Benchmarking for strategic maintenance quality improvement

Proposed guidelines for treatment of recurrent failures for sustainability of results in the post-project improvement stage process

Purpose

The maintenance of process improvement programs within organizations is not an easy task. Some processes do not maintain the results achieved with the improvement project and again present low performance shortly after completion of the project. This paper aims to identify the socio-technical causes responsible for the loss of process performance after applying improvement projects, in order to support the mitigation of the problem.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review of the literature was carried out, which allowed the selection of 28 articles. The empirical stage used the benchmarking technique, along a large Brazilian mining company with an international standard of production and quality. This organization has been using improvement projects for more than ten years.

Findings

The research complements the literature regarding the prioritization of the 26 identified failures and the identification of seven new failure factors and two resources. Findings in this study can be an inspiration for other organizations, considering the similarity of methodological aspects of improvement projects since internationally standardized methodologies such as Six Sigma, Lean, Kaizen and 5S are used.

Originality/value

The research presented a proposal of guidelines that corroborate to the mitigation of loss of process performance after improvement project.

Exploring the effectiveness of maintenance and quality management strategies in Indian manufacturing enterprises

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the impact of human-related support practices, total productive maintenance (TPM) practices, and total quality management (TQM) practices on manufacturing performance parameters and their inter-relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

A research project was carried out in 94 Indian manufacturing companies, using the questionnaire method. The survey data was drawn from 169 respondents working in these companies. In this paper, the impact of TPM and TQM practices on manufacturing performance parameters and especially the role of support practices is investigated empirically using various structural equation models.

Findings

Two factors namely top management and leadership and human resource development categorized as support practices were found to positively influence the adoption of technical practices, i.e., TPM and TQM practices. Hence support practices were found to indirectly affect the manufacturing performance parameters via the technical factors. Also analyzing various structural equation models (SEM), shop floor implementation of TPM practices were found to be influenced (or guided) by the philosophy of TQM practices. In other words, through the proper adoption of TQM practices, the effectiveness of TPM practices gets increased.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further using a case study approach.

Practical implications

The present study provides useful insights to practicing managers. The result of the study explaining the interrelationship between support practices (behavioral aspect) and technical practices can be used by practicing managers to develop a better understanding of the contribution of support and technical practices towards the realization of organizational objectives of growth and sustainability. In practice, TQM plays a great role in the adoption of TPM practices, which in turn helps to achieve quality in processes and therefore in products.

Originality/value

Previous research has often either concentrated on technical practices as one dimension without studying the effects of support practices on improving the adoption of technical practices. The results of the study take one step further by investigating the relationship between multiple aspects (support and technical aspects) of manufacturing practices and their impact on manufacturing performance.

Maintenance management models: a study of the published literature to identify empirical evidence

Purpose

– Maintenance and its management has moved from being considered a “necessary evil” to being of strategic importance for most competitive organisations around the world. In terms of the identification and use of organisational-wide maintenance management models the picture is not clears from both a literature and practical perspective. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the various models and their use in real-world applications, and in doing so, explores the gap between academic research and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

– For this paper two comprehensive reviews of the literature were undertaken, first, to identify and categorise the various maintenance management models, and second, to determine the depth of empirical evidence for the popular models in real-world applications. Descriptive analysis of both the practical examples and empirical evidence rates (EER) for maintenance related journals is provided.

Findings

– Within the literature 37 maintenance management models were identified and categorised. From these, three models were found to be popular: total productive maintenance (TPM), condition based maintenance, and reliability centred maintenance. While several thousand papers discussed these three models, only 82 articles were found to provide empirical evidence.

Research limitations/implications

– While providing a sound foundation for future research the outcomes are based solely on academic literature. Analysis of EER outside the field of maintenance is needed to make comparisons.

Practical implications

– The paper offers practitioners a detailed contemporary overview of maintenance management models along with tabulated results of practical examples to present day organisations. Such practical-focused papers are very limited within academic literature.

Social implications

– With EER as low as 1.5 per cent for some journals this paper acts as a reminder to researchers that they have an obligation to society to spend taxpayer funded research on addressing social needs and real-world problems.

Originality/value

– This paper makes a concerted attempt to link academic research with management and operational practitioners. While the paper is critical of the current academic imbalance between theory and practice, a number of suggestions to improve EER are offered in the conclusions.

Facilities management: the strategic selection of a maintenance system

Purpose

– A major role of facilities management is ensuring the useability, reliability, and safety of the asset being managed. To achieve this management must use a system to control the maintenance function. The purpose of the paper is to identify and describe the various maintenance management models and systems available for facilities managers to consider.

Design/methodology/approach

– Two comprehensive reviews of the literature were undertaken to categorise the various maintenance management models and identify popular models in practice.

Findings

– The review identified 37 maintenance management models. From these, four were found to be popular: total productive maintenance (TPM), condition-based maintenance (CBM), reliability-centred maintenance (RCM), and condition monitoring (CM). While many thousands of papers can be found of these four models, the support in the literature for the remaining 33 models is very limited.

Research limitations/implications

– While providing a sound foundation for future research, the papers findings are based solely on reviewing literature.

Practical implications

– For facilities managers seeking to expand their knowledge of a particular model or maintenance management systems in general, the paper provides a practical understanding.

Originality/value

– Papers focused solely on identifying and describing maintenance management models are scarce and this paper makes a concerted attempt to link academic research with management practitioners.

A literature review of maintenance performance measurement

Purpose

This research aims to examine the relevant literature related to maintenance performance measurement in the manufacturing sector. In the process, innovative approaches and models utilized to measure and manage maintenance performance in manufacturing operational settings are classified and examined. Based on this investigation, future research directions and themes are identified.

Design/methodology/approach

A database of 251 peer‐reviewed publications, published during the last 30 years, was utilized for the purpose of this research. The published works included contributions from both practitioners and scholars.

Findings

This literature review‐based research revealed important themes related to evolution of maintenance performance management. These themes focus on the effective utilization of maintenance resources, information systems support, and human factor management. Based on this literature review, a conceptual framework, which traces the different operational and organizational facets of the evolution of maintenance performance management, is offered.

Research limitations/implications

Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that the area of maintenance performance and management is in need of more future systematic research efforts aimed at solidifying theoretical constructs and promoting the utilization of more practical applications.

Practical implications

Findings derived from this investigation have relevant manufacturing implications. In this context, understanding the different approaches to maintenance performance measurement and management, as utilized in manufacturing organizations, is critical to these organizations' performance improvement efforts.

Originality/value

Understanding the types and scopes of the different approaches and models utilized to manage and measure maintenance performance in manufacturing operational settings is important in light of the growing competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.