You “Gotta”
Have Friends…
By Jim Hudson, Director of
Engineering Services,
Trico Corp.
Someone once told
me to avoid problems in life you had to have a friend who was a
lawyer, a friend who was an accountant, and a friend who was a
doctor. This would help keep you out of jail, out of debt, and
out of the grave. As I moved into a maintenance manager’s
position these same basic principles applied. To have a
successful maintenance program, you need to cultivate
friendships with a human relations (HR) manager, an accountant,
and a maintenance engineer.
My friend the HR
manager
Change is
inevitable in any organization. Unfortunately change requires
moving people to a new way of thinking and acting. Having spent
twenty years in a manufacturing environment I was amazed at the
resistance that was met with change in policy or job
responsibility. The key to handling change is to build a
relationship with the human resource manager. Spend the
necessary time with your HR manager to clearly communicate and
develop the vision of a successful maintenance program. Talk
through different scenarios relative to the new way of doing
things. Your HR manager can give you good insight into the
battles you should fight and those you should avoid. Like a
lawyer, they can keep you out of contract violations and costly
arbitration. A good HR manager can also help keep you from
making a sweeping policy decision that is based on emotions
rather than one that is consistent with the company and
maintenance vision. In addition, your HR manager can keep you
up-to-date on new labor laws and emerging trends as well as
current healthcare and retirement benefits. Developing this
relationship will allow you to quickly and accurately answer
your staff’s questions pertaining to these issues and gain their
respect, which will help ease the transition in policy changes
or job responsibilities. Also a good HR manager can give you
access to federal or state grant money for skills training of
your staff. However, access to these programs usually requires
quite a bit of effort and paperwork, an area your HR manager can
help with.
My friend the Accountant
Mark Twain once
said the bible was the most owned and least used book in the
world. The same may be said of the accountants in your
organization. They may be one of the most valuable sources of
business information and the least utilized. They can help you
receive funding for capital improvements or equipment. They
speak the universal language…money. It is a lot easier to
present dollars and cents than technically to management. As
you develop a friendship with the accountant there are a few key
points you should know. First, respect their
profession. Their job consists more than just counting numbers.
Secondly, make them feel as part of the team. When
was the last time you took your accountant on a tour of the
facility? When your equipment becomes real to the accountant
and not just a cost center or asset description you will be well
on your way to having a valuable ally and getting approval for
funds you need from management.
My Friend the
Maintenance Engineer
A few months ago,
I developed a sinus infection but I could not get to the doctors
office. Since my primary care physician has known me for years
and knows my tendency toward this ailment, he called in a
prescription to my local pharmacy. A few days later I was as
good as new. This situation was resolved for a few reasons. I
was knowledgeable enough to know that I was sick and my doctor
had enough data and personal knowledge of my overall physical
health to prescribe a remedy over the phone.
As a result of
downsizing in many industries, staff maintenance engineers have
been phased out. Because of this situation, it is critical to
develop a relationship with a source of maintenance engineering
expertise. For the relationship to yield benefits, an
investment of time and money must be made to give the engineer a
clear understanding of your company’s production process,
overall equipment condition and general maintenance culture.
Since a great deal of equipment is similar across different
industries, these individuals can give insight to speed up the
diagnostic and improvement process. Just as my physician gave
me a prescription so too can the maintenance engineer recommend
inspection methods and intervals that will extend the life of
your assets. The maintenance engineering profession is quickly
developing into a network of specialized reliability
professionals. This culture allows new diagnostic technologies
to be utilized in a manufacturing facility on an as needed basis
without the burden of the maintenance department purchasing the
equipment. Oil analysis, infrared thermography, and ultrasonic
technologies have matured and will certainly become even more
advanced in the coming years. Software platforms are available
that link these technologies together and allow the data to talk
with your computerized maintenance management system.
A friendship with
a Maintenance Engineer can be best utilized in the following
manner:
-
Audits of existing equipment condition and downtime data
with gap analysis and improvement action plan
-
Development of essential care monitoring techniques and
routes for your personnel
-
Train your personnel on operating and maintenance best
practices
-
Facilitate structured troubleshooting and problem analysis
meeting and train key personnel in these techniques
These are tasks
that any maintenance professional would do if they had the time,
but since they don’t they must seek professional help from a
friend.
Conclusion
In the early
1900’s street vendors would play portable crank organs while a
monkey on a leash would carry a tin cup for tips. While the
organ grinder played in the background the monkey would go from
person to person soliciting coins for the enjoyment of the
crowd. The organ grinder and monkey trust each other in the
area of their expertise to be successful, we must do the same
with our human relations mangers, accountants, and maintenance
engineers. They are the key to cultivating a successful
maintenance program.
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