Ask a Plant Manager: When everyone owns reliability, who is accountable?
Welcome to Ask a Plant Manager, the series where we answer the maintenance and reliability questions that manufacturing professionals face every day. If you've been listening to us as a podcast, we're excited to now bring these conversations to video, giving you a front-row seat as we break down real-world challenges with practical advice from retired plant manager Joe Kuhn. Whether you're watching or listening, you'll get straightforward insights to help you improve reliability and lead a stronger maintenance organization.
In this episode, we explore how operations and maintenance should share responsibility for equipment reliability without blurring accountability. Are you an advisor or decider? What are the risks of assigning maintenance tasks to operators? Both teams can improve collaboration by taking responsibility for what they control.
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].