August 2005 - Library

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To achieve success in managing maintenance as a business requires the identification, development and implementation of core
business processes that are fundamental to maintenance management in a cost effective manner. The concept of Business Centre d
Maintenance has evolved to provide the framework for developing these core business processes in a comprehensive business
focussed approach to maintenance management. In such a framework, the maintenance team needs to focus on the four
fundamental principles of Business Centred Maintenance - those being:
1. The Principle of Strategy
2. The Principle of Resource Management
3. The Principle of Information Management
4. The Principle of Value-adding
Although the development of a Business Centred Maintenance framework in a traditional management environment is possible, the
successful implementation and management of it re q u i res a team with ‘business nous (understanding)’. And this is where an
organisation faces a significant change process in order to move from the traditional reactive culture to the more proactive culture
as this culture requires ‘business nous’. Without this shift or change in thinking to develop the necessary business nous within the
maintenance team, maintenance will continue to stay in the traditional reactive environment.
CHANGING THE MAINTENANCE TEAM ENVIRONMENT - AN OVERVIEW OF THE
PROCESS
In a manufacturing industry context, change is typically imposed on a team or an individual by an external force, whether it be a
person who is external to the team or external to the organisation. In either situation, the maintenance team is forced to change
without due consideration to the impact that this change will have on the individual or team itself.
And it is due to this lack of consideration that organisations generally fail in changing the way the maintenance team operates, as
the team is likely to see no need for change as “we have been doing it this way for years, so why change now”. Without this need
being communicated to the team prior to implementing the change, there is no desire or urgency to change the normal way of
delivering maintenance. So how does an organisation commence the change process and create this sense of urgency?
Building Change
Capability
Appreciating
Change
Executing
Change
Mobilising
Change
Figure 2 - Change Management Cycle
The first step in any maintenance improvement process, which will bring
about change in the maintenance team, should be the clear appreciation that
change is actually re q u i red. Once the need for change has been
a p p reciated, the development and implementation of a successful change
process that is specific to the organisation, can only occur with the buy-in
and support from the majority of the maintenance team. In order to obtain
this buy-in, the support of the maintenance team needs to be mobilised so
that they believe in the need for change otherwise change success, if
achieved, will only be temporary (refer to Figure 2).
Once this team is mobilised with the support of senior management,
the development and implementation of new business processes and systems for maintenance delivery that define the ‘new way
of doing maintenance’ has to occur. Such processes and systems will require significant learning by the team members. Where
gaps in the capability of the team exist and cannot be filled by existing team members, new members may have to be re c ru i t e d
either internally or externally. Once this has occurred and the team roles and functions are clearly defined and resourced, support
mechanisms (e.g. Computerised Maintenance Management Systems) needs to be available for all team members to assist them in
completing their day-to-day activities in a cost effective and value adding manner. By putting the right re s o u rces and support
mechanisms in place at an early stage, the change management process would have built and put in place the change capabilities
needed to allow for sustainable improvements in a cost effective manner.
APPRECIATING AND DETERMINING THE NEED FOR CHANGE
Appreciating the need for change in a maintenance organisation involves determining:
1. Whether a need for change exists.
2. Whether the change needs to occur immediately or at some later date.
3. What improvements / benefits this change brings to the organisation.
4. How the change impacts people within the organisation.
To determine the above four factors, a detailed review process of the status quo situation needs to occur in the form of a Maintenance
E ffectiveness Review. A Maintenance Effectiveness Review consists of three separate gap analysis surveys used to determine the
effectiveness of current maintenance management practices as it relates to best practice. This Review would be seen as the first
step of the overall improvement / change process. For the status quo review to be a true indication of the current situation, the
surveys need to focus on the following aspects of maintenance:
1. Maintenance Management - developing an understanding of Maintenance Management in:
• Resource Management
• Information Management
• Maintenance Support
• Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
• Preventative Maintenance Management
2. Productions Perception of Maintenance Effectiveness
• How maintenance effectiveness is perceived by the “customer”.