Page 271 - Improving Machinery Reliability
P. 271

Chapter 4

                                  Maintenance and


                          Benchmarking Reliability






                                         Maintenance Measurement*

                      Enterprise  assets are used  to produce  the products  and  services that  enable an
                    organization to achieve its ultimate  goal-to   expand and sustain the business. The
                    effective use of these assets is the responsibility of everyone in the organization.
                      Measurements,  or metrics,  are used  to  ascertain how  efficiently  the  assets  are
                    being  used. They  identify  where  and when  assets  are being used inefficiently  and
                    require  change. They  also reveal  if  applied  changes have  positively  or  negatively
                    affected the enterprise. Without measurements, the company  has no perspective of
                    the impact or direction  of a change. Measurements help set and  adjust enterprise
                    direction.
                      Many elements affect the direction of an enterprise and therefore its asset utiliza-
                    tion. Customers, competition, and change itself drive the need for assets to be main-
                    tained and continually improved.

                      Continually changing customer product and service demands determine the speed
                      and direction of asset utilization.
                      To meet demand, competitors change and improve their assets. The asset utiliza-
                      tion of a business should exceed its competitors’ capabilities or the enterprise will
                      not grow and sustain itself.
                      Technology changes require continuous measurement of asset utilization to deter-
                      mine when  improvements  are required. Both the timing and complexity  of  asset
                      changes are critical to the success of an enterprise. Measurements guide and direct
                      that change.
                      Plant  and equipment  maintenance  is an important enterprise  function. Mainte-
                    nance  affects  all enterprise  assets, whether  they are production  equipment  on the


                    . -_       -           . -                           ~
                     *Adapted, by permission, from Bewig, Lou, “Maintenance Measurement,” Mnirirenm~ce Tecli~rology,
                     December, 1966.

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