Challenges to producing high-quality maintenance work
There is no greater challenge to a modern maintenance department than to produce high quality work on an ongoing basis. In this case, I am referring specifically to the repair itself.
According to the quality guru W.E. Deming, pride in a job well done is the greatest motivator for workers. Quality problems, whatever their source, create a vicious cycle of no satisfaction, low morale, low quality and so on.
It would be easier if all quality can be attributed to the worker. All too often, we hear complaints that the workers are just not as good as they were at some time in the idealized past.
Any approach that is based on a faulty premise, such as this, is doomed.
Weak Points
In a recent class that I conducted for Barrick Gold Corp., a western gold mining company, we were discussing the challenge of being sure you are producing quality maintenance work. In mining, a quality defect could rapidly deteriorate into a safety incident or in major downtime, so the stakes are high.
Beyond the usual quality control, hold points and functional testing, we were trying to ferret out the causes of quality problems.
We started the discussion by considering one way to approach quality: study the causes of bad quality.
This method is similar to a security expert looking for ways into a building. To be sure the building was truly safe, a security professional would study and become intimately familiar with the likely weak points of the building.
Weak points are common and well understood in the security field. In fact, before even visiting the building, security professionals could make up a list of typical problem areas. However, they would have to make a site visit and review drawings to appreciate the particular flaws of each building.
Potential Causes
In the same way, the causes of bad quality maintenance work for a specific job are unique. However, an overall checklist of potential causes is pretty easy to assemble.
Here are some things to contemplate when searching for possible causes of poor-quality maintenance work:
- Materials
+ No material or lack of enough material.
+ Wrong material, right part numbers.
+ Wrong material, wrong part numbers.
+ Slightly wrong material (make it fit, adapted to work).
+ Cheap materials.
- People
+ Untrained (ignorance).
+ Trained without experience (new hires).
+ Trained without confidence.
+ Low morale (don’t want to do the work, bad work attitude, etc.).
+ Don’t have the capability (intelligence, strength, flexibility, endurance, visual and auditory acuity, etc.).
+ Drugged (legally, illegally).
+ Drunk or hung over.
+ Preoccupied by things outside work.
+ Sick.
+ Overly tired.
- Supervision
+ No instruction, bad instruction, incorrect instruction.
+ No supervision, bad supervision.
+ Improper scope, no scope, wrong scope.
+ Bad communication between trades or shifts.
- Management
+ Unrealistic expectations.
+ Pushed too hard.
+ Not enough money.
+ Poor planning.
- Tools
+ Wrong, broken and/or cheap tools.
+ Inadequate capacity of tools.
+ Improvised tools.
+ Don’t know how to use available tools.
+ Lack of PPE.
- Working conditions
+ Bad lighting.
+ Bad or inadequate work platforms.
+ Too hot or too cold.
+ Full sun, rain, lightning, storms, etc.
- Engineering
+ No drawings, wrong drawings, no as-built drawings.
+ No operation and maintenance manual.
+ Equipment beyond design capacity.
+ Badly designed equipment.
Where is the Blame?
Now, here is the bad news. Consider the list and think about how many of the causes are not personal, but rather are sins against quality that your organization is guilty of.
It is extremely easy to blame the last link in the chain – the worker. But how many other causes, or potential causes of the next poor quality issue, can you find that anyone in that slot might fall prey to?
The worker is the last link and, therefore, not off the hook. But the issue is bigger and more complicated than just ignorance, inattention or bad attitudes.
A Start
To improve quality, get a group together that includes old-timers and new-timers. Ask the group which of the previously noted causes, as well as others of your own, are the 10 top causes of quality maintenance problems in your organization.
Once you have the list, the next step is to develop and implement a program to mitigate or eliminate them. Start out by attacking one per month.
About the Author
Joel Levitt
President, Springfield Resources
Joel Levitt has trained more than 17,000 maintenance leaders from more than 3,000 organizations in 24 countries. He is the president of Springfield Resources, a management consulting firm that services a variety of clients on a wide range of maintenance issues www.maintenancetraining.com. He is also the designer of Laser-Focused Training, a flexible training program that provides specific targeted training on your schedule, online to one to 250 people in maintenance management, asset management and reliability.