[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]Most maintenance departments I have been in have developed over the years, little kingdoms or empires built up by well meaning craftsmen or supervisors. They begin with the usual reward system in place which gives strokes for a job well done. I am sure you all have the one go to guy who will get it done, or the guy who always knows where the part might be stored. It evolves into a reward system that I refer to as the Hero Syndrome. Eliminating the environment that encourages this syndrome will scaffold your process to a higher level.
I will go back to the example of solenoid valve replacement but rewind to a year earlier. The machine failed for the solenoid valve on 2nd shift, there was no valve in the storeroom and no repair parts around. The supervisor was told the machine was down until 1st shift can get the parts by craftsman A. But on 3rd shift our hero (craftsman B) arrives!! He has a valve and parts stashed because he knows “we are always out” in the storeroom. So he replaces the valve and has the machine up in 1 hour a full 7 hours before anyone would have even been able to call for these parts. The manager thanks craftsman B buys him a pop and questions why craftsman A could not get the machine running, does he need training or is he lazy? While this story is wrong on so many levels let’s fast forward to when the valve failure is predicted and changed less than 5 minutes in a scheduled PM procedure with no unplanned downtime. The valves are in the storeroom and craftsman B has share his knowledge on valves with the other in the department. This craftsman was the real hero. There should have been a parade when he analyzed the valve and added more cycles to the change time.
We need to reward and recognized a good PM be done by a craftsman or an operator. I used to say maintenance needs a good PR guy to convey exactly what they have saved the company by doing a good job with PM in the plant. TPM and the tools used will do that for you in many cases. Yes being good at a quick turnaround for a breakdown is great! Not having that breakdown is even better!
Kim
Filed under: Lean | Tagged: maintenance, preventive maintenance, tpm |
Lean Is Good 
Good post. I have seen the same thing where the one who runs to the line while it is down is praised when he gets it running but the person who reads the equipment manual, sets up a PM program and there is no unscheduled downtime is forgotten. This is sometimes isn’t only at the supervision level but at the peer or department level.
Thank you. At the peer level there is more of an adrenalin rush to getting equipment running rather than what you have just mentioned doing the leg work of setting up the PM. I know I prefer the outcome of no unscheduled downtime. Getting the culture of your facilityto accept that is the challenge.
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