HELSINKI, February 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

EuroMaintenance 2014 will bring the latest know-how in industrial maintenance and production equipment management to Helsinki from the 5^th to the 8^th of May. The event will feature over a hundred speakers and exhibitors from over 30 countries. The combination of an expo and a congress makes EuroMaintenance one of the key events in Europe in the field of maintenance.

The congress will feature presentations from representatives from both international companies and the science community, discussing the role of maintenance in managing the effects of the European recession and developing industrial productivity.

"Maintenance is becoming an increasingly important success factor for companies. The EuroMaintenance Congress will provide attendees with a tight package of unique information based on the latest research and experience," says Göran Westerholm, President of the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies.

Current topics in the field include the utilisation of ICT, the productisation of services, and the functionality of networks. Also ensuring the functionality of an ageing equipment base presents a clear challenge to maintenance.

"In an optimal situation, equipment lasts and functions safely throughout its planned lifecycle. When maintenance can guarantee this, it presents a significant competitive factor to a company," says one of the speakers of the congress, Senior Scientist Teuvo Uusitalo from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Maintenance more and more often outsourced to a partner

Tommi Kajasoja, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at the Maintpartner Group, emphasises that maintenance is a service sector that requires a high level of expertise. The productisation of services and openness are the buzzwords of the sector.

"A company acquiring maintenance services should know what they are buying and what kind of added value the service will provide".

"When maintenance is outsourced, network-based operation increases. An individual company usually cannot solve alone, for example, all the sustainable development requirements it faces", says Uusitalo.

Keeping networks running smoothly requires systematic planning and interaction.

At the congress, Uusitalo will be talking about an EU-funded research project headed by VTT, entitled "Sustainable value creation in manufacturing networks". The project has developed methods for promoting the sustainability of companies' network-based operations, which provide means of managing networks, ideas for the development of business models, models for planning products and services and tools for measuring performance.

The method development of the research project was carried out in cooperation with international companies: Fidia (Italy), Claas (Germany), Riversimple (UK), and Elcon Solutions (Finland).

From the 6^th to the 8^th of May, Messukeskus will serve as a venue for metal and engineering, and welding and surface treatment expos FinnTec, ToolTec, JoinTec and Pinta.

http://www.euromaintenance2014.org

Contact information:

- Jutta Kainua, Expomark/ EuroMaintenance 2014, tel. +358-40-7014184, jutta.kainua@expomark.fi

- Elisa Numminen, Finnish Maintenance Society Promaint/ EuroMaintenance 2014 Congress, tel. +358 40 7014185, elisa.numminen@kunnossapito.fi

- Tommi Kajasoja, Maintpartner Group, tel. +358-46-8515963, tommi.kajasoja@maintpartner.com

- Teuvo Uusitalo, VTT, tel. +358-40-8356643, Teuvo.Uusitalo@vtt.fi

- Göran Westerholm, EFNMS, tel. +358-400-876096, goran.westerholm@kotikontu.fi

SOURCE EuroMaintenance 2014 Congress and Expo