(ATS: Peoria, Illinois) – For manufacturing leaders and plant managers to be progressive, it’s important to extend the performance of production assets. According to a survey by Advanced Technology Services Inc. (ATS) conducted with Nielsen Research, a majority say they would outsource noncore functions, specifically, the maintenance of their production machinery and assets, to bolster against recession.

“Companies are being forced to reexamine how they're doing things to gain more efficiency from their manufacturing assets during this recession,” says Jeffrey Owens, president of ATS. “Outsourcing the care and service of their most valuable assets enables them to improve productivity, reduce costs, and ultimately extend the life of those assets.”

In the survey of 100 U.S. senior manufacturing executives, including CEOs, CIOs, vice presidents, and plant managers, two-thirds said they would outsource maintenance as a hedge against a downturn in the economy.

The plant asset maintenance market, dedicated to the care and keeping of these assets, is sized at $124 billion and growing, according to analyst firm Frost and Sullivan. Strategic factory maintenance has become an imperative when access to credit is tight, new orders are down, and businesses must put off making new capital purchases.

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