1 On the Definition of Maintenance Management

1.1 A Definition of Maintenance Management

According to Webster’s Dictionary, management characterises the process of leading
and directing all or part of an organization, often a business one, through the
deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellect
ual or intangible). One can also think of management functionally as the action
of measuring a quantity on a regular basis and adjusting an initial plan and the
actions taken to reach one s intended goal. This applies even in situations whe
re planning does not take place. Situational management may precede and subsume
purposive management. Maintenance management will therefore characterise the pro
cess of leading and directing the maintenance organization. Before describing th
is process, let us make sure that we understand what a maintenance organization,
with the resources belonging to it, is pursuing. Maintenance is defined [1] as
the combination of all technical, administrative and managerial actions during t
he life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in
which it can perform the required function (function or a combination of functio
ns of an item which are considered necessary to provide a given service). This d
efinition clarifies the objective of maintenance and can help us to understand w
hat part of an organization is, somehow, devoted to maintenance. Now we can defi
ne maintenance management as follows [1]: “All the activities of the management th
at determine the maintenance objectives or priorities (defined as targets assign
ed and accepted by the management and maintenance department), strategies (defin
ed as a management method in order to achieve maintenance objectives), and respo
nsibilities and implement them by means such as maintenance planning, maintenanc
e control and supervision, and several improving methods including economical as
pects in the organization.”
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The Maintenance Management Framework
This definition of maintenance management is closely aligned to other such notio
ns found in modern maintenance literature [2-4]. Further definitions consider ma
intenance management as the management of all assets owned by a company, based o
n maximizing the return on investment in the asset [5]. Another approach [6] ind
icates how a maintenance system can be seen as a simple input-output system. The
inputs are the manpower, management, tools, equipment, etc., and the output is
the equipment configured well and working reliably to reach the planned plant op
eration. They show that the required activities for this system to be functional
are maintenance planning (philosophy, maintenance workload forecast, capacity,
and scheduling), maintenance organization (work design, standards, work measurem
ent, and project administration) and maintenance control (of works, materials, i
nventories, costs, and quality oriented management). In this work we will follow
the above-mentioned maintenance management definition established in the Europe
an standards for maintenance terminology [1], and we will review the main aspect
s of that definition, i.e.: The determination of maintenance objectives or prior
ities; The determination of strategies (and responsibilities); Their implementat
ion by means such as maintenance planning, maintenance control and supervision,
and; Improving methods including economical aspects in the organization. We will
show how, in order to manage maintenance effectively and efficiently, we can su
mmarize these four points by clearly understanding the following two: The mainte
nance management process, the course of action and the series of stages or steps
to follow and; The maintenance management framework the essential supporting st
ructure and the basic system needed to manage maintenance.
1.2 Effectiveness and Efficiency of Maintenance Management
The maintenance management process can be divided into two parts: the definition
of the strategy, and the strategy implementation. The first part, definition of
the maintenance strategy, requires the definition of the maintenance objectives
as an input, which will be derived directly from the business plan. This initia
l part of the maintenance management process conditions the success of maintenan
ce in an organization, and determines the effectiveness of the subsequent implem
entation of the maintenance plans, schedules, controls and improvements. However
, this very important point is sometimes forgotten. The ability to deal with thi
s problem, reaching an effective maintenance strategy, shows our ability to fore
see the correct maintenance requirements over time, our ability to anticipate th
ese requirements in congruence with the production requirements. This will allow
us to arrive at a position where we will be able to minimize the maintenance in
direct costs [7],
What is Maintenance Management?
5
those costs associated with production losses, and ultimately, with customer dis
satisfaction. Clearly effectiveness emphasizes how well a department or function
meets its goals or company needs, and is often discussed in terms of the qualit
y of the service provided, viewed from the customer’s perspective. In the case of
maintenance, effectiveness can represent the overall company satisfaction with t
he capacity and condition of its assets [5], or the reduction of the overall com
pany cost obtained because production capacity is available when needed [8]. Eff
ectiveness concentrates then on the correctness of the process and whether the p
rocess produces the required result. The second part of the process, the impleme
ntation of the selected strategy has a different significance level. Our ability
to deal with the maintenance management implementation problem (for instance, o
ur ability to ensure proper skill levels, proper work preparation, suitable tool
s and schedule fulfilment), will allow us to minimize the maintenance direct cos
t (labour and other maintenance required resources). In this part of the process
we deal with the efficiency of our management, which should be less important.
Efficiency is acting or producing with minimum waste, expense, or unnecessary ef
fort. Efficiency compares the quantity of service provided to the resource expen
ded. It measures how well the task is being performed, not whether the task itse
lf is correct. Efficiency is then understood as providing the same or better mai
ntenance for the same cost. It is curious, however, that most of the research do
ne within the area of maintenance management is mainly devoted to improving the
implementation part of the management process (planning, scheduling, controlling
and improving), while it seems that less effort has been spent studying the pro
cess of reaching an effective maintenance strategy. That’s why frequently we find
ourselves doing “the wrong thing right” in our maintenance organizations. In the fol
lowing section we will pay special attention to this issue.
1.3 Maintenance Objectives, Strategy and Responsibilities
1.3.1 Setting Maintenance Objectives Business objectives take into consideration
what the needs and wants of the customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders
are [3]. These general business objectives can be grouped [9] into four groups:
profitability, growth, risk and social objectives. Let us review each one of th
ese aspects and see how they relate to maintenance: Profitability is, as a gener
al rule, a priority. It is the necessary condition that allows us, in the long r
un, to reach the other objectives. Maintenance therefore should clearly contribu
te to the profitability and
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The Maintenance Management Framework
the competitiveness of the business, or to the effectiveness of the administrati
on and public services; Growth can be important at different moments of the prod
uct life cycle, for instance, in high-growth markets gaining share is easier and
more valuable, it reduces pressure on price, it ensures access to technology, i
t deters subsequent entrants in the market, etc.; People, environment and asset
safety is another priority in current businesses. Although laws and regulations
establish a certain framework for safety, risk may always show up as a consequen
ce of new equipment installation, interdependence of new and existing equipment,
etc.; Many companies claim that they have social objectives to fulfil. They act
ively want to contribute to the discussion of socially relevant issues by engagi
ng in dialogue with interested sections of society. Achieving these business obj
ectives requires a business strategy. Said strategy, in conjunction with the cur
rent asset environment, helps us to translate business objectives into maintenan
ce objectives. When doing so, it is normal to find typical goals for maintenance
management in many organizations [9-10], goals that can be generally classified
into three groups: Technical objectives. These depend on the business sector op
erational imperatives. In general, operational imperatives are linked to a satis
factory level of equipment availability and people safety. A generally accepted
method to measure the fulfilment of this goal is the Overall Equipment Effective
ness (OEE), as described in TPM method [11]; Legal objectives/Mandatory regulati
ons. Normally it is a maintenance objective to fulfil all these existing regulat
ions for electrical devices, pressure equipment, vehicles, protection means, etc
.; Financial objectives: to satisfy the technical objective at the minimum cost.
From a long term perspective global equipment life cycle cost should be a suita
ble measure for this. Achieving each objective will probably have a different le
vel of outcome. It is therefore desirable to evaluate the different maintenance
goals, to make sure that those goals are realistic, in accordance with the curre
nt asset situation, and then start planning for strategies to achieve those goal
s. It is extremely important at this time to see what “other people are doing”, to r
eview sector best practices. This will help us to set up realistic goals, or to
test potential strategies. We cannot forget that maintenance objectives are targ
ets assigned and accepted by the management and maintenance department. The proc
ess of assigning targets is critical, typically recursive, and often a time cons
uming process.
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7
1.3.2 Formulating Strategy The strategy setting process may follow standard orga
nizational planning methods, which normally include (see Figure 1.1): Deriving f
rom corporate goals the policies and objectives for maintenance. These objective
s may include: equipment availability, reliability, safety, risk, maintenance bu
dget, etc., and should be communicated to all personnel involved in maintenance,
including external parties; Determination of current factory/facilities perform
ance; Determination of the target performance measures (Key Performance Indicato
rs —KPIs). Improvements will be made based on accepted business, user and maintena
nce management performance indicators; Establishing principles to guide strategy
implementation by means of planning, execution, assessment, analysis and improv
ement of maintenance.
Asset Asset Business Business Strategy Strategy Global Objectives for Maintenanc
e
Environment Environment
Current Status
Performance Gap KPIs Targets Mission Guiding Principles Strategy Implementation
Figure 1.1. Maintenance Strategy Model
Vision
1.3.3 Establishing Responsibilities The adopted maintenance strategy will lead t
o the determination of different maintenance management responsibilities at diff
erent activity levels. These responsibilities will be held by different particip
ants that will play different
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The Maintenance Management Framework
management roles in each specific scenario. As the participant we normally find:
the equipment manufacturer, the equipment vendor, the buyer of the equipment (w
ho normally uses it and becomes “the user” of the equipment) and third/external part
ies providing any type of maintenance service. Typical scenario examples are as
follows: A first example is the scenario in which the equipment manufacturer is
required to provide complete maintenance and maintenance support services as an
integrated component of the delivery of the product. These services are either p
rovided on a contractual basis or accessed as needed by the user. In these cases
, once this outsourcing strategy is in place and the contract with the equipment
manufacturer (or representative) is signed, the primary responsibility remains
with the manufacturer (or a vendor or other outsourced support organization cont
acted by the manufacturer). The user of the equipment primarily depends upon thi
s network to be supplied with total support services during the operation and ma
intenance phase of the equipment. The maintenance management is mainly held by t
he maintenance provider (the manufacturer or contacted organization under his re
sponsibility) and the maintenance management system at user level is reduced to
what is more or less an administrative chain to connect its organization with th
e provider; A second example is probably the most common scenario. In this case
the equipment manufacturer or their vendors provide only basic or standardized m
aintenance support planning, such as recommendations for maintenance, the mainte
nance handbook, spare part lists, and other general documentation (see Standard
EN 13460 regarding maintenance documentation). Users then provide the required m
aintenance and maintenance support for their specific case often using internal
resources. This occurs especially when existing equipment is combined into compl
ex systems by another vendor or organization and is then supplied to an end user
. The responsibility for developing maintenance, for maintenance support and thu
s for maintenance management needs to be established between the vendor and user
, and in the majority of cases, the user takes the main role and work load; As a
final and common example, the maintenance service to be provided is completely,
or partially, outsourced to another company (independent from the equipment man
ufacturer). In this case, the maintenance management is shared between the maint
enance service provider and the user, but the user normally reduces its activity
to performance control and the setting of maintenance goals. Obviously, in any
case or possible scenario, functions and responsibilities within the maintenance
organization should be identified, assigned and communicated to equipment users
, relevant parts of the organization and external participants. Prior to this as
signment of responsibilities, the personnel qualification requirements (or third
party qualification requirements) of each identified
What is Maintenance Management?
9
function should be studied and determined. Maintenance management should ensure
that the maintenance is aware of these requirements and that all responsibilitie
s for processes and activities are included in the job description for each posi
tion and/or in the corresponding third party contracts. The objective will alway
s be to ensure that the functions will be performed properly, efficiently, in a
safe way and taking into account relevant environmental aspects.
1.4 Strategy Implementation at the Three Levels of Activity: Strategic, Tactical
and Operational
Maintenance management must align actions at three levels of business activities
—strategic, tactical, and operational. Actions at the strategic level will transf
orm business priorities into maintenance priorities. To meet these priorities, t
his process will help craft midto-long term strategies to address current and/or
potential gaps in equipment maintenance performance. As a result, a generic mai
ntenance plan will be obtained at this level. Transformation of business priorit
ies into maintenance priorities is done by establishing critical targets in curr
ent operations. Detailed analysis creates measured items such as the incidence o
f the plant equipment breakdowns as these would impact the plant’s operational tar
gets (for instance, by using criticality analysis). Maintenance management would
then develop a course of strategic actions to address specific issues for the c
ritical items. Other actions would focus on the acquisition of the requisite ski
lls and technologies (for example, condition monitoring technologies) for the mi
cro-level improvement of maintenance effectiveness and efficiency. Actions at th
e tactical level would determine the correct assignment of maintenance resources
(skills, materials, test equipment, etc.) to fulfil the maintenance plan. As a
result, a detailed program would materialize with all the tasks specified and th
e resources assigned. Moreover, during the process of detailed maintenance requi
rements planning and scheduling, this level of activity must develop a level of
competence to discriminate among a variety of resource options (of different val
ues) that may be assigned to execute a maintenance task at a certain asset (say
a particular machine), location and time. Such action would spell out the tactic
al maintenance policies. Actions at the operational level would ensure that the
maintenance tasks are carried out by skilled technicians, in the time scheduled,
following the correct procedures, and using the proper tools. As a result, work
would be done and data would be recorded in the information system. Procedures
at the operational level would be needed for preventive works, equipment repairs
, and troubleshooting with a high degree of attention. Note that the diagnosis o
f the reasons for a system’s failure has become a critical function. This task oft
en engages specialists and uses complex technological systems. Therefore, it is
reasonable to expect that the troubleshooting process would rely heavily on the
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The Maintenance Management Framework
maintenance information systems that provide information about all the work done
on each piece of equipment. Finally, by capturing collective management experie
nce at the three levels, and adapting best practices from within and outside the
maintenance organization, we will be able to arrive at a maintenance management
system that is continuously improved, and that automatically adapts to new and
changing organization targets.
1.5 References
[1] EN 13306:2001, (2001) Maintenance Terminology. European Standard. CEN (Europ
ean Committee for Standardization), Brussels. [2] Campbell JD, Jardine AKS, (Edi
tors) (2001) Maintenance excellence: Optimizing equipment life-cycle decisions.
New York: Marcel Dekker. [3] Campbell JD, (1995) Uptime. Strategies for excellen
ce in maintenance management. Portland: Productivity Press. [4] Shenoy D, Bhadur
y B, (1998) Maintenance resources management: Adapting MRP. London: Taylor and F
rancis. [5] Wireman T, (1998) Developing performance indicators for managing mai
ntenance. New York: Industrial Press. [6] Duffuaa SO, Raouf A, Campbell JD, (200
0) Planning and control of maintenance systems. Indianapolis: John Wiley and Son
s. [7] Vagliasindi F, (1989) Gestire la manutenzione. Perche e come. Milano: Fra
nco Angeli. [8] Palmer RD, (1999) Maintenance Planning and Scheduling. New York:
McGrawHill. [9] Boucly F, (1998) Le management de la maintenance. Evolution et
mutation. Paris: Afnor. [10] Wireman T, (1990) World class maintenance managemen
t. New York: Industrial Press. [11] Nakajima S, (1989) An introduction to TPM. P
ortland: Productivity Press.