, adoption remains oppressive for most organizations. This survey focuses on maintenance users and their company's beliefs in the transformation of sustainable digital maintenance services by establishing a technology acceptance model and exploring different intent factors. According to the results and analysis, experienced users have a strong and positive attitude towards the adoption of sustainable digital maintenance. They feel hesitant towards their immediate use due to their non-readiness and the lack of facilitating conditions such as the resources and knowledge required for it. Additionally, digital maintenance services must be sustainable, with a prime focus on the environment, economy, and safety.