peopleanalyst

library / lib60cbe8190260a702

Developing Perf Indicators Maintenance

In a sentence

A practical framework for measuring and managing the maintenance/asset management function using hierarchically linked performance indicators that connect shop-floor functions to corporate strategy and profitability.

Most companies treat maintenance as a necessary evil and never learn to measure it — so they cannot manage it, and they leave enormous savings and capacity on the table. Terry Wireman argues that maintenance/asset management is a genuine core competency and a strategic market advantage, and that the way to unlock it is to build a disciplined pyramid of performance indicators. Starting from a comprehensive maintenance strategy and an eleven-block asset management model (from preventive maintenance through predictive maintenance, RCM, TPM, and statistical financial optimization), the book shows how to develop, interpret, and link indicators from the functional level up through tactical, efficiency/effectiveness, financial, and corporate levels. Each maintenance function is dissected with its most useful indicators — including the strengths, weaknesses, and the eight most common problems that drag indicators down — plus scorecards and dashboards for communicating results. For maintenance managers, reliability engineers, and executives, it is a roadmap for converting maintenance data into decisions that lower cost, raise capacity, and strengthen competitiveness.

The four lenses

  • Science
  • Statistics
  • Systems
  • Strategy

The model

A causal-structural model in which a defined maintenance strategy and disciplined design levers (PM, stores, work flow, CMMS/EAM, training, operational involvement, PDM, RCM, TPM, financial optimization, continuous improvement) drive psychological and behavioral states (data accuracy, proactive discipline, organizational buy-in, skills) and equipment states (reliability, availability, efficiency), which flow up through cost/capacity outcomes to corporate financial performance, all monitored by hierarchically linked performance indicators.

Comprehensive Maintenance/Asset Management Strategydesign lever

The degree to which a company has defined, documented, and approved a complete maintenance/asset management strategy tied to corporate business objectives, encompassing all building blocks of the asset management pyramid before developing indicators.

Management Support and Commitmentcontextual condition

The extent to which executive and plant management understand, value, fund, and champion the maintenance function, providing resources, releasing equipment for maintenance, and sustaining improvement initiatives over the multi-year journey.

Effective Preventive Maintenance Programdesign lever

The presence and effectiveness of a complete, cost-effective preventive maintenance program covering all equipment with sufficient detail, schedule compliance, and life-cycle coverage, serving as the foundation that reduces reactive work below 20% of total labor.

Stores and Procurement Effectivenessdesign lever

The effectiveness of the maintenance materials and procurement function in providing the right spare parts at the right time, controlling inventory, achieving high service levels (95-97%) and low stock-outs while avoiding excess inventory.

Work Flow (Work Order) System Utilizationdesign lever

The degree to which all maintenance and engineering activities are requested, planned, scheduled, tracked, and recorded through a disciplined work order system, enabling data capture and effective planning and scheduling.

CMMS/EAM System Utilizationdesign lever

The degree of complete and accurate use of a computerized maintenance management or enterprise asset management system to collect, process, and analyze maintenance data across equipment, stores, PM, labor, materials, and contractor costs.

Technical and Interpersonal Trainingdesign lever

The provision of relevant, job-tied technical and soft-skills training and education that raises the competency of the maintenance and operations workforce to operate and maintain increasingly high-tech equipment.

Operational Involvement in Maintenancedesign lever

The extent to which operators and operations/facilities personnel take ownership of equipment by performing inspections, cleaning, lubrication, fastening, minor maintenance, and data collection, freeing maintenance resources for higher-value activities.

Predictive Maintenance Programdesign lever

The use of condition-monitoring technologies (vibration, thermography, ultrasonics, oil analysis, wear particles) to detect impending component failures early, enabling planned repairs and reduced downtime, built on a mature maintenance foundation.

Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM)design lever

An advanced engineering approach that optimizes preventive and predictive programs by analyzing failure consequences and root causes to eliminate repetitive failures and select the correct maintenance tasks, requiring accurate failure data.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)design lever

A strategic operational philosophy involving everyone in the organization in continuously improving overall equipment effectiveness by eliminating the six major equipment losses and focusing all departments on the equipment.

Statistical Financial Optimizationdesign lever

A hybrid technique blending maintainability/reliability statistics with financial data to derive the most cost-effective maintenance policies, replacement decisions, and spare parts stocking levels, requiring mature and accurate cross-functional data.

Continuous Improvement and Benchmarkingdesign lever

The ongoing, systematic process of self-evaluation and benchmarking against best-in-class companies to identify and implement incremental improvements that increase competitiveness, never accepting the status quo.

Maintenance Data Accuracy and Completenessbehavioral pattern

The completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and usability of maintenance data captured at the equipment level, which is the prerequisite psychological/behavioral state enabling all meaningful analysis, indicators, and financial decisions.

Proactive Maintenance Disciplinebehavioral pattern

The organizational behavioral state of planning and scheduling the majority of work in advance rather than reacting, reflected in reactive work below 20%, high planning/scheduling compliance, and adherence to disciplined processes.

Organizational Buy-In and Disciplinepsychological state

The degree of shared understanding, acceptance, motivation, and disciplined commitment across all departments to value maintenance data and follow improvement methodologies, including workforce trust and evolved work culture.

Equipment Reliability and Availability (Uptime)outcome metric

The equipment state of performing its designed function without failure and being available for intended service, reflected in high uptime, longer mean time between failures, and fewer breakdowns.

Equipment Performance Efficiency and Qualityoutcome metric

The equipment state of operating at design speed and capacity with acceptable quality when running, capturing performance efficiency and quality-rate components beyond mere uptime.

Maintenance Cost (Expense)outcome metric

The total direct maintenance expenditure on labor, materials, contracting, and energy, which effective maintenance reduces by eliminating waste, reactive work, and inefficiency; reductions flow directly to profit.

Plant Capacity and Throughputoutcome metric

The outcome of maximized asset availability and efficiency producing more deliverable product with the same fixed costs, avoiding the need for redundant equipment and capital purchases.

Corporate Profitability and Competitivenessoutcome metric

The top-level outcome of increased profits, return on net/fixed assets, and sustained competitive market position achieved by combining reduced expenses with increased capacity through effective maintenance/asset management.

Hierarchical Performance Indicator Linkagedesign lever

The degree to which performance indicators are correctly selected top-down and linked across corporate, financial, efficiency/effectiveness, tactical, and functional levels so that improvements at one level flow up and problems can be traced down.

How they connect

  • maintenance strategy definition → predicts performance indicator linkage
  • preventive maintenance program → predicts proactive discipline
  • proactive discipline → predicts stores procurement effectiveness
  • preventive maintenance program → predicts work flow system
  • work flow system → predicts data accuracy
  • cmms eam usage → predicts data accuracy
  • data accuracy → predicts predictive maintenance
  • data accuracy → predicts reliability centered maintenance
  • data accuracy → predicts statistical financial optimization
  • technical interpersonal training → predicts operational involvement
  • operational involvement → predicts predictive maintenance
  • predictive maintenance → predicts reliability centered maintenance
  • reliability centered maintenance → predicts equipment reliability availability
  • predictive maintenance → predicts equipment reliability availability
  • preventive maintenance program → predicts equipment reliability availability
  • total productive maintenance → predicts equipment efficiency
  • equipment reliability availability → predicts plant capacity
  • equipment efficiency → predicts plant capacity
  • proactive discipline − influences maintenance cost
  • stores procurement effectiveness − influences maintenance cost
  • maintenance cost − influences corporate profitability
  • plant capacity → predicts corporate profitability
  • management support → moderates preventive maintenance program
  • organizational buyin → moderates cmms eam usage
  • organizational buyin → moderates operational involvement
  • continuous improvement → influences corporate profitability
  • statistical financial optimization − influences maintenance cost
  • performance indicator linkage → moderates corporate profitability
  • technical interpersonal training → influences equipment reliability availability

The story

The reader A maintenance manager, reliability engineer, or plant/facility leader who wants to prove and improve the value of the maintenance function and make their organization competitive.

External problem

Maintenance is viewed as an expense, cannot be measured, and is stuck in a costly reactive mode that limits plant capacity and inflates cost.

Internal problem

They feel undervalued and frustrated that management sees maintenance as a necessary evil and dismisses their contribution to profitability.

Philosophical problem

It is just plain wrong to run assets to failure and ignore a core competency that determines a company's competitiveness and survival.

The plan

  1. Develop and approve a comprehensive maintenance/asset management strategy before building indicators.
  2. Build the foundation: an effective preventive maintenance program reducing reactive work below 20%.
  3. Add supporting functions in sequence — stores/procurement, work flow, CMMS/EAM, and training.
  4. Layer on operational involvement, predictive maintenance, and RCM to raise availability and reliability.
  5. Advance to TPM and statistical financial optimization for equipment effectiveness, then continuous improvement.
  6. Select and link performance indicators top-down (corporate → financial → efficiency/effectiveness → tactical → functional) and monitor them via scorecards/dashboards.

Success

  • Maintenance recognized as a strategic contributor to profitability, with lower expenses and higher capacity.
  • Reactive work below 20%, stores service level 95–97%, planning/scheduling above 80%, and rising equipment uptime and OEE.
  • Accurate data enabling life-cycle costing, financial optimization, and confident equipment decisions.
  • A proactive, well-trained, motivated workforce and management support for continuous improvement.

At stake

  • Maintenance remains an unmeasured expense stuck in reactive firefighting, dragging down capacity and profits.
  • Wasted expenditures, excessive downtime, redundant capital purchases, and eroded return on assets.
  • Failed CMMS, PDM, RCM, and TPM initiatives due to poor foundation, bad data, and lack of buy-in.
  • The company is out-competed and may not survive the next decade.

Questions this book answers

Why should maintenance be treated as a core competency and strategic advantage rather than an expense?
How does effective maintenance/asset management increase profitability by decreasing expenses and increasing capacity?
What is the correct sequence for building a best-practice maintenance program (the decision tree and pyramid)?
What performance indicators exist for each maintenance function and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
How should performance indicators be linked hierarchically from corporate strategy down to functional activities?

Glossary

Comprehensive Maintenance/Asset Management Strategy
The existence of a clearly defined, documented, and approved maintenance/asset management strategy that ties all asset management building blocks to corporate business objectives.
Management Support and Commitment
The degree to which executive and plant management understand, fund, resource, and sustain the maintenance function and its improvement over the multi-year journey.
Effective Preventive Maintenance Program
A complete, cost-effective, well-detailed preventive maintenance program covering all equipment across its life cycle that reduces unplanned/reactive work below 20% of total labor.
Stores and Procurement Effectiveness
The effectiveness of the maintenance materials and procurement function in providing correct spare parts at the right time while controlling inventory value and cost.
Work Flow (Work Order) System Utilization
The disciplined use of a work order system to request, plan, schedule, track, and record all maintenance and engineering activities.
CMMS/EAM System Utilization
The completeness and accuracy of use of a computerized maintenance management or enterprise asset management system for data collection and analysis.
Technical and Interpersonal Training
The provision of relevant technical and soft-skills training that raises workforce competency to operate and maintain equipment.
Operational Involvement in Maintenance
The degree to which operators and operations/facilities personnel perform inspections, cleaning, lubrication, fastening, minor maintenance, and data collection on their equipment.