In some circumstances, the maintenance department can be its own worst enemy, or the enemy of the equipment that is the reason for the plant to operate. This is not intentional. But, by intentionally eliminating just six mistakes, the maintenance department can radically serve its purpose better.
Mistake number one. Letting inventory manage itself. Is your stockroom full to the rafters with outdated spare parts, motors that are collecting dust (and will likely not work once installed), boxes of spare cables, and mystery parts? Oddly enough, such stockrooms sometimes don’t have a critical part for a critical machine, or if it’s there nobody knows where it is. Clean this up; if in doubt, throw it out. Then barcode everything that’s left, and log inventory into a central system. Require barcode scans when anything is moved, added, or used.
Mistake number two. Treating lubricants as interchangeable. Failure to use the correct lubricant in the correct amount can result in catastrophic damage. Treat containers of lubricant as stockroom assets, even if the lubrication storage isn’t in the stockroom. Each maintenance procedure should have the asset number, barcode, or QR code of the exact lubricant used with that equipment. If there’s not a lubrication procedure for a given piece of equipment, for example the drive motor on Line 3, one must be created. It need not be detailed, but it must identify the correct lubricant.
Mistake number three. Storing PPE in a casual manner. PPE needs to be stored such that it is clean, undamaged, and available when needed. If people are not storing it properly, it’s probably because they don’t have the proper storage means. Solve the cause, whatever it happens to be.
Mistake number four. Failing to track the usage and location of each ladder. You may have three 10 ft ladders and Jim needs one but gets a 6 ft ladder instead because he can’t find the right ladder after searching for 20 minutes. A barcode on each ladder will allow people to scan a ladder wherever they last use it. By doing so, it will be possible to locate each ladder where it was last used. No more walking around looking for the right one.
Mistake number five. Failing to take complete As Found data. This includes not just measurements as required on procedures, but also visual inspection information. For example, “Cover bolt missing and supply wire discolored” tells you something important about that equipment. The condition of the environment is also part of As Found data, for example “Boxes stacked directly under busway.”
Mistake number six. Performing tests, procedures, or adjustments incorrectly. This is often called “maintenance error” and it’s a significant cause of equipment failure. Supervisors seldom catch these mistakes because they aren’t trained to perform those tasks and they can’t watch over the shoulder of everyone in their crew. What’s the solution? Frequent focused training in small doses. Highly trained people are not only more efficient, they make fewer mistakes. The training more than pays for itself, it’s costly to “save money” by skipping it.
Two of the aforementioned mistakes are safety issues. But when someone is injured and unable to work, the remaining maintenance workers must try to pick up the slack. That creates more pressure to get work done, which leads to even more mistakes. And a vicious cycle then ensues.
