• Enewsletters
  • Webinars
  • eHandbooks
  • Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast
  • Home >
  • Voices

    • Palmer's Planning Corner

    Palmer’s Planning Corner is a monthly column exploring the productivity piece of maintenance. Planning and scheduling allows a plant to complete extra proactive work even when it has its hands full with reactive work. Plant Services Contributing Editor Doc Palmer explains different principles and issues each month to make successful what should be a rewarding endeavor for maintenance.

    Featured Article

    Proper planning and scheduling requires an adult mindset
    Planning and Scheduling

    Proper planning and scheduling requires an adult mindset

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer argues that it can even root out childish behaviors among both work teams and managers.
    Why proactive work dies in the backlog and how to fix it
    Planning and Scheduling

    Why proactive work dies in the backlog and how to fix it

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer wonders whether your maintenance staff is sized for firefighting or for profitability.
    2023 industry wrap-up: The best of Palmer’s Planning Corner
    Palmer's Planning Corner

    2023 industry wrap-up: The best of Palmer’s Planning Corner

    In this year-end wrap-up, we shine a light on Doc Palmer's best articles of the past 12 months.
    Build A Workflow Process That Helps You Better Manage Your Maintenance Teams
    Planning and Scheduling

    Build a workflow process that helps you better manage your maintenance team

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says individual work orders are key so managers can help keep things on track, especially emergency work.
    Why The Most Common Maintenance Planning Kpi Is Hurting Your Department
    Planning and Scheduling

    Why the most common maintenance planning KPI is hurting your department

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says hyper-accurate labor estimating gets in the way of both completed work and higher quality work.
    Kp Is That Count How And Why To Measure Planned Coverage
    Planning and Scheduling

    KPIs that count: How and why to measure planned coverage

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says it’s a useful metric but is a lagging indicator that depends on how “planned jobs” are defined and managed.
    Is It Okay To Break The Weekly Maintenance Schedule
    Planning and Scheduling

    Is it okay to break the weekly maintenance schedule?

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says schedule compliance is really a window into opportunities for improvement, and not just a reason to blame the supervisor.
    How To Take Control Of Maintenance Planning And Scheduling
    Planning and Scheduling

    How to take control of maintenance planning and scheduling

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says the keys to controlling planning and scheduling are people-related.
    Make Maintenance Your Competitive Advantage To Take Your Company From Good To Great
    Planning and Scheduling

    Make maintenance your competitive advantage to take your company from good to great

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says maintenance is not a necessary evil. It is an investment in production.
    How Proper Planning And Scheduling Complement (not Replace) Craft Skills
    Planning and Scheduling

    How proper planning and scheduling complement (not replace) craft skills

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says the unusual principles of planning and scheduling can take some culture adjustment, but will quickly increase job execution.
    Reactive And Proactive
    Planning and Scheduling

    How to do planning and scheduling with reactive work

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says Reactive maintenance that isn’t an emergency will benefit from a quick plan and a day or weeks head start.
    Productivity Schedule
    Planning and Scheduling

    Improve plant productivity with schedule success

    Doc Palmer says maintenance workers will get more work done when loaded with a full schedule and the flexibility to break it.
    maintenance-management
    Planning and Scheduling

    Why micromanaging your plant's daily scheduling doesn’t work

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says a daily schedule will focus that day’s work, but supervisors need the flexibility to react to unplanned work.
    filled-schedule
    Planning and Scheduling

    Why a filled schedule frightens plant supervisors

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says frontline supervisors are the key to accepting that it's okay to break a fully loaded schedule.
    planning-scheduling-calendar
    Planning and Scheduling

    Planning a fully loaded weekly schedule at your plant

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says planned work should do more than keep crews busy; 100% schedule loading gets more work done.
    weekly-schedule
    Planning and Scheduling

    Why a weekly schedule is the right timeframe for productivity

    Doc Palmer
    With the upcoming week’s worth of planned jobs, Doc Palmer says bundle in backlog work orders in the same area.
    priority-system
    Planning and Scheduling

    Implementing a priority system to create and maintain a profitable plant

    Doc Palmer
    Doc Palmer says accurate work order prioritization will show defects in maintenance and help measure planning time.
    EV battery manufacturer fined $77K after workers suffer respiratory damage in lithium battery fire 
    Samsung to receive $6.4 billion from the CHIPS and Science Act to establish semiconductor ecosystem in Texas 
    Beyond the compressor room The business of compressed air
    Podcast: Factors to consider when choosing a compressed air service provider
    Manufacturing in space, the final frontier 
    Podcast: Deploying generative AI on the plant floor