Summary
What is the mission of maintenance? There used to be as many answers to this question as there were companies. When a company even had a mission statement, it ranged from ensuring quick reaction times fixing breakdowns to serving the customer. Some companies are intent on reducing downtime, and others focus on cost control or quality. A few focus on safety or environmental security.
On the other side, routine maintenance activity should be merged into operations. The TPM
(total productive maintenance) model shows that operators can handle the task and that the
whole maintenance effort will benefit from operator involvement.
When you don\'t have the time, resources or technology to figure out the underlying problem,
use a PM approach to reduce your exposure to breakdowns. Also continue PM, along with
other methods, where the implications of breakdown are deadly or terribly expensive
Every maintenance improvement reduces the need for maintenance labor and increases the
service level to the maintenance user. The same asset can be successfully maintained by a
smaller and smaller crew. Maintenance departments that take this approach will be doing their
part to ensure that their organization survives and thrives.