Ask a Plant Manager: Rethinking maintenance budgets, backlogs and spare parts
Welcome to Ask a Plant Manager: Maintenance Mythbusters, the series where we put common maintenance and reliability assumptions to the test. Join Plant Services columnist and retired plant manager Joe Kuhn as he tackles the questions, rules of thumb and conventional wisdom that plant managers and maintenance leaders encounter every day. You'll get practical, straight-talking advice on what holds up in the real world—and what is a false reality or at least deserves a second look.
In this episode, Joe Kuhn puts common maintenance wisdom to the test with five scenarios drawn from the kinds of debates that happen in plant conference rooms every day. Plant Services Chief Editor Anna Townshend has plenty of trick questions to reveal why maintenance decisions rarely have a simple right-or-wrong answer. Topics tackled in this episode: budgets, OEM recommendations, backlogs, spare parts and plant shutdowns.
About the Author
Joe KuhnJoe Kuhn
CMRP
Joe Kuhn, CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel, which offers content on creating a reliability culture as well as financial independence to help you retire early. Contact Joe Kuhn at [email protected].
Anna TownshendAnna Townshend
head of content
Anna Townshend is the chief editor and head of content for Plant Services. She has been a journalist and editor for more than 20 years and joined Plant Services and Control Design as managing editor in June 2020. Previously, for more than 10 years, she was the chief editor of Marina Dock Age and International Dredging Review. In addition to writing and editing thousands of articles in her career, she has been an active speaker on industry panels and presentations, as well as host for Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. Email her at [email protected].