Maintenance engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on the optimization of equipment, procedures and budgets to achieve better maintainability, system reliability and equipment availability. It also allows defining control strategies and improving processes within the company in a complementary or independent way.[1]​[2]​.

Maintenance is usually defined as the set of techniques aimed at keeping industrial equipment and facilities in service for as long as possible (seeking the highest availability) and with maximum performance.[3]​ Maintenance engineering is increasingly important due to the growing demand for equipment, systems, machinery and infrastructure. Since the industrial revolution, many devices, equipment, machinery and structures have become more complex, which is why more personnel and technological equipment are needed to carry out maintenance tasks.[1]​.

Throughout the industrial process experienced since the end of the century, the maintenance function has gone through different stages. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, the operators themselves were in charge of repairing the equipment. When the machines became more complex and the dedication to repair tasks increased, the first maintenance departments began to be created, with an activity differentiated from the production operators. The tasks in these two periods were basically corrective, dedicating all their efforts to solving the failures that occurred in the equipment. After the First World War, the Second and especially after going through a serious energy crisis in 1973, the concept of reliability began to be conceived. Aviation and the automobile industry lead this new trend. New work methods are developed that advance maintenance techniques in several aspects:

Maintenance engineering is fundamental within manufacturing and product development activities, as well as in the management of operations, availability and safety. Maintenance is related to the entire operational process, procedures and planning that allow optimal accessibility in relation to all devices, equipment and elements in a production plant. It is used in a variety of industrial sectors such as the production or treatment of materials such as steel or semiconductors, in the hydrocarbon sector such as oil and gas and in others such as the automotive industry.[4][5][6]​.