June 2010 Paper- Five Truths That May Hinder Your Preventive Maintenance Success

Five Truths that may hinder your Preventive

Maintenance success An honest perspective of PMs as an FM practice

in the Caribbean Region

Tyrel Melville, FMP

President – T&T Chapter IFMA [email protected]

Manager – Facilities Maintenance

Delta Dynamics Limited [email protected]

6/22/2010

Five Truths that may hinder your

Preventive Maintenance success

Author: Tyrel Melville, FMP 2 | P a g e

Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Truth #1: FM Staff in unsure of the true benefits of Preventive Maintenance ...................................... 3

Truth #2: Data from PM program is sparingly used for decision making ............................................... 5

Truth #3: Not enough is known about their Maintenance worthy items ............................................... 7

Truth #4: PM results aren’t tied into Organizational Strategy ............................................................... 9

Truth#5: A Culture of “Good Maintenance” may not exist ................................................................. 11

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 13

Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 14




Introduction

Preventive Maintenance or PM as its common acronym is a common practice in Trinidad & Tobago and by extension the Caribbean region. [With certain mention of “PM” in the news recently, its easy play on the meaning of the term. I will resist the temptation]. For the purpose of this presentation, my reference to PM solely refers to Preventive Maintenance. This presentation’s intention is not aimed at helping you lay out your PM program from inception to implementation, rather to provoke the thinking of today’s Caribbean Facility Manager. If we were to poll ten Facility Managers in Trinidad & Tobago were to describe their success implementing a Preventive Maintenance program, the answers will show varying degrees of success. These successes, as celebrated as they should be, vary in their effectiveness. Throughout my time as a professional in the region, I have been privy to many reasons, justifications and excuses for non-conformance to their facility PM schedules. In many conversations with the 30+ customers Delta Dynamics Limited has both locally and regionally, we have had a fortunate experience to share in their highs and lows of getting a PM program off the ground. Justifications against PM’s include:

- “We are understaffed.” - “We proposed, but we weren’t approved.” - “We don’t have the in-house competency” - “How much Preventive Maintenance should we be doing?” - “Is it cheaper to let all items run its course?” - “That aspect is outsourced” - “ Our Contractors do that for us” or “We can’t afford Contractors to do that for us”

This presentation is not representative of any absolute truth. You may agree that PM’s are important, or maybe it’s an outdated method (PM practice gained recognition in the 1970’s). However, it challenges its audience to take a polarizing position, whether for or against, to truthfully ask ourselves why does our PM programs have challenges and what actions can be taken to mitigate their effects. A presentation on the following topics will be presented, with examples of implemented solutions to be shared.

Truth #1: FM Staff in unsure of the true benefits of Preventive Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance tasks are repetitive, mundane work assignments. If their activities and results are not monitored, you may potentially have some activities falling through the cracks. A grease point missed; a breakdown here; a drive train belt ignored there; or a leak missed during an inspection. There is not as much staff buy-in as desired. This is especially true, as they are applauded for their corrective actions to in smothering crises, rather than averting it. Are your respective FM departments aware of what PMs are meant to achieve? Is there a tangible, referable document within your organization that measures and defines PM success? There are similar definitions for PM that are well documented. I personally like the following definition:




PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE: Planned actions undertaken to retain an item at a specified level of performance by providing repetitive scheduled tasks which prolong system operation and useful life; i.e., inspection, cleaning, lubrication and minor part replacement.

Cotts, David C. and Michael Lee - “The Facility Management Handbook” 1992

Added to this definition:

...PM’s of facility, equipment and assets are designed to avoid regular instances of unplanned maintenance activity. Its purpose is to minimize breakdowns and excessive depreciation.

(William C. Worsham – “Is Preventive Maintenance necessary?” 1999)

Neither equipment nor facilities should be allowed to go to the breaking point. A bona fide preventive maintenance program should include:

- Non-destructive testing - Periodic inspection - Condition Monitoring - Pre-planned maintenance activities - Maintenance to correct deficiencies found through testing or inspections.

(E.T Newbrough – “Effective Maintenance Management” 1967)

Even if all these aspects were assimilated into the Facility Management operation, where PM efforts fall short is in the realm of shared reports, goals and targets. These measured targets, commonly known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are what should define your organization’s successes in your PM programs. These, when trended over time, and shared with staff and department representatives, it can serve as a powerful change agent to foster buy-in and compliance to PM activities. So how do we trend? What data should we be trending? As an initial step, let us focus on the initial description I shared, i.e.

“...avoiding regular instances of unplanned maintenance activities. Its purpose is to minimize breakdowns and excessive depreciation.”

The following graph trends an unnamed FM department over the course of two years. This comparison trending of Corrective (or unplanned work) versus Preventive (Proactive type work) visually achieves the following:




Figure 1 – PM vs. Corrective Example Report

1. Behaviour of Maintenance Costs over time

2. Correlation of Maintenance Types to each other

A good Preventive Maintenance regime reduces Corrective Maintenance costs over time. Since PM tasks are comparably cheaper and less strenuous than the average corrective maintenance tasks, then a good selling point is the savings that the FM employee is directly responsible for.

Truth #2: Data from PM program is sparingly used for decision making

We all use reports for periodic monitoring and leveraging. We have also experienced reports being a purposeful indicator of “Appearing busy”. In the case of PM’s what data should we be capturing for use?

Data are plain facts. When data are processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make them useful, it is called Information.

Compare the difference (http://www.diffen.com)

Chances are you retrieve most of your data from your work or purchase invoices. These are easy to retrieve and definitely present objective data that paints a vital picture for decision making. What other data do you capture to aid in decision making? If you have very few answers for yourself, chances are you regularly make the following repeated statements regarding Facility Management in your organization, with constraints your decision turnaround time:

- We need to have more information before we make a decision.

- We don’t have enough money.

- We don’t have enough funds allocated in this year’s budget.

- We needed the information “yesterday”.




- We have other important projects that require greater priority.

A common Caribbean concern regarding PMs and data is that we are unsure of what data we should be measuring. In the past, using leading financial indicators dominated the industry because of the direct influence that financial departments have on the business operation. Their influence surprisingly does not solely lie in the fact that they control the organization’s wealth. Additionally, they have incredible policies and systems that encourage data capture. Further, their system of record keeping, (Statements, Balance Sheets, Cash Flows, etc.) allow for transparency and quick retrieval of data to inform decisions, analyse and forecast. The truth is that financials are lagging indicators. In fact, we can only have financial data after actual work or purchases are carried out. FM’s Information leads to Finance’s Data.

Revisiting the question, “What data should we be capturing for use?” we should have the following in place:

- Database for record keeping

- Policies and procedures for record keeping

- Measurable Indicators as objective evidence

- Auditing mechanism for self improvement

Here are some objective, reportable goals that can be obtained from your PM program if good records are kept:

- Reduction in equipment or operation downtime. Fewer machine breakdowns.

- Increase in Life Expectancy. Eliminating premature replacement of equipment and systems.

- Reduction of in-house labour overtime costs. Reduction of contract over runs.

- Ratios of workers scheduled vs. breakdown repair work activities

- Reduction of cost of repairs by reducing secondary failures.

- Reduction of instances of work recalls

- Identification of equipment with excessive maintenance costs. Justification for:

o Corrective maintenance

o Operator training

o Replacement of obsolete equipment or systems




Truth #3: Not enough is known about their Maintenance worthy items

Does your maintenance worthy items speak to you? (Maintenance worthy items refers to all assets of plant, equipment, furniture and facility systems that warrant attention and upkeep by the Facility Management function of an organization). Do you have records of all your equipment? Assets? Vehicles? Working Spaces? Work History? PM Schedules? Is the information recorded centrally? There is a likelihood that you may have said “Yes” to all these questions, and that would be a good thing. If a direction of the following counter questions were designed towards you, internalize your answers please:

- Do you associate a priority with the maintenance of each space, asset or equipment? - What are the operating parameters of your equipment (e.g. amperage, voltage, phases,

BTU, etc.) - Do you know the true annual costs of doing maintenance on these items? - Do you know where all your assets are currently located/Can they be identified? - Do you know/have listed an inventory of the parts specific to your vehicle/equipment - Do you know what type of maintenance is ideal for the item? - Do you know how much annual labour or contractor support is required? - Do you know or have standardized the colour/brand/specs of the following within your

facility: o Locksets o Flooring in priority/critical & high traffic areas o Office Furniture o Etc...

It is noted that these are tough questions, and you probably don’t have an answer. Let us discuss the benefits of having an affirmative answer this question: Question#1: What type of maintenance that is ideal for the item? There are maintenance worthy items that may be more costly to practice preventive maintenance on them. In these cases, either Predictive Maintenance Techniques or running these items to failure may be warranted. The life cycle behaviour of most assets can be described by the following diagram.

Figure 2 - The Bathtub Curve Hazard Function




The “Bathtub” Curve Hazard Function is widely associated with Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) (Bathtub Curve Hazard Function – Reliabilityweb.com). RCM is an engineering process that ensures assets continue to do what their users require in their present operating context. This process involves establishing levels of maintenance, changes to operating procedures, documenting & management of risk or potential failure modes. These potential failure modes should be properly identified and the associated risks be documented. The likelihood exists that PMs may be necessary only to maintain a certain aspect of the asset. The following questions are asked:

1. What is the item supposed to do and its associated performance standards? 2. In what ways can it fail to provide the required functions? 3. What are the events that cause each failure? 4. What happens when each failure occurs? 5. In what way does each failure matter? 6. What systematic task can be performed proactively to prevent, or to diminish to a

satisfactory degree, the consequences of the failure? 7. What must be done if a suitable preventive task cannot be found?

Using the RCM Process paints a real picture of the extent that Preventive Maintenance is required or should be excluded.

Figure 3 – Example of RCM Analysis of Asset System Functions Pt.1




Figure 4 - Example of RCM Analysis of Asset System Functions Pt.2

Truth #4: PM results aren’t tied into Organizational Strategy

Do we our organization’s mission & value statements? Where do your Organizations see themselves in the next three, five or seven years? Are we aware of their Strategic Plans for Operation, Growth and Business Continuity? If you are even partially ignorant of this dynamic document’s existence, then I am doubtful you’re FM department plays an influential role in the organization progression. As the old adage goes, “If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” The importance of translating the goals of the FM function to specific and calculable goals, which can associate with the Business performance measures of the organization, is a tremendous tool. IFMA’s Strategic Facility Management White Paper, Published 2009, does a masterful job of translating how Strategic Planning on the part of the FM function plays a vital, objective role in developing PM program relevance. See table overleaf




Figure 5 - Three Important Strategic FM Plans

(Kathy O. Roper - IFMA International – Strategic Facility Planning White Paper 2009)

FM’s must make every effort to portray itself as a relevant part of the organization, integral to organizational execution and success. Traditionally, this activity is a difficult one, calling for objectivity, emotional distance and an eye for detail. A useful tool is the IFMA advocated method of the Balance Scorecard. Though many other pertinent methods exist in the realm of Management, Strategic Facility Planning initiatives must float around the central themes emphasized by the Figure below: Acting, Understanding, Analysis & Planning; a cyclical process. Scenario #1: A financial organization would like to decrease the amount of time that customers spend at the counter. They believe that this will increase revenue by 24% this year. How can FM aid that target? Scenario #2: A start up distribution/exporting agency intends to serve a 150% larger customer base by introducing two new products within the next two years. How can the FM function contribute to that target becoming a reality?

PMs are informed

by SFP




Figure 6 - the Strategic Facility Planning Process

(Kathy O. Roper - IFMA International – Strategic Facility Planning White Paper 2009)

Truth#5: A Culture of “Good Maintenance” may not exist

Is your FM group devoid of “good customer service”? Do you deliver on what you promise to

your customers? Just like any business, Facility professionals have customers. However, it is

more commonplace for allusions to “FM as a necessary evil” rather than an “Integral function of

business.” Truth is, FM has been more closely associated with fire fighters than with important

business stake holders. This has been attributed to not enough Preventive Maintenance being

practiced.

Management studies communicates that the one of the primary reasons for business is to serve its

customers. (See figure below). Most pundits agree that one of the many reasons is to serve its

customers. All do agree that without customers, the very existence of the business is in grave

jeopardy. (Harvard Business Review – hbr.org 1999). As an inherent business function of the

organization, the FM department must conduct themselves as a business entity in itself.

As the following figure indicates, having the right inputs, processes and outputs; lend to

providing customer satisfaction. Preventive Maintenance should be the underline basis for your

FM operational success.




Figure 7 - Customer Satisfaction Business Flow

The “Process function” (Supply, Service, and Support) of the process affords the FM function to

exude a Proactive Culture. This culture, coupled with on-going self evaluation/improvement and

a commitment to documentation, can potentially yields the following pleasant side effects:

- Reduction in Customer calls

o Customers’ calling less because of reduced facility concerns is a strong indicator

of customer satisfaction.

- Generate Budgets with more weight

o Advantages of having a predominantly Proactive & Planned maintenance

operation is knowing costs upfront:

§ Consumables and parts values

§ Contractor & contract values

§ Labour & consultation values

o Also justifications can be made if funds aren’t approved. Stating what activities

cannot occur and what potential repercussions will be experienced.

- Savings or Revenue as a result of FM input

o Proactively ensuring the success of Organizational wealth generating functions.

Once directly tied into Organizational Strategic Plan items.

- Vendor Optimization

o Optimization of work inventory levels and value kept on site by creating

contractual obligations with Vendors to provide a Just in Time type inventory

approach to Materials Management




Conclusion

This list of truths is by no means exhaustive. For example, some organizations have a Facility or

Maintenance supervisor that acts as a planner/scheduler in addition to their daily activities. This

has hindered their effectiveness, but yet they are routinely blamed for shortcomings. Your

independent view as a fellow professional is respected. If you were forthright enough to form

your own list of truths, even if it totally differs from my list, our time spent together would have

served its purpose. In my introduction, I alluded to all that regardless of your position, however

polarizing, you must have a deep, honest conviction of what is necessary to improve your current

FM circumstance. I ask you to please ensure that there is more attention paid to applying

Preventive Maintenance as the foundation of our operation, rather than the exception.

Figure 8 - The Maintenance Management Pyramid

Additionally, I would like to make an impassioned call to everyone spending time studying this

text, to be a steward to your profession. Our attendance to conferences, group meetings,

educational sessions, or a Facility related event must involve growing the profession. From every

vocal advocate to every survey participant, you have equal say on how our profession is defined.

We look forward to your active involvement in the development of the FM profession in

Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean in time to come.




Table of Figures

FIGURE 1 – PM VS. CORRECTIVE EXAMPLE REPORT ............................................................................................................. 5

FIGURE 2 - THE BATHTUB CURVE HAZARD FUNCTION .......................................................................................................... 7

FIGURE 3 – EXAMPLE OF RCM ANALYSIS OF ASSET SYSTEM FUNCTIONS PT.1 ............................................................................ 8

FIGURE 4 - EXAMPLE OF RCM ANALYSIS OF ASSET SYSTEM FUNCTIONS PT.2............................................................................. 9

FIGURE 5 - THREE IMPORTANT STRATEGIC FM PLANS ........................................................................................................ 10

FIGURE 6 - THE STRATEGIC FACILITY PLANNING PROCESS .................................................................................................... 11

FIGURE 7 - CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BUSINESS FLOW ....................................................................................................... 12

FIGURE 8 - THE MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT PYRAMID ................................................................................................... 13

Bibliography

Bathtub Curve Hazard Function – Reliabilityweb.com ............................................................................. 8

Compare the difference (http://www.diffen.com) .................................................................................... 5

Cotts, David C. and Michael Lee - “The Facility Management Handbook” 1992 ........................................ 4

E.T Newbrough – “Effective Maintenance Management” 1967................................................................ 4

Harvard Business Review – hbr.org 1999 .............................................................................................. 11

Kathy O. Roper - IFMA International – Strategic Facility Planning White Paper 2009 ........................ 10, 11

William C. Worsham – “Is Preventive Maintenance necessary?” 1999 ...................................................... 4

Documents

June 2010 Paper- Five Truths That May Hinder Your Preventive Maintenance Success