finish the initial job before going home for the day.
9. Tomorrow is the same. But if we cannot finish everything that needs to be done today, how on earth are we going to have time to plan for tomorrow?
What might it look like if we were allowed to do maintenance the way we have always wanted to?
Maintenance Our Way
1. Maintenance is established as a site issue with all parties having an active role in work identification and priority setting.
2. A core group from operations, indirect materials, and maintenance with input from HSE and technical support is assigned as the SMLT to develop the actual work processes to be followed by the site. These flowcharts are reviewed and approved by the Site Management Leadership Team and then communicated to all site personnel.
3. Critical site roles for the success for this maintenance process are
a. Maintenance planner/scheduler for job prework
b. Production assistant (PA) to be the single voice for operations
c. Field safety coordinator (FSC) for third-party input and to drive the permit process
d. Indirect materials/stores representative to obtain parts and materials
5. Daily planning and scheduling meetings are held to identify, define, and prioritize work requests and to issue tomorrow’s schedule today to everyone. A one-week spreadsheet is maintained to allow moving work around to fit production needs. A weekly “look-ahead” meeting will also be held to project needs.
6. Jobs are not scheduled until all planning criteria are met.
7. The night operations crew prepares equipment and initiates permits identified on the next day’s schedule.
8. The day operations crew, mechanics, and FSC finalize preparation and verify safety at the start of tool time.
9. Mechanics arrive at a job with the tools, parts, and support needed to start work. This process repeats with the next scheduled job assigned to the mechanic.
10. Supervisors assign and handle E-jobs with as little disruption of as few mechanics as possible. Operations and maintenance supervision meet prior to mechanic start time to review night activities and to identify true E-jobs that will displace today’s scheduled work. Work assignments are changed prior to the crews going into the field.
11. If a mechanic is on a job and sees an additional needed repair or enhancement, he or she is empowered to do it at the end of the planned job if additional preparation is not needed. The task will be documented and feedback given to the planner for feedback to the customer. If planning is required, the job will be reported to the planner to be added to the backlog.
12. When our vision is achieved, maintenance will be in tune with the site needs and will proactively initiate corrections and enhancements at a level that there will be no need for operations to write anything other than a true emergency request.
As noted earlier, the definition of insanity is “doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.”
I propose that “maintenance insanity” is what some of us are doing or have done in the past all day every day. Maintenance insanity is repeatedly doing the same maintenance tasks by the same old conventional (“We have always done it this way!”) outdated methods during installation, repair, or rebuild of our equipment and then expecting by magic to have greater reliability, maximum uptime, reduced operating and maintenance costs, and better quality. It is our job to change our mindset and then share the knowledge with everyone on our sites to make converts.
Maintenance is not a cost. It is an investment. The product of maintenance is plant capacity. Through proper proactive systems using the appropriate predictive technologies, reliability is improved to ensure that equipment is available and in optimum condition to perform whenever needed. It can also reveal a “hidden” plant for extra capacity with minimum capital expenditures. Improved mechanic productivity is the human capacity produced by maintenance. The focus on reliability must be as important as the focus on safety. Doing the right things right the first time is the only acceptable option.
To be successful in changing, you must first be dissatisfied with your present condition. Even if you don’t know the answer, you need to have a desire to do better. If you are happy where you are or think that you are doing a good enough job, you will not be motivated to change. Make a plan and work it. First figure out the people you need on your SMLT to drive the change and then focus on what needs to be done. Be data driven and pull the trigger. The SMLT must be the leadership for the effort and have unwavering resolve to do what must be done. Don’t sugarcoat the present situation, but confront the brutal facts. Never lose faith that you will succeed. Get approval for your plan and use projected savings to justify these activities and to gain management support. Set high expectations for your organization. Do not limit your people by what you think they can do. Challenge them and let them say when you are pushing too much. Celebrate small successes to build to big ones. Share results with all employees to get their involvement. Remember that what gets rewarded is what gets done. Figure 3.1 shows the gap between where we are and where we want to be. Both leaders want to change, but they do not know how. First determine which consequences are producing the present results and change them to get what is best for the site.
The Key to Your Success: Your People
Your people are the key to your success. Focus on the human side for the most effective long-term changes to your culture. Each player must understand “why” we are changing and “what is in it for me?” All reliability starts with the mechanic at the base component level when your skilled craftsman installs, rebuilds, or repairs any piece of your equipment. Every mechanic has to know and believe that what he or she does makes a positive impact every day. It is the maintenance leadership’s responsibility to make sure that “this impact” is communicated to management and to the entire site. We each need to feel appreciated for the value-adding contributions that we make. Create performance management programs that implement a fun process to capture achievements, encourage reinforcement by all parties, provide feedback, and develop pride in the progress being made. We have had success incorporating the Fish! philosophy into our performance management programs.
FIGURE 3.1 What does it take to make it happen?
Fish! is a book by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen. The authors propose four concepts to be used to boost morale and improve results:
1. Choose your attitude.
2. Play—make work fun.
3. Be there for your customers and coworkers.
4. Make someone’s day.
We have actually installed billboards and banners at the entry gates at some sites that capture this philosophy. They say:
As you enter this place CHOOSE to make today a great day. Your colleagues, customers, team members, and you yourself will be thankful. Find ways to PLAY. We can be serious about work without being serious about ourselves. Stay focused in order to BE PRESENT when your customers and team members most need you. And should you feel your energy lapsing, try this surefire remedy: Find someone who needs a helping hand, a word
