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Unfortunately, there is no easy answer for choosing the number of maintenance mechanics or technicians as we wrestle with maintenance costs, reliability improvement, and an era of maintenance skills shortages. Here are the big variables that affect maintenance staffing level decisions.
Cheaper is Not Always Better
Whether it is a service or a product, cheaper is not always better. We have all experienced the difference between something that is “cheaply made” and something that is “a lot of value for the money.” So, what is motivating us, our society, our companies, and our organizations to blur the lines between “cheap” and “low cost/high value”? And what are the consequences?
Sometimes, It’s the Little Things
Many of today's businesses have become obsessed with "improvement programs." And many of these programs have come and gone over the decades. All the while, the causes of poor equipment performance and downtime are often overlooked. Many of today's equipment-related losses are preventable using common sense, time, minimal resources, and experienced coaching. Here are a few case examples of how the little things can make a big difference.
I Want America Back!
Remember when our businesses, industries, government, and educational institutions focused on the basics? The very foundation of what made America strong has eroded, and our capital-intensive businesses and industries are at more risk today than ever before. But the analytical tools and technologies available to improve reliability have blossomed. Given these tools and technologies, we should have the most productive, reliable plants and facilities in the world. So where is the gap?
A World without Craftsmen
"Craftsmanship" results when highly trained, skilled, and knowledgeable workers use tools and machinery to perform their work, or trade, with the highest levels of quality and appeal. But this "craftsmanship" and pride in workmanship is nothing new. Let's look at the historical development of a "craftsman" as a lesson for our future.
The Rise and Decline of Auto Manufacturing
U.S. workforce and leadership can do anything they put their mind to, making us the most productive nation in the world. But American automakers should learn a lesson from the history of British auto manufacturing.
Facing Our Own Giants
Maintenance and reliability problems can range from small to huge. But left unchallenged, the entire facility work culture becomes demoralized, frustrated, and berated. Problems grow, and the big ugly threatening “giant” wins. For true and lasting improvement to occur, there must be effective leadership. And without positive action, a leader’s vision for the future is only a dream.
Why Should We Care?
What do these have in common: workplace organization, 5S, housekeeping, tardiness, absenteeism, safety, labor shortages, and equipment maintenance and reliability? For starters, we have seen significant efforts to improve these areas for years. And sometimes, the results of these efforts go dormant, plateau, or stop all together. A long list of short-lived improvements shapes the attitudes on the plant floor. Attitudes sink to new lows. "Why should we care?"
American Manufacturing: We Can Do It!
The United States is the most productive nation in the world, but we are going to lose our lead big time unless we wake up to the fact that our competitive edge is slipping. We are productive for many, many reasons. We can do it, but we have to consciously choose to do things differently. The time for action is now!
The Most Productive Nation
The United States remains the most productive nation in the world, and U.S. manufacturing has remained the most productive in the world since before 1960. Regardless what might be stated in today’s media, regardless of our politicians’ interpretations, regardless of what some think—we are a model of economic stamina. But if we want to remain the most productive nation in the world, we have serious work to do… and we already know how to do it.
What Gets Measured Gets Done
Data, metric, measures, assessments, evaluations, scorecards, progress reports… Why is it that so often we get hung up on metrics and measuring things to the point that we sometimes lose track of measuring what really matters?
2006 SMRP Skills Shortage Presentation
"How to Overcome the Maintenance Skills Shortage" slide-show presentation from the 14th annual SMRP conference held in October 2006
Fundamentally Rethinking Maintenance and Reliability
M&R programs-of-the-month come and go, each being the silver bullet designed to outdate all other practices. Unfortunately, they rarely work and are rarely sustainable. We need to fundamentally re-think our M&R strategies as we approach this “perfect storm” of skills shortages. So where do we start?
World-Class Simplicity...from the 14th Century
Our manufacturing world can be unnecessarily complicated. Complex solutions are often developed to address relatively simple problems. Now is the time to seek world-class simplicity...a principle taught by a 14th century monk.
Total Productive Maintenance: What It Is and What It Is Not
TPM in its truest sense is a powerful yet simple strategy that can yield sustainable results. Unfortunately, TPM in America has been more often misunderstood than understood. Here are some insights into what TPM is, what it is not, and what it takes to tap into its power.
Equipment Reliability: Getting Fast, Focused, Sustainable Results
What is the secret of generating revenue and lowering operating costs fast? Focus, focus, focus! Focus your reliability efforts on the critical few pieces of equipment in your production process flow. Look for the constraints first. This will lead to improved throughput and revenues. If the causes are related to equipment performance and reliability, then follow this simple process.
Integrating TPM with Lean, Existing Systems, and Organizations
This presentation focuses on the confusion about and barriers to Total Productive Maintenance principles, in contrast to existing legacy systems and organization structures, and the transformation to Lean Manufacturing. Robert Williamson describes many different proven success factors and common failure modes of TPM. Confusion about "lean" coupled with a "program-of-the-month" apathy and misconceptions about maintenance and TPM all put up barriers to improving overall equipment effectiveness, the original intent of TPM. Whether you call it TPM, Lean Maintenance, or Lean Equipment Management, new methods must be used to eliminate equipment-related losses (wastes) to reduce cost and improve throughput.
The Mystery of the Lean Toolbox
Many of today’s Lean Manufacturing initiatives describe a Lean Toolbox. There appears to be a whole box full of new tools to help us achieve “Lean.” But most of these tools are not new, and there are some basic tools missing.
Finding the Elephant in Maintenance
In the world of manufacturing and facilities management, we often get called upon to find ways to improve maintenance. Consider these basic steps for sustainable improvements.
Skills Shortages Contribute to Job Loss
Excellent maintenance and reliability skills and knowledge are in peak demand in today’s work environment and labor market, and the demand has been increasing at an alarming rate. The problem is this: Many people working in the maintenance field today are stuck with the same old skill sets they had years ago.
Pay-for-Applied Skills: The Time is Now
Having trouble retaining top-skilled maintenance technicians? Motivating them to master new skills a problem? Is recruiting good employees difficult? Consider a pay-for-applied-skills compensation plan.
The Fuzzy Side of Equipment Reliability
A few observations about the relationship between employee skills and equipment reliability may offer insights for plant and facility managers who are troubled with unreliable equipment and high maintenance costs.
NASCAR: a Model for Equipment Reliability and Teamwork
Explore the winning aspects of NASCAR race teams by looking at six key elements of equipment performance and reliability for manufacturing equipment and facilities maintenance.
Lean Organizations Must Have Reliable Equipment
Many of today’s business leaders interpret “lean” as “downsizing” and make the mistake of reducing headcount. That is not the intent of “lean.” Explore what lean is and what it isn't.
Surviving Changes in Management
Surviving management turnover is a tough challenge for maintenance and reliability improvement initiatives. Explore tips for helping your improvement process endure.
Facing a Famine in the Workforce
Examine steps employers and business leaders can take to stem the problems associated with shortages of skilled people willing and able to take jobs.
Keeping and Developing Skilled Employees: Your Future Depends on It
Finding skilled and knowledgeable maintenance and reliability employees is getting harder and harder. How will we maintain the high levels of equipment and process reliability that our plants and facilities demand?
The 'Perfect Storm' is Bearing Down on US Food Manufacturers
With a pending wave of departing skilled maintenance workers, the U.S. food manufacturing industry, along with many other industries, are in the eye of a "perfect storm." Many are unaware of either its magnitude or its devastating impact.
Using Overall Equipment Effectiveness: the Metric and the Measures
OEE was not designed to make comparisons from machine-to-machine, plant-to-plant, or company-to-company, but it has evolved to these common levels of misuse. What was the original intent of Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a metric and a measure?
E-mail: The Most Used, Least Effective Communication Tools
We have worked with many different types of manufacturing facilities around North America, seeking to improve communications about equipment and process reliability and have discovered why some preventive maintenance programs fail: e-mail.
Breakthrough Strategy for Changing Behaviors
When moving from a reactive maintenance work culture to one that emphasizes equipment and process reliability, we are challenging the maintenance mindsets of many people at all levels in the organization. So how do you go about changing the work culture?
Data, Data, Data …
Turning data into useful information is the key to making critical equipment reliable. NASCAR contenders have found data invaluable in improving their overall performance. How they use data to assure equipment performance and reliability provides a model for manufacturing and maintenance. Here are some insights.
Focus on Results and Change the Culture Along the Way (Part 1)
It’s fairly easy to become enamored with setting up a program to improve performance. It’s also easy to get a small group rallied around a maintenance improvement project. The problem with this “activity-based” approach is that the enthusiasm runs out. The key is to focus on results!
Focus on Results and Change the Culture Along the Way (Part 2)
Can you reduce equipment downtime by more than 50 percent in less than one month? This company did!
Don't Be Misled by O.E.E.
Overall equipment effectiveness has been used as one of the more important maintenance metrics since Total Productive Maintenance came to the U.S. in the late 1980s. But it has also been misused and has caused confusion.
The Tale of an Old Clock and Reliability
A broken clock is right exactly twice each day. But did you ever think about what "right" really means?
Focus on Results and Change the Culture Along the Way (Part 3)
"Here it comes again: another new maintenance program. I wonder how long this one will last?"
Have your attempts to improve equipment maintenance and reliability been met with similar reactions? What sets ill-fated attempts apart from the breakthrough improvements that lead to sustainable results and new behaviors?
Warning: Vocational Classes Falling Out of Favor
The decline in technical education is a serious threat to U.S. manufacturing capabilities.
Skills Shortage Stirs Up the Perfect Storm
The lack of basic maintenance skills threatens equipment reliability.
"Should We Cut Maintenance or Training?"
Cuts in these areas can be a prescription for failure!
Lessons from the Busted Knuckle Garage
Would you take your car to mechanics who did not have the right skills? Or where their goal was to fix things fast and cheap? Unfortunately in many plants today, we are doing this very same thing with our most critical equipment.