The survey investigated maintenance practices within the food and beverage, power, infrastructure and utilities, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors. According to the findings, more than 85 percent of the respondents agreed that preventive maintenance increases production and operations capacity, with almost two-thirds reporting that preventive maintenance gives them a competitive advantage.

"These findings suggest disparity between the value of preventive maintenance and the actual commitment of sufficient resources to these needs," said Brian Dunks, enterprise asset management industry solutions director at Intentia. "As a result, many businesses are failing to take advantage of one of the few remaining untapped areas that can directly benefit bottom line performance."