Maintenance Management Legends (part 1)

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7

Torbjorn Idhammar IDCON - Maintenance consultants
Posted 11-01-04

There are many paradigms and legends surrounding maintenance management in plants. Often, the legends are known to be untrue, but people live with them because it is politically correct, or simply convenient. To be successful in improving equipment reliability and maintenance management, plants must break the legends that exist in their organizations. Some of the legends will be addressed in this article. You may find that these legends are uncomfortably close to describing how your plant operates.

Legend 1: Maintenance cost must be reduced quickly

Plants should reduce maintenance cost. But there are many variables that can be affected by lowering the maintenance budget. It is therefore important to consider how the cost cut is implemented.

Most of us can cut maintenance costs in any plant in the world very quickly by 40%. We simply get rid of some people and stop doing certain maintenance jobs. If you get the opportunity to take a job like this, don't plan on staying more than a year. The consequences of short-term maintenance management will most likely be devastating to the total cost, and problems will start to show after a year or two due to ill-maintained assets.

Mandating a plant to lower maintenance costs quickly can be compared to asking a hockey team to increase the average number of goals per game from two goals to four without any coaching or guidance. The team can most likely produce four goals per game, if no other variables are considered. Obviously, we want the hockey team to win, not just score four goals per game. There is a balance between goals scored and goals given up. It is a mystery why many plants don't pick up on this simple concept of balance. It is not uncommon to see an organization completely focused on cost without considering the total picture.

If we lower the maintenance budget and don't change other aspects of the business practice, the results will most likely be very poor.

Changes in maintenance cost are inter-related to product quality and production output. A reduction in maintenance cost will not lead to improved quality and production output. But an improvement in equipment reliability will most likely improve production output and quality. Improved quality and production output will reduce maintenance cost.

Maintenance cost cannot be reduced quickly because it takes time to improve equipment reliability. Improved reliability will reduce cost, but reduced cost will not improve reliability.

to be continued....