Page 342 - Intro Predictive Maintenance

Establishing a Predictive Maintenance Program 333

the norm in our domestic plants, have resulted in widespread frustration throughout
the workforce. This frustration is especially true of first-line supervisors.

Regardless of the reason for their resistance, first-line supervisors must be convinced
to provide absolute, unconditional support. Your program plan must include the
motivation and rationale that will convince this critical part of the workforce to
get involved and to become a positive force that will ensure success.

Hourly Workforce. Most programs fail to address the final audience—the hourly
workforce. This mistake is absolutely fatal. Without the total support and assistance
of the hourly workers, nothing can change. Your program plan must include specific
means of winning both initial and long-term support from the workers.

The best way to accomplish this key milestone is to include their representatives in
the program development phase and continue their involvement throughout the
program. Think like your audience. Include specific information and data that will
be understood by your audience. Corporate executives will relate to staffing per ton,
working ratios, and bottom-line profit. Hourly workers will relate to improved
working conditions and higher incentives that result from improved yields. Think like
your audience and your potential for approval will be improved.

Creating an Implementation Plan
A concise, detailed program plan is the most important part of your program. Without
a good plan, most programs fail within the first year. The plan must include well-
defined goals and objectives. Use extreme caution to ensure that goals are achievable
within the prescribed timeline.

Few plants can afford to lay out major capital investments that are required by
improvement programs. Therefore, your program should use a phased approach.
Specific tasks should be defined in a logical sequence that minimizes investment and
maximizes returns. Return on investment must be the driving force behind your
timeline and implementation approach.

Make sure that all tasks required to accomplish your program are included in
the program plan. Each task should include a clear definition, including a deliv-
erable; assign responsibility to a specific individual; and indicate a start and end
date. In addition, each task description should include all tools, skills, and support
required.

Return on Investment. A viable continuous improvement program must be designed
to pay for itself. Do not be misled; this is not an arbitrary management view. Your
profit and loss statement clearly shows that the financial resources required to support
an improvement program are simply not available. Every decision made must be
driven by this single factor—return on investment. Unless your program can definitely
pay for itself, it should not be implemented.