The dollar value of each minute of downtime for critical equipment is very high relative to the dollar value of each minute of non-critical equipment. So, when we say “optimize,” we are thinking in terms of the best use of the available resources.

A big part of optimization involves allocating resources away from non-critical equipment and toward critical equipment. The higher the criticality, the higher the proportion of resources should be — up to the point where the resources are sufficient for the problem that needs solving.

The highest priorities are:

1. Safety.
2. Environment.
3. Critical infrastructure (e.g., the main transformer).
4. Critical production equipment (as identified and ranked by Operations).

Follow these tips when designing and administering your trouble call response system:

1. Establish a quick contact system. Ensure everyone who is on call for responding to a troubleshooting service request from Operations is available for instant contact. Traditionally, this is done by radio. This is probably still the best way, mainly because of the “one to many” nature of it.
2. Designate a dispatcher. Ideally, this will be the lead tech or similar person (such as crew leader) who is actively out on the floor. This person must understand the relative importance of various equipment and allocate technician assignments accordingly. Operations supervisors should each have a radio, also. If a problem arises, they reach out to the dispatcher not to individual maintenance techs, for assistance.
3. Ensure that every maintenance technician is trained in “First Response.” They need to know how to properly greet the operator (extremely important not just for good interdepartmental relations but for setting the tone of the visit), how to ask probing questions about what problem(s) the operator has encountered, and how to make a quick diagnosis. They will then need to communicate their findings clearly to the dispatcher and work out the next steps in how to proceed. You don’t want people chasing ghosts or diving into something they are not qualified to handle.
4. Ensure that every potential responder is equipped for immediate action. That means a full tool belt, at the very least. The responder needs to be able to perform a reasonably accurate preliminary diagnosis. In many plants, the responders leave the shop a the start of their shift pushing a well-equipped maintenance cart. This cart is also useful for hauling back to the shop the bad parts removed during the repair.
5. Reduce walks to the shop. At a plastics plant in Tennessee, a high revenue extruder sat idle while the responding maintenance electrician walked to the shop and back for a 2A fuse for the control system. But instead of bringing back one fuse, he brought back two. He taped the second one to the panel wall close to the fuse holder. Using a permanent marker, he wrote “SPARE 2A FUSE” on the panel wall and drew an arrow pointing to the spare. But what if the stockroom had been out of that fuse? A more professional solution would have been for the systems engineer or perhaps a maintenance supervisor to identify all fuses needed for that critical machine and provide a fuse kit located at the machine. For any piece of critical equipment, make a list of spare parts that are relatively cheap and ensure they are stored at the machine or in a nearby locker dedicated to that machine.
6. Ensure that every maintenance technician is trained in “how to check your work and functionally test the equipment.” It’s hugely embarrassing, not to mention expensive for the company, for a piece of equipment to go down once again only minutes after the maintenance technician walked off. If the equipment is critical for safety or the environment, that technician should stay with it long enough to observe proper operation even if there’s another trouble call. Circling back to recheck it is usually advisable, in case something was missed. If a different person does the revisit, that person needs to know ahead of time what to check for and how to do the checking.