Lean management is overwhelmingly popular in modern businesses. By reducing wastefulness at the strategic level and implementing that into daily operations, you can help your company grow faster while spending less. Lean management methodologies often incorporate feedback from people at all levels, from executives to ground floor employees. This approach to lean management can also easily be applied to your maintenance protocol.
Smart companies are starting to recognize the untapped potential of their maintenance staff and partners. These hardworking individuals can tell you a lot about your maintenance program and how to maximize it for performance and efficiency. Those who spend time with your facility equipment will have the greatest knowledge on measures for efficiency and improved performance.
Therefore, in order to adopt a lean maintenance strategy, you must work closely with your maintenance staff. Decisions made by upper management may be slowing down your maintenance department or costing money and resources without your knowledge. Your maintenance staff will know how to make the right changes to obtain the best results.
Adopting lean maintenance strategies may be as simple as upgrading equipment or scheduling routine checks on heavily-used equipment. Rather than using a reactive or run-to-fail maintenance strategy, you can invest in preventative repairs that reduce overall costs. When developing a strategy for your lean maintenance program, consider all of the following areas:
- Labor – Are you hiring or contracting experienced maintenance staff? Are you conducting wrench time studies to determine where your contractors are struggling to complete tasks? Are you hiring based on competency or wage?
- Parts and equipment – Are you providing the correct tools for maintenance work? Are tools outdated or overused? Are your workers able to maintain a preventative maintenance schedule or has your equipment reached the end of its service life?
- Utilities – Are you using efficient equipment that is water and energy efficient ?
- Management – Are your maintenance management and facility management teams working together to solve problems? Are they in regular communication? Do they understand each other’s needs and priorities?
Lean maintenance management can help to both reduce costs and increase facility performance. Contact your local MaintenX team to learn more about lean maintenance and your service options today.
