There are various reasons why this happens. However, part of the cause generally lies with the failure to convey the objectives, impact, urgency and importance to the corporation. The effect of a structured approach is principally one of inclusion and communication. Using the three-step approach, all members of the organization are exposed to and taught what the indicators represent and are thus are able to understand what the overall goals and objectives are and their part in achieving them.

Proactive Focus

As well as communication, a structured method changes the overall approach to maintenance. As previously stated, indicators today are used as a reactive measure, that is, measuring what has happened and taking decisions based on this information. A prime example would be the manager’s daily or weekly reports. Decisions are taken and questions are asked based on this information. This practice is valid and one of considerable merit.

However, many organizations have the admirable goal of striving to achieve a “proactive” state of maintenance. The MSC assists this by using indicators in such a way so as to drive future events. Instead of looking purely at what has happened it focuses on what should happen. This occurs through the goal setting that is integral to the overall process. In this manner the MSC has an entirely different focus to the use of indicators and to the extraction of value from their use.

Other Benefits

There are many other advantages to the structured implementation approach. Some are immediate, others more gradual.

-          Inter-discipline and inter-departmental thinking and working

-          Understanding the processes, acquisitions and initiatives required to achieve a desired end state

-          Easy and deliberate diagnosis of any deviations from stated goals

-          A process for attacking specific problems or issues at a corporate, departmental or improvement project level

-          Full use of corporate reporting tools where they exist, an understanding of the information portfolio required in asset management and some direction as to the technology required to put this into place

-          The achievement of competitive advantages

Although it is still not largely understood that maintenance management is one of the strategically vital areas of corporate activity, leaders of corporations are beginning to understand the benefits available in terms of cost effectiveness, risk management, productivity and quality specifically.

It is also an area where there are numerous methodologies, technologies and systems claiming to improve maintenance performance. Despite this there are still many failures in the implementation of maintenance improvement initiatives. This is partly due to the weakness of some of the solutions offered and partly due to the lack of embedding of these solutions. Part of the cause of failure is always attributed to a lack of managerial support.

As the discipline of maintenance management progresses from the modern age of maintenance, it is of great importance that we are able to adequately link the function of asset management to the corporations’ competitive advantages. The structured approach couples these linkages with a comprehensive method for defining and implementing strategy and improvement throughout the organization.

The remainder of this book is separated into three major areas. First, Chapter 2 through Chapter 6 will explain the MSC in detail. This includes the perspectives model contained within the MSC, understanding the creation and importance of strategy for asset management, an overview of risk assessment and mitigation practices, and an overview of implementation of the MSC.

Chapter 7 through Chapter 9 deals with a brief overview of some of the strategy initiatives that are available to those in leadership roles in asset management. These chapters are of vital importance as there is a need to understand how the MSC fits with major continuous improvement initiatives in asset management as well as how it is implemented. It needs to be emphasized that these are only a few of the very many strategy initiatives that could be applied.

Chapter 10 is an overview of the benefits available from the MSC and includes some brief references to successful implementations. The intention of this section of the book is to show what have been successful attempts at implementing the MSC throughout various industries and companies. It highlights some potential areas of danger, methods for maximizing the leverage of information and some of the areas to watch out for in the embedding stages.

Appendix I, at the end of this book is a collection of indicators, measures and graphical displays that are often used within the fields of asset management. This is not intended to be a conclusive list and will surely continue to grow over time. What is intended, however, is that it forms a useful part of the arsenal of any company with a need to manage physical assets.

Copyright 2005, Industrial Press, Inc., New York, NY