Successful organisational development of asset management organisations

Abstract

Maintenance/Asset Management organisations are often not functioning at an optimal level. The reason for this, apart from the obvious possibility of poor management, is frequently to be found in the communication gap between those who manage the organisation and those who perform the actual upkeep of the equipment. This phenomenon is also known as the maintenance/asset management strategic gap (Coetzee in Maintenex conference, Johannesburg, [7]). This circumstance is created by the gap in tuition/training of these individuals, their difference in world view, difference in actual/perceived status, and internal organisational politics. But, whatever the reason(s), the fact is that this gap exists and causes difficulty in driving through positive change, and often results in a poor organisational culture. Mostly, this situation leads to lower than optimal availability and reliability of the organisation’s production system. This then leads to relatively low production and high maintenance cost, with the consequence of lower than possible profits being achieved. This paper discusses a methodology for rectifying this situation. This method, although being developed and taught from the late ’90s, and parts of it being tested in the early 2000s, has only relatively recently been afforded the opportunity of being tested fully at a production organisation, DMS Powders, in South Africa (Coetzee in Maintenance Forum, [5]). This paper expounds the method, and adds a short case study of the process and the results achieved.