It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost one year since I first set out to write this series of articles. While not as popular (and profitable) as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (anyone with a pre-teen son or daughter will appreciate the reference), it has nonetheless been an enjoyable exercise. Many thanks for the continued requests for reprints, feedback, general support and most of all to Coxmoor Publishing for providing the forum. We’ll begin with a short synopsis (quiz at the end)…
I began this quest by searching for the reasons why CM is not as fast a growing industry or practice, as many of us would believe it to be, or better yet, could be. In my first article I suggested that the problem is not with the tradeshows, economy, etc., rather with the implementation and acceptance of CM in general. I pointed to the lack of CM information being integrated within the enterprise and the ‘decision support systems’ used to sustain them. This lack of integration is unfortunately a two-way street, i.e. process and finance information are rarely an integral part of the CM program. Following this theme, I suggested that CM programs need to be measured by the same financial metrics used to quantify the process. In essence, I suggested that CM needs to be recognized as a value-added asset, differentiating the company, product or process through increased availability, yield and quality. Otherwise, I believe CM (and the maintenance organization in general) will remain a cost item subject to the cost-reduction cycle we are all too familiar with…
