Page 277 - Improving Machinery Reliability

248 Improving Machinery Reliability

Table 4-2
Sample Values for Strategic Level Measurements

Value
Measurement Best Average
Maintenance costs as a percent of cost of goods sold 1.9 4.0
Maintenance costs as a percent of machinery and equipment replacement value 2.0 5.0
Number of service maintenance employees as a percent of direct labor employees 3.0 7.0
Spare parts inventory as a percent of machinery and equipment replacement value 1.0 3.0
Spare parts inventory turns 1.4 0.5
Routine scheduled maintenance hours as percent of total maintenance hours 80.0 35.0
Certified training costs per employee $1,200 $400
Maintenance-related downtime as a percent of total downtime 4.0 10.0

As a result, some words of caution are necessary regarding benchmarking and the
information on the world-class characteristics just presented. The information is pro-
vided because everyone seems interested. The use of this information is, however,
somewhat questionable. Questions such as the following arise:

What is the world-class environment (for example, industry and manufacturing type)?
Where does the measured operation fit?
If, in a specific area, an operation’s measurement exceeds world class, is there no
need for improvement?
How are the measurements calculated? Is our operation calculating the compo-
nents consistently?
Is world class too expensive for our operation?

These questions reflect just some of the issues that render world-class information
questionable.
Benchmarking and data comparison are good tools if understood and used correct-
ly. A lot of good can come from comparing an operation with others that are similar
and dissimilar. New ideas and concepts from other operations can be identified and
adapted. The most productive use of benchmarking and value comparison is to iden-
tify where improvements are needed and determine the impact of change.
The productive way to use external benchmarking is to determine what is internal-
ly important (goals and CBIs) and use benchmarking to measure those operational
aspects. In the true benchmarking concept, the internal information can then be com-
pared with information from other organizations. The comparison must be controlled
and focused on the operational aspects being studied. This approach ensures that
apples are compared with apples. Sharing internal benchmark information serves
only to optimize the asset. Again, the benchmark data are the tool, and how they are
used is what makes the data productive.
The biggest problem with measurements and benchmarks is high development and
utilization costs. Everyone in the organization must be educated concerning the costs
of measurement collection and utilization and their associated values. Value is not
received unless data are collected and used. The tools and time used to input, store,