Page 414 - Improving Machinery Reliability

378 Improving Machinery Reliability

Resentment may arise from having outsiders come in periodically and “take over,”
which may be seen as an implied criticism of your captive work force.
Then there is the “love ’em and leave ’em” syndrome. In this case, after the sub-
contractor has completed his contract and left, the regular maintenance force may
have to resolve possible problems that crop up later. This could cause resentment,
and result in comments like: “Why didn’t you let us do it in the first place?’

Many petrochemical companies in the industrialized world believe the peak shav-
ing principle offers the most attractive long-term benefits to a maintenance manager:

1. It is a reasonable and practical compromise between the first and third alterna-
tives-it combines the best points of the captive maintenance arrangement with
the best points of the full maintenance contract.
2. It allows the maintenance manager to retain a skeleton crew to handle normal
daily operations, yet leaves him free to employ high-priced specialists whose
talents will be used on an infrequent basis.
3. It results in a reduced salary schedule, as well as fringe benefit economies (can
amount to 30%-40% of employees’ salary in some countries).
4. Contractor organizations are continually encountering and solving a multitude
of complicated technical problems that the average maintenance man wouldn’t
normally see. They get constant practice in solving problems-under pressure.
5. Skill and experience developed by frequent problem solving enables a specialist
contractor to complete an assignment and get a plant back on stream with the
minimum amount of downtime. Obviously, this results in greatly increased
overall savings.

If you are involved in planning and managing a maintenance program, there is one
key additional factor to be taken into account when selecting an outside vendor orga-
nization.

independent or OEM?

Over the past several years, the independent service contractor has come into his
own. Today, the independent contractor vigorously competes with the service orga-
nizations of the original equipment manufacturer, or OEMs for short. Some positive
points can be made for each.

The Independent Service Contractor

The independent contractor often offers a maintenance manager a greater range of
services and, at times, wage rates that are lower than the rates paid to the OEM.
This can result in lower maintenance costs.
Independent contractors tend to be more local-market oriented than today’s OEM,
who will generally operate on a global or regional geographic basis. Thus indepen-
dents can, at times, provide faster service.