Maximizing Maintenance Value: Shift from Cost‑Cutting to Strategic Asset Management

By Steve Gahbauer

Japanese maintenance philosophy teaches that new equipment performs best when it is allowed to mature; the role of the maintenance team is to refine that performance. While the American mantra of 'the best maintenance is no maintenance' is aspirational, the practical path forward is to play it smart. Industry experts, including Ben Stevens—former president of OMDEC (Optimal Maintenance Decisions Inc.) and current maintenance training consultant—guide us toward a value‑centric approach.

Stevens argues that maintenance professionals must evolve into business managers who prioritize value over cost. One effective tool is backlog management, which categorises work into four buckets:

• Work started and on schedule, but not yet finished
• Work started but behind schedule
• Work planned and scheduled, but not started
• Work waiting to be started, yet not planned or scheduled

Best practices include weekly priority reviews, root‑cause analysis of delays, re‑prioritising urgent tasks, and proactive action on top‑priority but delayed orders.

Another critical bottleneck is spare‑part availability. Stevens recommends a differentiated strategy for low‑cost, high‑turnover parts and high‑cost, slow‑moving parts.

Managing Low‑Cost, High‑Turnover Parts

Leverage a CMMS spare‑parts module to capture essential data: part number, description, preferred vendor, cost, and delivery terms. Define minimum and maximum inventory levels and an economic order quantity. Record all receipts, issuances, and returns to keep levels accurate. When stock falls below the minimum, the CMMS can trigger a purchase requisition automatically. Reserve critical spare parts for high‑priority orders to prevent diversion.

Managing High‑Cost, Critical Parts

For long‑lead, expensive items, calculate the required spare inventory to meet the desired reliability. Consider equipment failure frequency, lead time, and replacement cost to determine the optimal number of spares.

Cost Control Through CMMS

Stevens highlights that a CMMS can track costs at the work‑order level and roll them up to equipment, system, and plant tiers. With minor tweaks, it can also log failure costs. Key steps include:

1. Incorporate manpower and contractor rates into the CMMS setup.
2. Track materials, consumables, and spare‑part expenses.
3. Allocate special‑tool costs to the relevant work orders.
4. Generate monthly reports that break down expenditures by maintenance type and asset, revealing budget variances.

Prioritising Critical Equipment

Non‑critical assets consume a disproportionate amount of maintenance effort. Regularly review equipment criticality and preventive maintenance schedules to align tasks with true risk. Validate high‑cost repairs to uncover lower‑cost alternatives.

Condition‑Based Maintenance (CBM)

Stevens’s core CBM philosophy is simple: 'Maintain only when the equipment condition demands it.' Successful CBM hinges on the following steps:

1. Inspect equipment to assess current condition.
2. Define measurable indicators for major failure modes.
3. Set thresholds that distinguish normal operation, alert, and alarm states. Each alert should trigger a specific preventive action; each alarm should prompt a corrective, repair, or emergency response, followed by root‑cause analysis.

Common pitfalls include data overload, unnecessary preventive tasks, binary 'okay/​not okay' logging that masks gradual degradation, late alert detection, and poor data quality. Mitigation strategies involve training data collectors, assigning dedicated time on work orders, enforcing data‑quality checks, and integrating the information into backlog and performance management.

CBM is not a silver bullet; it carries collateral challenges. As with any maintenance initiative, ask the simple question: does it add measurable value? If the answer is 'no', discontinue it.

Steve Gahbauer is an engineer and Toronto‑based freelance writer, former engineering editor of PLANT and a regular contributing editor. Email: gahbauer@rogers.com

Find the original article on the PLANT website.