Mtce Mgmt Tips

Home
Up
Feedback
Contents
Search

RCA Tips RCM Tips Planning Tips PM Tips Mtce Mgmt Tips MRO Tips PdM Tips


Up

Acknowledgement

These tips are used by permission and originally appeared in Maintenance-Tips, a Reliabilityweb.com newsletter.  Request a free subscription here: http://www.reliabilityweb.com/newsletter.htm

 

Tip 8 - Advanced tools will not provide full benefit unless the foundational processes are sound

Many organisations devote significant resources to implement the latest “three-letter acronym” tools before they are ready, and are surprised when they do not achieve the planned results.  Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) cannot yield anticipated cost savings because the organisation cannot implement the new tasks.  Predictive maintenance (PdM) finds equipment problems in the early stage of degradation, but the workforce is consumed with “fix it now” emergent work and cannot make repairs before failure occurs.  Autonomous maintenance, one of the pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), falls flat because the maintenance workforce is overloaded and cannot respond to the problems that operators detect.  A “Just in Time” (JIT) parts ordering process cannot function until a there is low demand for emergency parts and a good inventory control system is in place.

Much like building a house, the foundation must be completed before the walls go up or the building will not stand. Foundational elements for Maintenance include a complete set of “master data” and sound processes to control the work that gets done.  Master data includes a complete list of all plant equipment that is ranked according to criticality and a thorough spare parts catalogue of both stocked and non-stock spare parts.  Work control processes include a well-conceived Work Order system (including effective Planning and Scheduling), a sound process for conducting basic maintenance (including a good lubrication program), and a fully functional inventory control system.  These foundational elements will allow you to get control of both the work that has to be done and the condition of the equipment, enabling the advanced concepts to achieve their potential.

Tip provided by Bruce Hawkins
MRG
http://www.mrginc.net

 

You have to have procedures for performing maintenance

When one considers the wide variety of equipment encountered in the average industrial facility and the variety of tasks performed on that equipment, it is surprising to realise that, in most organisations, few procedures exist for maintenance and repair.  Most organisations depend on “skill of the craft”, memory, or (even worse) an “educated guess” to determine the technical details required, such as clearances, torque values, tolerances, belt tensions, and the like.

Studies have shown that a high percentage of “infant mortality” failures occur in the absence of detailed written procedures.  Equipment does not perform to standard or experiences a failure soon after startup.  These can only be due to mistakes and errors made during maintenance or repair.  These errors are not the craftsperson’s fault; failing to provide the necessary resources to enable quality work to be done is the fault of management.  Even the most talented craftsperson does not have an infallible memory!

Ideally, maintenance procedures should be developed by the Planning function.  In creating these procedures, it is natural to want to avoid inserting too much detail to avoid “insulting” the craftsperson’s intelligence.  Rest assured that it is not an insult to make technical specification details available, nor is it an insult to spell out the proper steps to complete the job in the most expeditious fashion.  In fact, the vast majority of crafts people would appreciate having the information available to do the job right the first time!

Tip provided by Bruce Hawkins
MRG
http://www.mrginc.net

Proper planning of maintenance work will provide you with free labour.

Statistical work sampling studies show that the BEST productivity (hands-on-tools-time) you can expect without planning is around 35%. Most reactive organisations are lower than that. The remaining 65% of the craftsperson’s day is spent trying to find parts, looking for technical information, talking to Operations to see what’s wrong with the equipment, and other non-productive activities. If you have 20 people in your crew, they are doing the equivalent work of 7 people at 100% productivity. In essence, you’re paying for 13 people who aren’t adding value to your organisation.

Some productivity loss is unavoidable; planning the work in advance will eliminate the avoidable delays. With good planning, you can expect a workforce productivity of 55% or better. That’s a 57% improvement in the amount of work your crew can do in a day. Do the math; your 20-person workforce can now do the work of 11 people at 100% productivity. You just added the equivalent of four people to your workforce - at no additional cost! In addition, your workforce is less frustrated because they have what they need to do a quality job. (Palmer, Richard D., 1999, Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New York, pages 2.31 - 2.32.)

Planning also provides other benefits. Since the planning function is so integrated into the work management process, it provides the “glue” that holds it together and ensures that it functions properly. Planners also provide a “quality assurance” function to make sure that the data in your system is accurate and meaningful. Considering these benefits, a good planner can be one of the most valuable members of your organisation!

Tip provided by Management Resources Group, Inc.
203.264.0500 x136
http://www.mrginc.net

The Weakest Link

 by Bill Brinkley AP / IA / ASQ
Manager of Reliability and Development
USAirways Express

What is the weakest, most unreliable, least dependable part of any system or process? If you said the human that is operating it or maintaining it, you would be correct. Human Factors is a buzz word in industry these days, but it has been around in the airline world for a long while now. We have special classes on Human Factors – how to recognize them, and how to defend against them. It is something that we take quite seriously, and perhaps you should also.

There are twelve recognized human factors. The “Dirty Dozen” as they are commonly called. They are:

  1. Lack of Communication

    Communication can be verbal, written or a combination of the two. With a lack of effective communication, maintenance operations will not function safely and efficiently.

  2. Complacency

    Complacency is the result of constant repetition of maintenance inspections or procedures. It is the false sense of security that occurs after long periods without encountering errors or defects.

  3. Lack of Knowledge

    Lack of knowledge is not all that uncommon with the changes that are constantly taking place.

  4. Distraction

    This cause is thought to be responsible for about 15% of all maintenance errors. One leaves a task, (both physically and / or mentally), for any reason and returns thinking that they are further along with the task then they actually are.

  5. Lack of Teamwork

    This cause is often tied to lack of communication and can be responsible for major errors. With maintenance often involving multitudes of workers, good teamwork becomes essential.

  6. Fatigue

    Fatigue is very dangerous because, until it becomes extreme, the person is usually unaware that they are fatigued. They are even less aware of what the effects of fatigue are.

  7. Lack of Resources

    There are times when there may be a lack of resources and a decision must be made between putting the job on hold or figuring out an alternate way to continue.

  8. Pressure

    Most industries have constant pressure to see tasks completed. The secret to not allowing pressure to become a factor is the ability to recognize when the pressure becomes excessive or unrealistic.

  9. Lack of Assertiveness

    Maintenance personnel are not normally faced with situations that require them to be assertive. However, there may be a time when something is not right and they will have to be assertive to ensure that a problem is not overlooked.

  10. Stress

    Stress is a normal part of everyday life until it becomes excessive. The secret to effectively dealing with stress is the ability to recognize when it becomes excessive.

  11. Lack of Awareness

    This often occurs to very experienced maintenance personnel who fail to fully think about the possible consequences of the work they are doing. This also includes not being constantly aware of your surroundings.

  12. Norms

    This last factor is a powerful one. Maintenance personnel are inventive types and will develop methods or procedures that may seem to be quicker and more efficient. Deviating from approved procedures may result in problems or failures appearing at a later time. The mere mention of the words “…we’ve always done it that way…” or “…that’s not the way we do it here…” is a clear indicator that a “norm” is in place and thriving.

Each of the “dirty dozen” impacts some part of your operation to some degree or another every single day. Sometimes they are easily recognised and dealt with, but most times they are not. People in general tend to ignore or under estimate their own shortcomings or, worse yet, recognize their shortcomings and continue on anyway.

 

Preventive and predictive maintenance is the most important work you can do.

There is a big difference between “urgent” and “important”.  PM/PdM activities are not urgent, but they are important.  If you defer these tasks because some urgent activity is allowed to take precedence, the consequence will be a failure at some point in the future.  The future failure will very likely cause more PM/PdM to be deferred, resulting in another failure, etc., etc.  It’s a vicious cycle that has no end!

Keeping up with scheduled proactive activities is the only way to break the cycle. You must make PM/PdM work a high priority and make sure the tasks get done according to the schedule. A good way to do this is to populate the weekly work schedule with some portion of low priority work on equipment that does not require a process outage to execute. This is the work you can defer if an emergency occurs. If your schedule contains only high priority work, you will be forced to make a decision to defer something of equal importance. And, if you defer PM/PdM work, your organisation will quickly come to the conclusion that you’re not serious about the proactive maintenance environment.

Another way to show the importance of PM/PdM is to audit the program periodically. Since the routine can get somewhat boring, there is a tendency for crafts people to be “less than diligent” in their execution. However, if the manager spot-checks after a PM has been done and provides prompt feedback if something is amiss, the expectations become very clear. Also, an equipment failure is a great time to audit the PM/PdM activity. One of the first questions that should be asked after an equipment failure is “Why didn’t our PM/PdM program prevent this?”

Tip provided by Management Resources Group, Inc.
203.264.0500
http://www.mrginc.net

The work order system is your best friend.

Your work order system, and the entire work management process, is your most valuable management tool. It allows you to manage the daily work load, manage your resources, and create asset history as well as providing the information that you need to identify opportunities for improvement. However, it’s not much good to you if you don’t have the discipline to follow it. If it’s only partially used, you won’t be able to trust the data collected.

Your process should be mapped in a process flow diagram. This will allow you to show everyone how it’s supposed to work, which is the key to ensuring it’s followed with the right level of discipline. No maintenance work should be allowed to be done without a work order to cover the labour and material costs. By the same token, no inventoried storeroom materials or outside purchased items should be purchased without a work order to capture the costs.

Just as the Production Manager needs a production management system to track production, and the Finance Manager needs an accounting system to track money, the Maintenance Manager needs a work order system to track maintenance. And, like those other critical systems, it should be audited periodically as well. This serves two purposes – it illustrates the value you put on it (which makes it more likely to be followed), and identifies any potential flaws that will require a modification to it’s design.

Tip provided by Management Resources Group, Inc.
203.264.0500
http://www.mrginc.net

Development of an Asset Management Program

The development of any type of asset management program requires a number of specific components. These components include:

The Asset Census.
Most companies don’t know what they own, the objective of an asset census is to determine all equipment, facilities and assets, including personnel.
Critical Equipment List.
Once the company understands the assets that it has available, a Critical Equipment List must be developed. This list should be ordered by such criteria as personnel safety, regulatory impact, production impact, the cost and availability of repairing or replacing the equipment, and other business impacts or direction (i.e.: Equipment cleanliness or appearance).
Maintenance Process Selection.
The maintenance programs, philosophies and hybrids must be selected based upon company needs. These processes are used to develop the maintenance strategies based upon the critical equipment list.
Condition Assessment.
An evaluation and inspection of critical equipment is performed to set baselines and determine condition of critical assets.
Maintenance Effectiveness Review.
A periodic review of the maintenance program and tasks should be performed in order to make optimal adjustments.
Development of Best Practices.
A development of best practices for energy, reliability and maintenance must be developed. These best practices should be presented in the form of processes or procedures. An example would be common procedures for greasing electric motors.

The development of such programs pay for themselves in many ways including profit improvement, improved throughput, reduced inventory (both product and spares) and other competitive advantages.

Tip provided by Howard W Penrose, Ph.D., CMRP
SUCCESS by DESIGN Reliability Services
http://www.motordoc.net


Back ] Next ]

Send mail to mace@macecg.com.au with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2006 MACE Consulting (Aust) Pty Ltd
Last modified: 28 Oct 2008