That is the way we have always done it around here
How many things, tasks, and activities are you doing because
that is the way things have always been done?
Are you simply accepting that there must be a reason to be
completing these tasks? Surely someone (much smarter than you) thought there
was enough reason to begin the tasks in the first place.
Make sure that you take the time to do a periodic review of
your maintenance tasks and ensure that each is designed to:
- Prevent a failure
- Detect a failure
- Comply with a law or regulations
There are many methods you can use including Reliability
Centered Maintenance, PM Optimization, Maintenance Task Review and more to
ensure your efforts are aimed toward the right targets.
As for the third justification for maintenance tasks – that
it is somehow regulated or required by an external authority even if it is not
adding value – can be a lucrative opportunity for improvement during a review
process.
Because the consequences for violating a regulation or law
can be significant, most people will simply accept “we cannot change it because
it is required by (insert the name of the authority here).”
Are you sure? Who
says so anyway? Have you done a review to
verify if the procedure is actually required and can be traced to a
specific regulation or is it an internal process that gained validation by
claiming to meet an unspecified regulation?
You may find some tasks, processes and procedures that can
be eliminated. If they were not adding
value – then you are getting a great deal of return for having taken the time
to verify and validate that there is or is not a reason to be conducting them.
Do yourself a favor and schedule a maintenance task review
as soon as possible.
Here is a semi-related article from the brains at Harvard
Business Review titled
Learned Helplessness in Organizations.
I hope you find some value in reading it.
In my experience, and concerning regulations in my industry, the requirements are usually not extremely specific. Yes, the requirement is to ensure the brakes are in working order, but it is left up to us to decide whether it is a functional check or a complete teardown and rebuild. I believe, the opportunity is in the level of detail you choose to meet the requirement.
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