Efficient Plant May 2018 - 12

feature | maintenance processes

STEP 5, EXECUTION: The maintenance-work

execution step is where skilled craft workers perform

their assigned work. For this part of the process to be

effective, craft workers must have the requisite skills

to execute such assignments.

Maintenance craft workers are a valuable asset and must

be treated as such. This means providing them with on-going

training to keep their skills current with repair best practices and

techniques. It is folly to argue against training personnel for fear they will
become more valuable and seek employment opportunities elsewhere. In

fact, failing to provide requisite training and keeping skills on the low end of

the scale will invariably result in poor performance and ineffective repairs, as
STEP 4, SCHEDULING: The maintenance-

scheduling step is preceded by two key planning
activities. The first is to have planned work in a

well as high levels of costly rework. Lately, this problem has been somewhat
moderated by the global shortage of skilled labor: Organizations have been
forced to invest more to attract and retain skilled craft personnel.

Sub processes associated with work execution include tools and materials.

backlog that can be easily retrieved. The second

Skilled craft workers must have quality tools readily available. Failing to

resources are available for work execution. Once all

extended downtime.

activity is to confirm that all materials and

materials and resources are confirmed, the job can

provide them will hamper the workers and-again-result in inefficiency and
Workers should have their own sets of quality tools, as well as easy access

be scheduled.

to larger tools, such as chain falls, that are disbursed from a tool room. (Note:

through a prioritization process. The prioritization

items to be confirmed and tools reserved.)

Work selected for scheduling is usually done

must be objective, based on business needs, not

Tool rooms should have online capabilities that allow availability of needed

As for the other sub process, the best-designed maintenance work process

on the whims of any individual or group. If the

will fail if quality repair materials are not provided or made readily available.

isn't objective, it will fail. In such circumstances,

sampling involves highly skilled and highly paid maintenance-craft workers

prioritization process and subsequent scheduling
individuals or groups of individuals will make the
decisions that help them personally, rather than
the one that helps the business.

The most common non-value-added activity gleaned from maintenance-work
waiting on, searching for, or delivering repair materials. The root cause of this
problem is usually "control" or misaligned goals and objectives.

The control issue tends to arise when purchasing or storeroom personnel,

The scheduling step includes use of resource-

thinking that they are doing the right thing, exercise undue control over

identifying the resources available by craft for the

volume, low-cost materials, which ultimately adds unnecessary delays to

leveling methodology. Resource leveling begins by
scheduled period. A scheduler then aligns the work

with the available resources to create the optimum
schedule.

Schedule compliance is critical to overall

success. Failing to adhere to the schedule results

materials. A good example is elimination of zone or satellite stores for highwork execution. In such cases, it is not uncommon to find transaction costs
exceeding material costs. It's also not uncommon to find misalignment of

goals and objectives between maintenance departments and purchasing and
or/storeroom organizations.

If a purchasing department is evaluated on price savings alone, it can be

in further inefficiency and unnecessary cost. This

led to make poor decisions such as buying lower-quality materials that fail

in coming up with ways to "game" the schedule.

materials. Addressing these issues may require a senior executive to become

is a tricky area, as people can be very creative

Thus, measuring and, in turn, reporting schedule
compliance is crucial, as is holding individuals
accountable for deviations.

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prematurely or, similarly, failing to understand the lifecycle cost of repair
involved in aligning organizational objectives. Left to their own devices,

departments will naturally lean toward adopting metrics that make them look
good, often at the expense of others or the business.

MAY 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant May 2018