Page 417 - Intro Predictive Maintenance

408 An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance

• By keeping visibility high: publishing articles in company newsletters,
recognizing significant achievements, keeping communication channels
fluid and open, and providing the means to have workers’ voices heard.
• By demonstrating that management has a team mindset, as opposed to an
autocratic one.
• By providing an environment in which management is open to change and
willing to permit workers to plan for and implement change.

18.7.2 Cost
Like all other programs, maintenance improvement comes with a price tag. From
the very beginning, it must be impressed on senior management that launching a
program will cause an initial increase in costs as a result of accelerated maintenance
activities, team-building training, and technical training. Startup costs will be incurred
in assessing current equipment effectiveness and baseline pilot equipment in the plant.
Introducing the plan to the entire workforce and communicating it on a regular
basis will require additional outlays for newsletters, communication centers, and the
like.

But the long-term payoffs from proactive maintenance will overwhelm costs. To the
extent that downtime of your equipment can be reduced, you are going to save money
by keeping production running. To the extent that the performance of your equipment
can be enhanced, you are going to maintain throughput, and you are going to improve
product quality. To the extent that your equipment is adequately maintained, you are
going to keep it in service longer and reduce your capital expenditures.

18.7.3 Culture
Company culture is one of the most critical aspects in determining if the program will
be successful. The company that truly believes in using the talents of its people is
more likely to have a successful maintenance improvement program than one still
hanging onto the autocratic principles of Taylorism. Experience has shown that
workers thrive on involvement in an environment where they are treated as produc-
tive individuals who have a voice in their workplace.

Productivity is fostered when management is willing to provide the latitude for people
to try new things, even if they fail occasionally. Maintenance improvement requires
a culture where there is a commitment to change, a commitment to ongoing improve-
ment, and a commitment to treating each individual as a valued employee. Imple-
mentation will have a profound, positive effect on the culture of a company. It will
change the culture. It will change relationships across organizations of the company.
It will distribute decision making and disperse the authority base.

Adefinite correlation exists between management style and the culture of an organi-
zation. How people are led and managed affects how they feel about the company and