Maintenance Productivity: Why It Is So Low and

How To Improve It An eleven-step program for improving this

commonly neglected area has had dramatic results, including a doubling of productivity.

Edward H. Hartmann

I n many organizations around the world, mainte- nance is an area where sound management principles are still largely ignored. Maintenance is often regard- ed as a “necessary evil,” not worthy of special atten- tion.

As a result, maintenance productivity is very low (only 35 percent of the time available is produc- tively utilized in the average United States plant), and the costs of maintenance as a percentage of total oper- ating costs keep rising.

By its nature, maintenance- which involves delays, waiting time, and coordination- tends to have a rather low productivity. Add to this manage- ment inattention to maintenance, and the result is an unproductive, costly department. Increasing automa- tion and installation of high-tech equipment, such as robotics, NC equipment, and electronic controls, in- crease the demands on maintenance and raise costs further. In many situations, the existing maintenance

0 1986 H.B. Maynard and Company, Inc

224 National Productivity Review

department is no longer trusted to maintain newly in- stalled high-tech equipment, and a separate service or- ganization is put in place just for that purpose.

In the last few years, however, maintenance managers and higher-level management have begun to recognize this situation and have been taking correc- tive action. Consultants are called in at an ever-in- creasing rate to conduct maintenance audits and to in- stall maintenance improvement programs. We have identified eleven critical areas that contribute to un- productive and costly maintenance. All of these areas pertain to systems, training, and organization. The most notable problem in many maintenance organiza- tions is the absence of a simple, straightforward main- tenance management system. Normally, labor perfor- mance (the application of skill and effort while working) is quite good, but utilization (the amount of time productively occupied) is terribly low. This dis- crepancy points to poor planning, scheduling, and control systems, as well as to insufficient supervision.

The areas discussed in the remainder of this

Frequently, the wrong person does the maintenance planning, at the wrong time, and

usually under pressure.

article are the most frequent contributors to low main- tenance productivity or effectiveness. If these areas are well designed, organized, and managed, good maintenance productivity at the lowest possible cost will result.

Maintenance requests

The maintenance customer can help improve maintenance productivity even before any work is carried out. This is because the quality of the request is vital for proper maintenance planning. Often, much less information is conveyed to maintenance than is known. Maintenance personnel must spend time ob- taining additional information, thus causing a delay in the work-planning process. Simple information, such as what is wrong with the equipment (or a description of symptoms), location of the equipment, and the times it is available for repair, is often not given. Many maintenance requests are made over the phone (an acceptable procedure only for an emergency) or in passing on the floor, and no written document exists.

Corrective action

These delays and obstacles can be avoided through the development and installation of a well- functioning maintenance request procedure, supported by a well-designed and complete maintenance request form (which can be part of the work order form).

0 The maintenance request procedure should cover the following items: -Who can make requests; -Who approves; -Who sets the priority; and -Emergency procedure.

-Identify equipment; -Identify location; -Describe the problem or work required; -Provide the cost center or account

-Specify deadline for completion of work;

0 The maintenance request form should:

number;

and

-Specify when equipment is available.

-By the requestor, under ordinary circum-

-By maintenance in an emergency.

0 The form must always be filled out:

stances; or

It is up to maintenance to train requestors in the proper use of the form and to promote the use of the request form, through a no-form, no-service policy.

The improvements are :

0 Better information; 0 Better documentation; 0 Reduced investigation or troubleshooting

0 Reduced planning time; 0 Faster and more complete service; and 0 Better control of backlog.

time;

Maintenance planning

Frequently, the wrong person does the plan- ning, at the wrong time, and usually under pressure. In other words, the supervisor does the job planning just before the job is to be started, thus leaving little time to plan materials, tools, methods, etc. Or, the craftsman is left to plan his or her own job. The result is missing materials, delays, incomplete jobs, ineffi- cient methods, job interruptions, extra questions, and overstaffing. No goals or targets are set (planned hours or standard hours based on maintenance work standards) for the craftsman to follow and to allow for performance measurement. Hence, no task times are available to use in scheduling the work.

Planning is one of the most important aspects of good maintenance management and will contribute significantly to better maintenance productivity.

Corrective action

To prevent delays and inefficiency, a mainte- nance planning function should be developed and in- stalled. Maintenance planners (about one for twenty- five craftsmen) should be selected and trained. The planning function should be reinforced through devel-

Summer 1986 225

opment or acquisition of data (Universal Maintenance Standards [UMS] data, for example) to generate job times.

An effective planning procedure includes the following steps:

0

0

0 0 0 0 0

0

0 0

Determine job content (may require field trip); Develop work plan (planner establishes the best way to do the job); Establish number of workers required; Establish time required; Plan and order parts and material; Plan special equipment and tools; Assign workers with the appropriate craft skills; Set priority (emergency, urgent, routine [including preventive maintenance, dis- cussed below], or deferrable); Assign cost accounts; and Fill out work order.

The planner should also establish the backlog, which is the amount of work asked for (via the request form) or identified, but not yet completed. The back- log should be expressed in weeks per craft.

The improvements are:

0 Reduced delays; 0 Fewer job interruptions; 0 Elimination of extra trips; 0 Better control of materials; 0 Improved coordination; 0 Improved quality of work; 0 Completion of jobs; 0 Optimal work method; 0 No overstaffing; 0 Easier supervision; and 0 Better performance.

know where the job is, what’s wrong with the equip- ment or what to do, which materials and tools are needed to complete the job, the method to be used, and the time allowed for the job. The worker also needs a work order number to report against and space in which to report extra work done or other problems encountered. The work order form, which may be computerized, is an essential tool for communicating that information. The form will also serve at a later point as input into the equipment history.

Corrective action

Designing and introducing a good work order form and procedure will facilitate maintenance work. The work order form must include:

0 Work order number; 0 Equipment number and location; 0 Description of job (work plan); 0 Planned (or assigned) hours; 0 Priority; 0 Staffing; 0 Materials (or attached bill of materials); 0 Special tools and equipment; and 0 Charge or account number.

The improvements are:

Clear communications; Less improvisation; Better documentation; Clearer understanding of expectation (goal); Totally finished job; Better quality of work;

The work order system

The work order is basically a means of com- munication between the requestor/planner/supervisor and the craftsman. Often it takes the form of a scrap of paper in somebody’s hip-pocket. But this just won’t do. In this form the work order does not tell the maintenance worker anything. He or she needs to

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I t takes a great deal of coordination and negotiation to produce a good

maintenance schedule.

0 Better labor performance; 0 Fewer delays; and 0 Easier supervision.

Maintenance scheduling

It takes a great deal of coordination and nego- tiation, as well as knowledge of priorities, to produce a good maintenance schedule. Information about parts and material availability (or expected receipt), and about other jobs (in progress or planned) and their lo- cation, must be readily accessible.

Such information is not available on the main- tenance shop floor. As a result, scheduling is often done “hand to mouth,” and consequently is very in- effective, causing many delays and unnecessary trips. Frequently, in the absence of a schedule, unimportant or low-priority work gets done first.

The planner is the best person to put the sched- ule together. He or she knows the priorities, knows when all resources needed to start the job are avail- able, and knows how long a job should take.

Corrective action

A maintenance scheduling function should be developed, and combined with the planner’s function. In addition, a scheduling form should be developed and introduced. Effective planning will make schedul- ing quite simple.

The scheduling procedure should include the following steps:

Sort backlog of “ready to go” work orders by craft; Arrange orders by priority; Compile list of completed and carryover jobs; Consider job duration, travel distance, and location, and combine jobs in same area; Schedule multicraft jobs to start at the be- ginning of every shift; Issue a daily schedule (except for project and construction work); and

0 Have supervisor make work assignments

The improvements are:

0 Reduced delays (between jobs); 0 Increased maintenance utilization; 0 Elimination of extra trips; 0 Better coordination with customer; 0 Greater availability of parts, material, and

equipment; and 0 Easier supervision.

(dispatching).

Maintenance control

Control is historically one of the weakest areas in maintenance. Normally there is an annual budget against which costs are compared at the end of the year. There is little periodic information showing ac- tual maintenance productivity; labor performance; uti- lization; or backlog by group, craft, and department. The true cost of maintenance, that is, the cost per standard hour, is normally not known.

Identification and control of delays-the area that offers the greatest potential for productivity im- provement and cost reduction- is the most poorly handled area. There is usually no information to show what type of delay is occurring, or where, or in what amount. This information is vital if an organization is serious about improving maintenance productivity.

A company may have an acceptable 80-per- cent labor performance rate, but at 50-percent utiliza- tion (not at all uncommon), productivity will be only 40 percent. Identifying and controlling delays (through better planning, scheduling, and supervision) and increasing utilization to 75 percent will raise pro- ductivity to 60 percent. This represents a 50-percent productivity improvement.

Corrective action

One should develop and install a comprehen- sive maintenance control system (manual or comput- erized). Such a system consists of:

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Preuentiue maintenance should be carried out by specialists who are properly trained and

equipped and do nothing but PM.

0 A daily time card (or automated time-col- lection system) containing -Name of maintenance worker and clock

-Work order numbers; -Account numbers; -Total hours worked on work order; and -Delay hours by delay reason.

0 A weekly maintenance productivity report containing: -Productive hours (from time cards); -Delay hours (from time cards); -Earned hours (time standards or esti-

mates, from work order); -Performance (percentage); -Delay (or utilization) (percentage); -Productivity (percentage); -Planned coverage (percentage of total

-Cost per standard hour; and -Backlog (in weeks by craft).

-Performance, utilization, and productivi-

-Backlog (by craft); -Overtime (percentage); and -Emergency work (percentage).

number;

work planned);

Charts or graphs (trendline) showing:

ty;

The improvements are:

Much greater visibility; Better management tools; Better labor control;

0 Better cost control; 0 Increased ability to identify trends; and 0 Easy identification of productivity improve-

ment opportunities.

Preventive maintenance and equipment history

Almost everybody does preventive mainte- nance (PM); few organizations do it right. PM is an inexpensive form of maintenance (the cheapest form is no maintenance, achieved by engineering the prob- lem out); it costs less than half as much as breakdown

maintenance. PM requires strong management com- mitment (not just lip service) and must be well orga- nized to be cost-effective and productive.

PM should be carried out by specialists who are properly trained and equipped, who follow prede- termined routes and checklists, and who do nothing but PM work. If the PM inspectors are not separated from regular maintenance, they frequently will have urgent work that preempts preventive maintenance. As a result, PM work will fall behind and breakdown incidents will increase, leaving even less time for PM. But when properly organized and executed, preven- tive maintenance is extremely efficient and will pro- duce excellent return on investment.

Equipment history-an important element of preventive maintenance-is similar to PM in that everybody does some, but few do it right. Normally equipment history is maintained in the form of thick manila folders with old work orders, and perhaps some purchase order forms, updated only when some spare clerical help is available. This is not equipment history.

Keeping good equipment history consists of making a one-line entry on a form that for each piece of equipment shows:

0 Date of repair or PM; 0 Short description of repair or PM done; 0 Time and cost of labor; 0 Cost of parts and materials; and

Total and cumulative costs.

These entries can be done automatically by a good computer system.

Good equipment history is a valuable tool in determining exactly how much PM is required and in justifying equipment replacement or overhaul. There are companies that have spent in annual repair and maintenance costs three times the amount of money it would have taken to replace the equipment-and they did not know it. Would a car owner annually spend $24,000 to keep an $8,000 car on the road?

Corrective action

Developing and installing a comprehensive PM system will reduce maintenance costs. Installing a

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system involves selecting and training PM inspectors, following up on PM performed, and developing methods for maintaining equipment history. A PM system consists of

0 PM checklists. These are lists of PM work to be done for each piece of equipment. A checklist is identified by the equipment name and number. There may be a different list for different crafts (e.g., an electrical checklist, a mechanical checklist). There are different checklists to be used when the equipment is running (e.g., check for excessive noise, heat, vibra- tion) and when the equipment is shut down (e.g., check tension of V-belts). In addition, the standard time allowed (UMS hours) to complete the checks should be shown on each checklist.

0 PM routes. These could be compared with a road map for the PM inspectors. A route shows the sequence of equipment to be worked on (using an in- dividual checklist for each piece of equipment) to minimize travel time. The PM routes are organized by craft, frequency, equipment running, and equipment shutdown.

0 PM schedule. Unlike the dynamic daily maintenance schedule, a PM schedule is rather static. Therefore, normally an annual PM schedule is devel- oped, and is only adjusted as equipment is added or removed or when the PM frequency is changed as de- termined by analysis of the equipment history. The frequency of a PM route (weekly, monthly, etc.) is shown on the schedule. If the frequency is determined by running hours or miles driven, the scheduling be- comes a bit more dynamic. In any case, the PM schedule must be coordinated with the customer.

0 PM reports. A report covers the PM work actually done on a daily basis. (If not properly orga- nized and controlled, PM has a tendency to fall be- hind schedule.) The amount (and percent) of mainte- nance repair order identified and written by PM is reported. PM performance (actual time used versus time planned) is also reported. The true measure of PM success-the reduction of equipment downtime -should be covered in the PM report.

0 Equipment history. Whether kept manually or by computer, the equipment history should be ana- lyzed by an engineer at intervals of from six to twelve months. Results from this analysis may be an adjust- ment of the PM effort for this piece of equipment, or a

decision to overhaul or replace the equipment. If a recurring problem is spotted, redesign of the compo- nent should be initiated.

The improvements are:

0 Less downtime; 0 Lower total maintenance costs; 0 Timely identification of needed repairs; 0 Longer equipment life; 0 Maintenance of equipment tolerances; and

Improved product quality.

Predictive maintenance

Predictive maintenance (PDM) is a foreign concept to most maintenance departments. They may have heard about it, but they probably don’t really know what it is or how it may apply to their situation.

Predictive maintenance is the extrapolation of graphic trends of measured physical readings against a known engineering limit for the purpose of detecting, analyzing, and correcting equipment problems before failure. Predictive maintenance may require perma- nently installed monitoring equipment (such as ther- mometers and pressure gauges). It certainly involves the taking of periodic measurements, such as vibra- tion velocity, tension, pressure, alignment, wear, heat, resistance, capacitance, etc.

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Many maintenance organizations seem to think of inuentory control as something strange

and unnecessary.

Critical equipment whose failure would inter- rupt or stop production, increase energy costs, or in- hibit pollution or safety control should be covered by PDM.

Corrective action

Critical equipment should be identified and surveyed with predictive maintenance techniques. En- gineering limits should be applied, and baseline mea- surements taken. The next step is to install a PDM program and train PDM specialists. They will periodi- cally monitor the selected equipment, take the read- ings, and place them on charts. Repair work is only initiated when needed. Most (but not all) PM work can be replaced by PDM. In total, PDM is less expen- sive than PM and repair maintenance combined.

The improvements are:

0 Considerably less downtime; 0 Lower maintenance costs;

Longer equipment life; 0 Better equipment quality;

Fewer emergencies (breakdowns); 0 Increased production; and 0 Improved product quality.

Inventory and stores

“The cheapest hardware store in town” is an expression one frequently hears to describe mainte- nance stores. Any item needed for home or automo- tive repair can be found there for free. Other mainte- nance stores are simply a collection of old parts nobody dares to throw away. Neither type is a good maintenance store.

Few organizations have a good maintenance materials inventory. The inventory is kept visually, and parts (even, in some cases, nuts and bolts) are ordered as the need arises, delaying maintenance work. Many maintenance organizations seem to think of inventory control as something strange and unnec-

essary. Lack of stores personnel is frequently a con- tributing cause.

Corrective action

Securing stores and establishing the minimum inventory that will be required will facilitate control of materials. A computerized inventory control sys- tem should be installed (if it does not already exist as part of a computerized maintenance management sys- tem), and minimudmaximum levels for all parts as well as optimal order quantities should be established. The stores should have sufficient staff to maintain control over the inventory and provide security.

The improvements are:

0 Better control of parts and materials; 0 Correct stocking levels;

Fewer losses; 0 Availability of frequently required parts 0 Storage location of parts is known; 0 Faster repairs; 0 Knowledge of the inventory’s value; and 0 Purchase order control.

Supervision

The problem with supervision is not that su- pervisors aren’t good, but that they have no time to supervise. In addition to being supervisors they are materials expeditors, planners, schedulers, clerks, and gofers. Very few of them get out of the office for more than a few hours a day, and many of them rarely have time to visit a crew on a job site. Some supervi- sors have never received any supervisory training and have problems dealing with their personnel and with the maintenance customer.

Corrective action

The supervisor can be relieved of the planning and material expediting functions through establish-

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Generally, a suitable superuisorlworker ratio is 1 :15, and an appropriate planner/worker ratio

is 1:25.

ment of the planner/scheduler function, as previously described. A clerk should be used to take care of cleri-

Organization cal functions. It is recommended to set weekly pro- ductivity goals for the supervisor. Supervisory train- ing should be provided where necessary.

Sometimes area maintenance provides quick service, but at the cost of underutilization. Centralized maintenance, on the other hand, may cause travel The immovements are:

Better quality maintenance work; More supervision of crews at job sites; Better customer relations; Better maintenance productivity; Fewer delays; and Better maintenance management.

Training and motivation

Generally the maintenance craftsman is prop- erly motivated to do a good job. Nevertheless, lack of support (planning, scheduling, materials, supervision) can have a demotivating effect. Job interruptions, delays, idle time, and confusion are the result. A lack of proper skills sometimes lowers work quality and wastes time. Lack of supervisory skills results in problem situations and low efficiency. Lack of plan- ning and scheduling skills will also lower efficiency and will prevent planners/schedulers from significant- ly improving the maintenance department’s overall productivity.

Corrective action

If all the items already discussed are installed, the motivation of the craftsman (along with his or her productivity) will go up sharply. Maintenance craft training should be provided where appropriate. Like- wise, supervisory and planner training should be given as needed. Feedback and recognition of good performance will reinforce training.

The improvements are:

0 Higher productivity; 0 Better maintenance quality; 0 Smoother operations and relationships; 0 Improvement in methods; and 0 Improved safety.

time to be excessive. In addition, the ratio of workers to supervisors

(the span of control) is often too low, resulting in having too many supervisors. Job staffing is frequent- ly not preestablished by a planner, resulting in over- staffing of simple jobs, as in the “Siamese twin syn- drome,” in which two maintenance people are always together on all jobs, although half of these are actually one-person jobs.

Maintenance area layout and, more often, the location of the maintenance department are usually not optimal, causing wasted time. Stores organization is often insufficient or nonexistent, resulting in poor materials support (and in the supervisor playing mate- rials expeditor).

Corrective action

Analyzing the maintenance requirements in the various areas of the organization and analyzing maintenance travel times will help organizations to develop the best mix of centralized and area mainte- nance. The organization should move toward an ap- propriate ratio of supervisors to workers and should establish the proper number of planners. Generally, a suitable supervisor/worker ratio is 1 : 15, and an appro- priate plannedworker ratio is 1 :25. Planners should predetermine the staffing for each job. In addition, the layout and location of the maintenance department should be studied and appropriate corrections made, including the organization and staffing of stores to ob- tain good materials service.

The improvements are:

0 No overstaffing of maintenance jobs; 0 Proper maintenance response; 0 Good materials support; 0 Proper number of supervisors and planners; 0 Better maintenance productivity; and 0 Lower maintenance costs.

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Conclusion

The eleven areas just discussed are the major contributors to maintenance productivity. In summa- ry, they are:

1. Maintenance requests; 2. Maintenance planning; 3. The work order system; 4. Maintenance scheduling; 5 . Maintenance control; 6. Preventive maintenance and equipment

7. Predictive maintenance; 8. Inventory and stores; 9. Supervision;

10. Training and motivation; and 11, Organization.

These are the critical areas that an organization must improve in order to become highly productive and cost-effective in maintenance. Application of these eleven steps has frequently produced remarkable results (such as a doubling of maintenance productivi- ty>.

As an action item, organizations might first carry out an audit of the maintenance department. Such an audit will take only a few days, if carried out by an experienced specialist.

The audit will reveal the current maintenance situation, including maintenance productivity, as well as the potential for productivity improvement and cost reduction. It will also pinpoint the areas most in need of improvement.

history;

After the audit, a maintenance improvement program can be designed, following the approaches described in this article. Systematic installation of such a program will virtually guarantee a dramatic im- provement in maintenance productivity.

RESOURCES

For further reading about maintenance productivity, the following publications are recommended: Maintenance Manage- ment International, a quarterly journal published by Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. in the Netherlands; Thomas Wester- kamp, “How to Test Maintenance Productivity,” Plant Engineer- ing Magazine, Sept. 12, 1985, pp.42-44, Oct. 10, 1985, pp. 62-64, and Nov. 14, 1985, pp. 70-73; Michael Bos, Thomas Davis, and Joseph Redding, “Key Steps to Establishing Sound Predictive Maintenance,” Plant Engineering Magazine, Dec. 12, 1985, pp.38-40; Dale Hendricks, “Maintenance Management: Working with a System,” Modern Casting, 75(5):20-23. May 1985; and Edward H. Hartmann, “How to Audit Your Mainte- nance Department and Identify Productivity Improvement ,’ ’ Engi- neers Digest, 13(3):56, March 1985. In addition, a variety of rele- vant publications are available from H.B. Maynard and Company, Inc. (235 Alpha Drive, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15238; phone: 412-963- 8100).

Edward H. Hartmann is a vice-president of Pitts- burgh-based H.B. Maynard and Company, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in productivity im- provement. He frequently conducts seminars on maintenance management for productivity and since 1969 has carried out or directed maintenance audits and maintenance improvement programs for utilities, manufacturing firms, service organiza- tions, and government institutions.

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