According to Idhammar, managers often make the mistake of conceptualising maintenance as just reactive, unplanned equipment repairs. However, the real goal of maintenance is equipment reliability.
By rewording the problem statement to equipment reliability as opposed to equipment repairs, the focus shifts to repairs being done in a planned, scheduled and detailed manner.
Idhammer also advises maintenance personnel build a five-year management budget and plan which includes all big and costly maintenance jobs. The plan should be based on the perceived needs of the plant. The plan and the calculated budget should be presented to the managers.
The plan should also be specific about the need for maintenance. By working out estimated costs for maintaining specific applications or equipment versus projected costs of not carrying out maintenance, management will be motivated to invest in a maintenance program.
Further flushing out the value of reliability, maintenance personnel should work out the monetary cost of equipment downtime, and compare this with the cost of maintenance. By talking in dollars, management will be better able to grasp the situation.
Tor Idhammar is partner and vice president of management consultant firm IDCON Inc. IDCON specializes in reliability and maintenance management. He is responsible for all IDCON projects and consultants, including training and implementation support for reliability management assessments, preventive maintenance, operator-based reliability, planning and scheduling, materials management, and root cause problem elimination. He is the author of "Condition Monitoring Standards".