Asset Maintenance - A Paradigm Shift

In my previous blogs, we discussed about definition of asset maintenance management, importance of asset maintenance in the operations intensive manufacturing industry, relation and crucial impact of asset maintenance in operations of any organization. Then, we had also planned to discuss about the operation’s perspective on asset maintenance in this blog.

Traditionally, asset maintenance management was dealt with the short term issues like resources, cost, man power etc. In recent past, maintenance management has changed its concerns towards the consideration of long-term goals like competitiveness, sustainability and strategy. Therefore, asset maintenance management approach needs to be viewed in a strategic perspective. Asset maintenance is not just ensuring healthiness of equipment in a facility but it also plays a crucial role in achieving organisation’s goals and objectives with optimum maintenance cost with the maximum production output in any organisation. Once maintenance is viewed as a strategic perspective in the organisation, there is a requirement to formulate asset maintenance strategy for performing maintenance function in the organization in order to achieve set maintenance objectives defined.    

Asset maintenance strategy can be defined as a systematic approach to upkeep the facilities and equipment and it may vary from facility to facility. It involves identification, researching and execution of many repairs, replace and inspect decisions and is concerned with formulating the best life plan for each unit of the production plant, in coordination with operations function and other functions concerned. It describes what events (e.g. failure, passing of time, condition) trigger what type of maintenance action (inspection, repair, or replacement).

Asset maintenance strategy process includes various activities such as formulation of plant wise maintenance strategies for the organisation, selection of particular maintenance strategy of the specific equipment or process and effective implementation of maintenance strategies selected. All these activities are required to be viewed strategically and to be monitored ad implemented holistically.

It is also pertinent that asset maintenance function has gained crucial role over the last few decades in the operations intensive industries. Consequently, over the years, many different strategies have also been developed to support asset maintenance management implementation in the industry. With increasing automation and mechanization in production processes are becoming highly sensitive to machine/equipment and people. Consequently, the role of equipment maintenance in controlling quality, quantity and reducing costs is more evident and important than ever.

One of the challenges of asset maintenance function is to continuously improve the performance of maintenance. Despite the obvious importance of maintenance strategies, a survey among maintenance managers shows that 48% managers agreed for having written maintenance strategy and 28% had no maintenance strategy at all and also remarks that the quality standard ISO to be a maintenance strategy (Alsyouf, 2009).

There seems to be a less interest among the maintenance practitioners for a structured asset maintenance strategy formulation and implementation. The reasons may be:

•    Asset maintenance approaches/methods/concepts are resource demanding so that SME organisations do not show much interest in using such maintenance approaches
•        Organisations are reluctant to experiment with the new asset maintenance methods developed such as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) etc.

In the operations intensive industries and manufacturing plants, despite the best efforts of asset maintenance managers, equipment still fails, and plants are vulnerable to failures. Therefore, before adopting any maintenance strategy, maintenance managers must change the way they think about failures and understand its diversity. The implications in production and maintenance suggest the need to change the focus of asset maintenance polices & maintenance methodology adopted.

In the upcoming blogs, we shall explore the various asset maintenance methods/approaches and they are also named as maintenance strategies such as Preventive Maintenance (PM), Predictive Maintenance (PdM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) one by one.

I put forward my request to you all once again to read the blog series and share your comments in the blog page and it helps me to keep track of your comments and add value to the blog series. If some of you have any questions, please mention your question also in the comments box in the blog and I will answer the questions based on my experience. So, Let us make more interactive this blog series…

-        Contact at rsvelmurugan@gmail.com

Operations Vs Maintenance

In my last blogs we could deliberate the issues related to asset maintenance in the Industry with the support of data. As told at the end of the blog dated 25^th August, 2016, in this blog, I am shifting the focus to Operations. Therefore, I would like to present here the role of operations in the manufacturing industry and relations with maintenance function.

Operations in the industry constitute all set of the activities that an organisation achieves in order to deliver value to its customers. It is the set of processes that transforms either materials or information into a product or service. There have been some exciting changes happening in the industry in recent years. Operations are no longer merely something that has to complete in order to proceed with business as common. Today, organisations can generate huge competitive advantage with their superior and novel operations. In the context of globalization of business, the changing nature of operations in any organisation is due to the major developments such as information technology and technological advances in the production/ maintenance technology.

Operations in the industry are characterized by diversity of issues of distinct nature such as technical and operational, short and long term planning, systems management, and involvement of various stakeholders. Organisations are also facing a lot of challenges such as optimization of operations function due to the continual evolving world of technologies, global competitiveness, environmental and safety requirements.

Now is the time for operations of the organisation in the industry to step up to the stage and become a key player in achieving company profitability and growth goals.  Sound operations management excels at meeting daily business requirements and builds competitive advantage. This is a much bigger vision than just being a cost-effective business enabler. It requires forward, innovative thinking and agile response to rapidly changing markets, technologies and global cost structures.

The concern towards total quality and profitability of an organisation are crucial factors in the business. Availability of production equipment and ensuring production efficiency is essential to sustaining production capacity in continuous production plant in any industry like operations intensive industry also. These fundamentals factors affect profitability of an organisation in the operations intensive industries. Studies have shown that the negligence in asset maintenance and its role in production processes results in consequential issues such as financial, technical, as well as safety in both internal and external environment of the organization.

Further, organisations in operations intensive industries such as utilities, food and beverage processing, metals and mining, chemicals, oil and gas, and automotive recognize that asset maintenance is crucial to the successful operations of their organisations. Even though organisations provide the importance to effective and efficient maintenance practices in order to achieve the financial objectives, only 7% of organisations are completely satisfied with their maintenance performance. (Source: Report on Collaborative Asset Maintenance Strategies by Aberdeen Group, 2006)    

It is evident that industrial maintenance function has gained high recognition over the last few decades in various industries. Consequently, over the years, many different strategies have been developed to support maintenance management implementation in the industry. In today’s highly competitive business environment, management of physical assets (their selection, maintenance, inspection and renewal) plays a key role in determining operational performance and profitability of any business unit, manufacturing plant or industry that operate assets as a part of their core business. Asset Management, being the art and science of making right decisions and optimizing these processes, attempts to minimize the total life cost of assets and directly or indirectly influences manufacturing/ production/operation/service cost, processes and quality, and throughput or delivery time.

Especially impact of maintenance in achieving business objectives has been proven as important in recent time. However, more research study regarding the importance of maintenance in manufacturing environment is the requirement in the industry.

With the above inputs on operations and relations with maintenance function, I am of the opinion that the asset maintenance is given least preference in the industry. Organization’s board (top management) spends their time and decides the business strategy of the company. But, maintenance strategy is being decided by the functional heads. Top management is least worried about the operational strategy since it is treated as only targets.

In my next blog, let us further see on how maintenance has been viewed by Operation’s people. Are maintenance is in healthy condition in operations intensive industry?