October 29, 2014
3 Maintenance Management Myths Debunked
In today"s quick blog post, we are going to look at three maintenance management myths that float around the reliability world and seek to debunk them. These falsehoods not only undermine the maintenance community as a whole but can also cause harm to your maintenance system. Don't believe everything you hear or read on the Internet, excluding this article, of course!
Whether you are a facility manager or just a run-of-the-mill maintenance professional, odds are good that you have heard your fair share of maintenance management myths. In fact, you have probably unknowingly spread a few yourself. Myths are a part of every industry, and while they"re mostly harmless, they can cause disruption in an organization.
Maintenance Management Myth #1: CMMS Software Only Helps Preventative Maintenance
This is a common myth I hear from time to time, and it simply is not true. The right computerized maintenance management system should be a part of any facility management plan and, in my view, is critical to implementing proactive maintenance strategies as well.
Additionally, maintenance software is great for other tasks aside from keeping track of preventative maintenance, including asset management, reporting, invoicing, documentation... the list goes on and on. So if you are a facility manager, do not buy into the hype that you do not need maintenance management software. Quite the opposite: It is essential to the well-being of your department!
Maintenance Management Myth #2: Maintenance Management Helps Cut Costs
Our second myth is a little more tricky. While technically true, maintenance management is not entirely about cutting costs, and taking that viewpoint is a narrow way of looking at things. In reality, maintenance management, when performed properly, is all about increasing revenue, profit, and cash flow in an organization.
Unfortunately, a lot of business owners view maintenance management as a harsh necessity and do not realize the opportunity it presents to increase earnings. Avoiding work or grounds injuries, reducing energy costs, increasing productivity, and finding more innovative ways to get the job done are all often-overlooked aspects of maintenance management. Our duty is not just to keep the machines and grounds in top shape: it's to keep the bottom line that way, too!
Maintenance Management Myth #3: Preventative and Reactive Maintenance Is Enough
A hot trend in the maintenance realm right now is proactive maintenance. It is often confused with preventative maintenance, and a lot of maintenance professionals tend to look at it as a fad (and not necessarily a good one).
However, the truth of the matter is that proactive maintenance is a great strategy, especially when you combine it with a traditional preventative maintenance plan. In essence, while PM is all about "preventing" machine failure and shutdowns, proactive approaches endeavor to solve the problems that cause failures to begin with and use predictive measures to stop them from ever happening. For example, a common preventative tactic would be to keep a machine part well lubricated so it does not break down. A proactive method would be to create a part that does not need lubrication.
While that is a broad definition, I think it shows the difference between the two methods. At the end of the day, however, a good maintenance or facility manager should incorporate any and all tools at their disposal.