Organizational clarity for maintenance roles: A super quick run through

A zip through of maintenance roles with touches of organizational theory and maintenance philosophy can tell us if everyone is doing their job instead of just being busy. What is everyone doing? What are they supposed to be doing? And why and how? (To the tune of the nursery rhyme, “The wheels on the bus go round and round…the wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish…the horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep…”)

Defining the manager’s role in proactive maintenance

Managers know and preach the purpose of maintenance “to maintain,” to keep in proper operation, not to have plant functions fail and then quickly restore them. Managers understand that at the right cost, having the fewest repairs achieves the ultimate objective of maintenance. Managers lead the maintenance of assets and systems to produce a product to make a profit. Managers understand the 1:10 industry rule of thumb that every dollar spent in “proactive” maintenance to keep things from failing saves ten dollars in profit. Maintenance greases a bearing correctly at the right time to prevent having to replace a bearing, collateral damage, and loss of production.

Managers develop a strategy to generate proactive maintenance. Senior leaders including managers and persons from maintenance, operations, and engineering periodically meet to review asset criticality and work order history using some methodology such as Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Preventive Maintenance Optimization (PMO), or simply looking at histories for “bad actors.” They adjust the utilization of different types of maintenance. These types include PM, PdM, engineering and operators themselves. Managers insist that nearly all work uses work orders, the foundation of maintenance.

Building reliability through PM, PdM, and engineering

Preventive maintenance (PM) is “low tech” routine inspections and servicing. Craftspersons might change certain filters monthly or routinely measure drag chain links for changing upon a specified minimum thickness. Craftspersons might grease bearings regularly. Craftspersons rely on normal senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste (not at a waste water plant). Craftspersons might resolve small defects while doing the PM itself or write work requests for more extensive findings. PM work and the work it generates should be a large share of plant work. Managers insist on high PM compliance.

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is “high tech” inspections of assets such as vibration analysis, thermography, ultrasound, boroscoping, dye penetrant testing, oil analysis, and motion amplification. PdM technicians (many times specially-trained craftspersons) run routes to take measurements, watch trends, and write work requests to resolve findings on smoothly running assets before reactive conditions develop. PdM should generate a great deal of plant work. Managers insist on high PdM route compliance.

Reliability engineers analyze plant performance with techniques such as root cause analysis (RCA) and develop work requests or projects to remedy design issues for better plant performance. Maintenance engineers lead such projects. Managers understand the 1:100 industry rule of thumb that every dollar spent in purchasing or engineering to remedy an inherently unreliable asset saves one hundred dollars in profit. 

Operators operate equipment properly to minimize failures. They write great work requests for defects they notice from routine rounds or when operating. Operators write work requests for little defects and do not wait until assets fail. They do not avoid telling maintenance “about little things because they know the maintenance force is busy with big things.” Managers encourage the creation of a large backlog of healthy (proactive) work requests that the maintenance force can execute to avoid a large backlog of unhealthy (reactive) work requests.

In addition, many companies use operators for maintenance itself under such names as Operator Care, Autonomous Maintenance, or Total Productive Maintenance. The hallmarks of operators doing maintenance are not taking away unduly from operating duties, not requiring special tools, and not necessarily requiring special skills. Whether a plant adopts operator maintenance generally depends on the plant culture and technology.

Planning, scheduling, and supervision: Turning work into results

Planners convert new work requests into planned work orders. Managers protect planners from being taken from this primary role so that a planner can stay ahead of 20-30 craftspersons. With a better ratio, planners could help with some work-in-progress or participation on project teams. Managers do not mix the planner staff position mixed with a line role such as supervisor or craftsperson. Planners stay ahead of all the new requests identifying scopes of work and gathering helpful information for the craftspersons and supervisors.

Planners add as much detail as possible, subject to the constraint they must plan all the work. Managers use a minimal unplanned backlog as a measure of planner maturity understanding that plans are not perfect. Managers understand the purpose of planning is to run a Deming Cycle of continuous improvement making plans better over the years especially with craftsperson feedback. Managers use a rise in total quantity of reuseable plans in the job plan library as a measure of planners running the Deming Cycle. Planners continually update the living plans in the job plan library. To increase improvement feedback, planners and managers continually encourage supervisors and craftspersons, “How could the plan be better or more helpful next time…?”

At the end of each week, planners become schedulers for a morning. For each supervisor, the scheduler sorts the planned work orders by priority and then bundles some lower priority work with higher ones for convenience such as by system or area. The scheduler starts at the top work order and matches it with labor hours for the next week without regard of names or days until either work orders or labor hours are exhausted. The scheduler presents this batch of work to the operations and supervisor for a goal for the week. Managers insist this handoff be made at a short meeting right after lunch. The 100% goal of work becomes a mission for the supervisor that drives high productivity to complete all the work including the healthy proactive work orders. The agreement helps operations support unduly interrupting maintenance next week. The manager desires between 40% and 90% schedule compliance which means supervisors are trying to achieve a mission that was, in fact, fully loaded. Reliability engineers analyze opportunities for improvement beyond supervisor and scheduler control.

Supervisors create and manage daily schedules assigning names and coordinating LOTO as the week and days unfold using the weekly batch and new reactive work. Supervisors spend 75% of their time in the field going from job to job to job supporting craftspersons. Supervisors help develop the skill of craftspersons with judicious job assignment and helping coordinate training. To increase helpful feedback, supervisors continually encourage craftspersons, “How could the plan be better or more helpful next time…?” Managers protect supervisors from too much paperwork and meetings. 

Craftspersons convert assigned work orders into completed work orders. Craftspersons “own” the jobs once assigned. Craftspersons do not blindly follow job plans, but exercise their professional judgment to faithfully execute the job. Craftspersons incorporate their continual learning and experience into the job plans for future work to institutionalize plant knowledge. Also, a senior craftsperson as tool room attendant advises for proper special tools. 

The storeroom manager understands that the highest plant profit is in sale of product, not crippling maintenance by carrying too few parts. The storeroom must be effective before it can be efficient. The manager looks at measures of proper storeroom sizing including % of Replacement Asset Value, overall Turns, and Stockouts. The manager tempers that with plant location, plant technology, and maintenance maturity. The manager cautions against putting unnecessary items into the storeroom in the first place. The storeroom and maintenance manager have persons participate in some regular meetings of each other’s group to develop a sense of common mission. 

The purchasing manager also understands that the highest plant profit is in sale of product, not crippling maintenance by carrying too few parts. The purchasing manager facilitates the procurement of parts that should not be carried in inventory.

Administrative personnel such as clerks can greatly help maintenance. By handling clerical tasks, they can be a great force multiplier for the other persons in maintenance. 

People, not metrics: Staffing for maintenance excellence

Ultimately, the maintenance manager primarily controls all of these roles not by meetings (“death by meeting”), not by direct supervision, not by rules and procedures, and not even by metrics or KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). For best maintenance performance, the manager primarily controls by “staffing,” a focus on hiring and training. The maintenance force is organized as a “professional organization.” The manager hires, trains, and retains qualified, skilled craftspersons, supervisors, and planners. The manager then gives the planners the mission of planning all the work with living job plans. The manager gives the supervisors the mission of a fully loaded schedule. The manager gives craftspersons the freedom to utilize their skills and judgment to execute the work.

Thus, managers find the human resources area of each company vital to success, to help with the selection, training, and retention of maintenance personnel. 

Bonus role: Only then with proper management understanding, can maintenance effectively deploy and utilize a CMMS computerized maintenance management system. And likewise, a skilled, in-house, IT person is invaluable to help maintenance.

The best performing maintenance forces understand the objectives of each maintenance role. They also concentrate on selecting, training, and keeping the best persons for the roles. Stick to these fundamentals. Don’t settle for good. Be great.