OLD Maintenance is about preserving physical assets Time constraints mean that use of this summary to compare different maintenance tools will have to be the subject of a later paper. This paper only summarises the fifteen areas of change. philosophies that claim to provide a basis for action (RCM, FMECA, MSG3, HAZOP, TPM, RCA, RBI, RCM2 and others).it provides a basis for comparing the different decision support tools and management.it provides a quick overview of what the changes are.However, such a summary does fulfil two purposes: There is bound to be an element of oversimplification in any attempt to summarise any one issue in one or two sentences, let alone fifteen issues. In each case, one maxim attempts to summarise the way things used to be, while the other summarises the way things are - or should be - now. In fact, it goes to the opposite extreme by reducing each area of change to two maxims followed by a short explanation.
Accommodating this paradigm shift means that for most of us, the management of physical assets is going to become a monumental exercise in change management over the next few years.Įach of the changes on its own is also sufficient to form the subject of one - if not several - books (think of all the books available on the subject of predictive maintenance alone), so a short paper like this cannot hope to explore all the changes in detail. Together they amount to a whole new paradigm.
Each of them on its own is sufficiently far-reaching to merit a great deal of attention in most organisations. This paper identifies fifteen key areas of change. Not only do they involve radical changes of direction (some diametrically opposed to the way things have been done in the past), but a few ask us to come to terms with entirely new concepts. Some have occurred at a strategic - almost philosophical - level, while others are more tactical - or technical - in nature.Įven more striking is the extent of the changes. Perhaps nowhere is this felt more broadly and deeply than in the field of physical asset management.Ī striking feature of this phenomenon is the number of changes which have occurred simultaneously. All disciplines are being exhorted to adapt to changes in organisation design, in technology, in leadership skills, in communication - in fact, in virtually every aspect of working life. The subject of change dominates nearly everything currently being written about management. MAXIM: Piece of wisdom or rule of conduct expressed in a sentence (Oxford Dictionary) Introduction PARADIGM: Pattern or model (Oxford Dictionary) On the basis of this work, it has become evident that any organisation that wishes to achieve rapid, substantial and lasting improvements in maintenance effectiveness - in other words, in physical asset performance - must ensure that everyone associated with the operation and maintenance of these assets profoundly understands and internalises both the nature and significance of these changes. The paper is based on the experience gained by the author and his associates from the application of RCM and its more modern derivative, RCM2, on more than 500 industrial sites in 27 countries over a period of 10 years.