World-class Maintenance, a guide

So, the world-class maintenance ideas are:

• Amorphous
• Not real, but they can have real benefits
• Can create an opening for action
• Can lead to the development of people and their organisations
• Ultimately, they are ambitious
• By the way, if someone claims that you can achieve world class with their help, you are guaranteed to be amazed.

World-class maintenance asks us to answer the question "how can we best support our organisation's mission, vision and values"? Ultimately, this should be a cultural conversation, not an operational one.

My take on the characteristics of what I think a world-class maintenance environment would include:

• Not harming employees, communities and the environment
• Actively managing risks
• Managing assets only if they continue to deliver value
• Not wasting anything

Today's best companies are committed to the triple bottom line of profit, people and planet. They scrutinise their processes and procedures to achieve their mission with less input from materials, energy and people.

• A new view on Maintenance
  • Maintenance is part of Asset Management
  • Asset Management is the management of assets from "Lust to Dust".
  • When you work on or use an asset, use precision engineering.
  • Reduce all cost inputs: the fewer resources used, the better.
  • The constant need to improve output, yield and quality...
  • All activities are accurately reflected in work orders with sufficient detail.

Maintenance is part of a bigger picture. This conversation starts with the need for some value that the asset provides and ends with the depreciation of the asset and dealing with any remaining liabilities. Maintenance activities are something to think about and plan, but it is not the goal. The goal is to get the value that the asset provides.

• New ways to approach problems
  • Solving your problems permanently
  • Willingness to conduct controlled experiments
  • Spend 1% of your effort on improving, not just fixing!

Get better, improve, evolve is the name of the game in life. In business, evolve or die!

There are many ways to take care of assets. Find the ones that work for your organisation depending on its operational needs and develop them. Someone else's solution may even be dangerous for you.

• Benchmarking: data dominate
  • Why? To measure continuous improvement
  • Willingness to use advanced tools in statistics, finance and accounting for maintenance analysis.
  • Willingness to try out AI and advanced analytics in maintenance analysis.
  • Another way of saying: goodbye patchwork, hello analytics-driven maintenance.

We need to use all the tools we can adapt to achieve our mission. I have never met a trader who did not want to try a new tool. In management, we need to capture our fear of new tools (especially those we don't fully understand) and embrace our ignorance and learn.

• Always: Focus on customer service or focus on adding value to the customer. Encourage the customer to participate in maintenance

There is one reason to maintain an asset. That is to give the organisation some value. Our customer generally provides the mission, and we provide our customer with the assets to deliver that mission. There is nothing else!

• People are the key: The right people in the right jobs with the right competency
  • Teams have different points of view can see defects and solutions from different angles.
  • Continuous cross-fertilisation
  • Attachment to people rather than technology
  • Every other option is considered before dismissal.

Companies are built on people. As you move up the hierarchy, you face fewer technical problems and more people problems. The right people with the right competence in the right positions is all you can do to get the job done.

The goal: The organisation's mission is achieved. Powerful self-motivated staff and excellent execution of maintenance, well-supported customers.

Essential question: Is your business ready? If not, your organisation will be eaten by someone who is!

Door Joel Levitt
www.maintenancetraining.com