I visited a client last week that was living the all too common reality that seems to currently exist in the parts Manufacturing Industry. Due to a shortage in skilled trades, and record setting production levels, their maintenance department was in a constant state of reaction.
Touring through the facility, they had over 100 stand alone machining applications with dozens of wash processes. In my half hour tour, more than 3 different operators approached my Maintenance Lead-Hand-Tour-Guide requesting that something be filled, changed or adjusted. As confirmed by my contact, the facility was just getting by with their existing maintenance team. They recently had 4 of their more senior staff members retire and due to a combination of head count restrictions from corporate together with trouble finding qualified candidates, the maintenance department was stuck in reactive mode with little hope of getting out. They were reacting to the squeakiest wheel, trying hard to keep up with productions demands.
As you can imagine, living in a state of reaction, has all sorts of problems making it very difficult to climb out of. One of the biggest issues is you end up having your highly skilled people performing very low skilled tasks, which unfortunately just makes the problem of not having enough skilled resources available even worse. Imagine the gourmet chef that has to chop his own vegetables because his sous chef was never replaced. And then imagine that same chef having to respond to any request made by any patron because he didn't have time to put together a menu! A maintenance department without a plan, is just like a short staffed kitchen with no menu!
Companies are pushing to do more with less. But to do that effectively they need to be strategic in how they use their available resources. Strategy requires planning and it requires executing against a plan every day. Zimmark's Daily Data Collection compliance measures our ability to execute on our plan. Its what ensures that the checks are being made each day so that having to react to a problem is minimized. By having a plan for what we do each day, we minimize surprises. By recording what we do each day and measuring the impact its having on the results,, we can adjust that plan.
Moving from a reactive world to a condition based one, is how we eliminate waste and wasteful activity. Its how we get more done with fewer resources.
Zimmark's Technical Process Management system is built around executing to a plan, a plan that changes based on the data as we work to balance performance and cost. Designed to maximize available resources, Z-TPM helps clients looking to move from a reactive maintenance culture to one where data drives day to day activity.
Doing more with less can not be an arbitrary reduction in resources, it needs to be a planned and controlled strategy. Z-TPM helps you get there.
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