Since the Industrial Revolution, devices, equipment, machinery and structures have grown increasingly complex, requiring a host of personnel, vocations and related systems needed to maintain them.
[1] Prior to 2006, the United States spent approximately US$300 billion annually on plant maintenance and operations alone.
A maintenance engineer should possess significant knowledge of statistics, probability, and logistics, and in the fundamentals of the operation of the equipment and machinery he or she is responsible for.
A maintenance engineer should also possess high interpersonal, communication, and management skills, as well as the ability to make decisions quickly.
Typical responsibilities include:[2][3] Institutions across the world have recognised the need for maintenance engineering.