Maintenance Strategy

Maintenance Strategy
James V Reyes-Picknell, P.Eng.

+1-705-431-6598
james@consciousasset.com
Agenda
What is strategy?
What differentiates strategy from tactics?
What makes strategy so complicated and challenging?
It doesn’t need to be complex – “simple” goes further
Choosing a strategy – the development process
Implementing a strategy successfully
James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

©2006 Conscious Group Inc.
Audience survey (part 1)
How many have a series of equipment specific strategies?

(e.g.: we use preventive maintenance on a specific list of equipment, predictive
maintenance on another list and have intentionally chosen to run some equipment
to failure)
Using a show of hands, how many of your maintenance departments have a

documented and widely understood high level strategy?
Samples
Can anyone describe their maintenance strategy in a few words?
What are the major components of that strategy?
How many of you are striving for excellence?
How many have a formal maintenance improvement program in place today?

Audience survey (part 2)
How many would describe their operating environment as reactive?
How many describe their operating environment as proactive?
The rest of you either don’t know or don’t operate physical assets yourselves.

What is strategy?
Dictionary:
strat·e·gy (str t -j )
n. pl. strat·e·gies
1. a. The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible
during peace or war.
b. The science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of large-scale
combat operations.
2. A plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal. Synonym: plan.
3. The art or skill of using stratagems in endeavors such as politics and business.
strat·a·gem (str t -j m)
n.
1. A military maneuver designed to deceive or surprise an enemy.
2. A clever, often underhanded scheme for achieving an objective. Synonym: wile.
Reyes-Picknell
Strategy is a plan of action intended to achieve a specific goal

How the word “strategy” gets used
In most business literature a strategy is a high level plan to achieve a specific business goal
e.g.: A company that produces a commodity product like iron ore, oil, fuel, lumber, paper, etc.
chooses a strategy of operational excellence to achieve market dominance where low cost is the
primary factor in decisions to buy its product
` In this case, the cost of raw materials are difficult to control so the choice is made to control production and
transportation costs, getting product to market at low cost by being efficient and effective in all the activities it
performs.
` If maintenance is a large part of operations costs then efficient and effective maintenance activities support
this business strategy
In some maintenance management literature, strategy is a lower level plan to achieve

equipment reliability at low cost
e.g.: Prevention of failures through regular overhauls of plant equipment will keep that
equipment reliable and increase its mean time between failures
` This sort of “strategy” is also a form of plan, but it is targeted at a very granular management level (i.e.:
equipment by equipment)
Both uses are correct but I choose to use the first. I refer to the latter as a “tactic” or “tactical
choice” that helps me execute on a chosen higher level strategy
e.g.: Preventive maintenance is an effective tactic that helps deliver lower cost maintenance and
contributes to overall operational excellence

What differentiates strategy from tactics?
Let’s first understand what we mean by “tactics”
Dictionary:
tac·tics (t k t ks)
n.
1. a. (used with a sing. verb) The military science that deals with securing objectives set by
strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships, and aircraft in
effective maneuvers against an enemy: Tactics is a required course at all military academies.
b. (used with a pl. verb) Maneuvers used against an enemy: Guerrilla tactics were employed
during most of the war.
2. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end,
an aim, or a goal.
tac·tic (t k t k)
n.
An expedient for achieving a goal; a maneuver.

Why do we need a strategy?
Revenue & Costs vs. Volume of Sales
120
Revenues & Costs %
100
80
Margin Total Costs
Break Even Point
Fixed Costs
60
Variable Costs
40
Current Revenues
20 Production
0
0%
0%
%
%
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
10
Volume of Sales %
In industry there are 2 major ways to make profit:

1. Produce more and sell it at higher margins or
2. Produce a constant volume at the lowest possible cost so we maximize margin
Business strategy will be driven by one of these two fundamental approaches

Appreciate the full life cycle of an asset
Dispose
Asset Strategy
Operate,
Maintain &
Modify
Plan
Build / Procure
Evaluate
Design

And understand where you can influence
profitability
100
% of life cycle cost
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Design Build Operate, Dispose
Maintain,
Modify
Stage of Life Cycle
Commitment Spend

Appreciate other areas where maintenance
can influence the business
Many of our manufacturing processes are highly automated

Regulatory compliance
Safety and environmental compliance in particular are directly effected by the
effectiveness of maintenance work and its execution
Quality programs
Production of high quality products requires the assets to be working reliably and
within tolerances
Insurance
Insurance premiums for worker safety programs are directly impacted by the safety
performance of your workforce
Lending institutions
Borrowing is easier and generally under better lending terms if you can demonstrate
a highly reliable production track record
Warranties
Warranty costs are a form of insurance where you bet against your ability to keep
your equipment running
If you can keep it running reliably you don’t need the warranty or its costs

What makes strategy so complicated and
challenging?
People and our fear!
Strategy is a plan of action intended to achieve a specific goal

The plan is what complicates most business strategies
` A lot of detail becomes paralyzing
` Too little detail becomes confusing
The challenge comes in executing that plan correctly

` People don’t want to make a mistake
• If there is too much detail they may follow it blindly and ignore what’s going on around them
- They are afraid to stray from the plan
• If there is too little detail they become unsure of what to do next
- They are afraid to do something that wasn’t intended
` Fear of being wrong holds us back
• We are afraid of being punished for being wrong
• Fear has been used to guide us (all of our lives) and it’s a tough habit to break

A complex strategy (refer to sample)
This strategy “document”:

Sample (on CD)
Contained 112 pages of information
1. Corporate PAM Mission Statement
Had a concise mission and vision
2. Corporate PAM Vision Statement
Desired state was too detailed
3. Desired PAM State ` 7 pages of bullet points – too much to
4. Principles and Values remember
5. Opportunity Mapping Principles and values – 13 points, again, a
6. Action Plans bit too much to remember
7. Process Flows, Responsibility Opportunity map and action plans were
Matrices and KPI’s good tactical documents but again, too
much information (35 pages)
Appendices
Process details – 50 pages – way too
8. Cross Industry Leading Practices
much detail
9. Leading Practices
Appendices – 13 pages – good input data,
10. ‘As-Is’ (issues) but not they are not relevant to a forward
looking direction / strategy

What was wrong with it?
It was too bulky for mass distribution, so very few read it
There was too much information for anyone to fully assimilate let alone remember
Mission statement contained too much “how to”
Vision statement described a “wish”, not a “state” – there was no overall time
frame
The desired future state was too detailed to remember, even for each element that
was described
Plan details were good but they are very tactical

Let’s look at the mission statement
“To select, procure, operate, maintain, and dispose of the physical assets in order
to meet all stakeholder needs, while maximizing profitability we will work safely
and in an environmentally responsible manner. We will continuously improve our
skills and processes to optimize the return on the physical assets, using world
class methods and technologies.”
No definition of
“stakeholder”.
This word confuses

people. All of the blue text is
“how to”.
The underlined portion says what Does not belong here.

they are there to do.
That is a mission.

Let’s look at the vision statement
“MiningCo will be recognized as a world class leader in physical asset

management. Continuous improvement and operating performance will be based
on global benchmarks, and supported by effective coordination between the mine
sites and departments at all levels.”
Underlined text is a tactical choice

of “how to”, not a vision
Implies that you will continue to

strive for this, not achieve it
Use words like “we are” or “is”

Let’s look at the desired state
All of the statements are helpful here but there are just too many to be
remembered
They are written like an engineering standard

Lots of detail – some of the statements are a big vague, but intent is fairly clear
Avoids “how to” for the most part
Useful at the departmental / functional group level
Very tactical because of the detail
The desired state is really described in the vision

What’s listed in the strategy document is a great deal of descriptive detail

Let’s look at principles and values
A good summary of widely recognized principles
This can be read in any number of text books
This is not specific to the company in its business environment

Let’s look at the opportunity map and action
plans
A great deal of detail

What is to be done
Who is responsible
Time frame
Very good tactical plan
Not a strategy in itself – this supports the strategy

Let’s look at the process flows and
appendices
Lots of tactical detail in the process flows and their tables
This isn’t strategy nor is it a form of tactical plan for implementation
This is the solution to some of their problems, not the method for achieving a
solution
Appendices provide a great deal of background information
Useful reference material but not strategy nor tactical action plans

If all of this is “wrong,” then why use this
example?
The example does contain good points that are needed

It has a mission statement embedded in it
It has a future state (vision)
It shows that guiding principles and values must be followed
It shows that a plan is needed (even if the one shown here is too detailed)
It shows a lot of what it takes to create an effective strategy (in the form of embedded reference materials)
How could it be improved?

Link the mission to the business environment – tell us why we have chosen this mission
` (e.g.: Our business requires excellence in operations. Our mission is to deliver cost effective asset uptime to optimize production
rates.)
Keep vision short and make it visual
` Make is something that people can relate to
` (e.g.: We are leaders in our industry. We rely on our highly motivated and creative workforce to keep us in the forefront of
technology and its execution. We share our success with our employees.)
Make principles and values relevant to your business environment, not general “feel good” statements – set the
tone for future action
` (e.g.: Maintenance represents 40% of our operating costs, it can only be reduced through the joint efforts of maintenance,
production and engineering)
Keep the plan at a high level
` (e.g.: All of our actions depend on our people acting to the benefit of the company in implementing this strategy. We will develop
the knowledge and capabilities of our people and we will put programs in place that motivate and nurture.)
Keep the reference materials out of the strategy
` They are useful and needed, but they overwhelm the reader
Put it all on one page!
Keep it simple.

It doesn’t need to be complex – simples goes
further
A strategy works best if everyone knows it and works to execute it
“Everyone” includes everyone in the company – not just the executives, managers
and supervisors
Remember that the work gets done at the shop floor
` Administrators, trades persons, clerks, planners, engineers, technicians, etc. all have
important roles to play
` Each person must choose to execute the strategy or some parts of it will fail
• e.g.: If a planner doesn’t choose to plan in accordance with proven planning practices then his / her plans
won’t effectively use the trades persons’ time resulting in costly work execution. That failure to be cost
effective leaves room for improvement
• e.g.: Supervisors and managers must choose to truly value and trust their employees to execute their
parts of the plan as intended. Lack of trust and micro-management will de-motivate employees and
encourage them to be less creative and less willing to participate. In turn, that will tie up the supervisors’
and managers’ time doing detailed work that could have been done by their subordinates had they been
motivated to do so. This squanders the creative talents of the managers and supervisors and leaves
room for improvement
• e.g.: Executives must choose to support the plan with the necessary funding and leadership or planned
activities will flounder and the plan falls behind schedule. This causes a loss of confidence and credibility
and everyone gives up on the initiative. The result is that nothing changes.

Keeping it simple makes it easy to follow
If people can visualize it and remember it they will be motivated by it
e.g.: John F Kennedy in 1963: “We will put a man on the moon and return him
safely to earth by the end of the decade”.
This was very visual – the mission was absolutely clear (the mission and vision were
virtually identical in this case)
It was a challenge to accomplish
` It had never been done before
` It had a “tight” time line
It had a simple principle – “return him safely”

It left the details to the experts
` JFK was assassinated shortly after making this commitment
They got it done!
` The experts carried on without his leadership and accomplished the goal on 21 July 1969
• They even repeated the event on 19 Nov 1969 when Apollo 12 also put men on the moon and returned
them safely

Simple strategies
Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” (500 BC) had a very visual analogy:
“An army may be likened to water: water leaves dry the high places and seeks the hollows; an army turns from
strength and attacks emptiness. The flow of water is regulated by the shape of the ground; victory is gained
by acting in accordance with the state of the enemy.”
Another simple principle helps guide tactical decisions:

“the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”
The rest of Sun Tsu’s work is largely a collection of tactical rules that are fairly simple to follow:
e.g.: On “waging war”
Victory is the main object in war. If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed. When
troops attack cities, their strength will be exhausted.
When the army engages in protracted campaigns the resources of the state will not suffice
Thus while we have heard of blundering swiftness in war, we have not yet seen a clever operation that was
prolonged
For there has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited
Those unable to understand the dangers inherent in employing troops are equally unable to understand the
advantageous ways of doing so
Those adept in waging war do not require a second levy of conscripts nor more than one provisioning
Etc.

Sun Tsu (a few more simple concepts)
You should not encamp in low-lying ground
There are some roads not to follow; some troops not to strike; some cities not to
assault; and some ground which should not be contested
By taking into account the favourable factors, he makes his plan feasible; by
taking into account the unfavourable, he may resolve the difficulties
There are 5 qualities which are dangerous in the character of a general:

If reckless, he can be killed
If cowardly, captured
If quick-tempered you can make a fool of him
If he has too delicate a sense of honor you can calumniate him
If he is of compassionate nature you can harass him
Now these 5 traits are serious faults in a general and in military operations are
calamitous

Strategy implementation can be expressed as
“simple rules”
Sun Tsu’s work was a collection of rules based on observations of what worked
well in waging war as a successful general
His list was a long one so only a general would remember it all
In business today, that would be a serious flaw because it relies entirely on the wit
and wisdom of the general. It assumes that those who follow can’t think for
themselves
Today we have well educated workers who think for themselves outside of work
They are guided in their day-to-day lives by following simple sets of rules
These rules come from laws, from religion, from basic economics and from our
basic survival instincts
` e.g.: We don’t kill other people, we don’t steal, we respect legitimate authority, we drive on
the right hand side of the road, we lock our doors when we leave our homes, we educate our
children, we sleep when we are tired, we eat healthy food, etc.

Simple rules “at work” to guide our day-to-day
actions
If simple rules work in our day-to-day lives, why not use them at work?
Here’s a simple set of principles (rules) that were used at a junior high school where 800
adolescent students helped keep their school environment neat, orderly and working
smoothly:
1. Take care of yourself
2. Take care of each other
3. Take care of this place
Everyone in the school knew the rules and used them to deal with all situations
These rules defined what was significant to the school community

They contained agreements about what they would pay attention to and what disturbed them
e.g.: after a fire had occurred and the school was evacuated they returned with wet shoes and
muddy floors. Because they agreed to take care of this place, they removed shoes at the
lobby to avoid making it worse until it could be cleaned up.
Could these rules work in your business too?

Simple rules in maintenance
What would your maintenance department be like if it followed these simple rules?
Take care of yourself

Take care of each other
Take care of this place
Record answers and discuss
Note that rules alone don’t make up a strategy

However, they do help us to implement it

Remain flexible
Simple rules can be interpreted differently in new situations
Strategy must also respond to new situations

Businesses change, grow, shrink, get acquired, acquire others, add new product
lines, etc.
Rigid strategies that don’t consider these possibilities become outdated before they
are entirely executed
` The result can be an implementation that no longer meets the needs of the business
Understand what can change in your business environment so you can build
flexibility into your strategy and planning activities

Choosing a strategy – the development
process
Framework

Develop vision

Vision requires awareness
Become aware of your business environment

Nature of the market for your company’s products
` Price sensitive, demands high quality, requires rapid response / resolution
` Is your product commodity, customized, mass produced, highly engineered, etc.
Nature of the competitive landscape
` What sets your company apart from others?
` Can maintenance play a part in setting or establishing that distinction?
Can asset reliability, safety or environmental performance improve: insurance premiums, make it easier to borrow, reduce warranty
costs, ensure regulatory compliance, ensure reliable and high quality production?
Appreciate your company’s culture and constraints

Is management open to new ideas or looking only for “tried and true” solutions?
Is the operational environment “command and control” or is free choice encouraged?
Is management cost focused? Excellence focused? Looking for optimal solutions?
Are you constrained by layers of decision making authority and complex processes? Informal?
Does your executive appreciate the value of maintenance / asset management to the business?
Will they listen to you? Do you need to build credibility?
As the maintenance leader do you have executive level support? Or are you on your own?
Become aware of your business strategy

Can you sell everything you can make?
` Internal constraints are entirely manageable
Are your sales market limited in some way?
` External constraints can’t be managed, but you can manage how you respond to them
Understand the various things you can do in maintenance to support the business strategy
Appreciate successful practices
Appreciate how to apply them successfully

A strategy for excellence in maintenance
management
The “Uptime Pyramid of Excellence” is an overall maintenance management strategy that

supports cost effective achievement of high levels of asset reliability.
It contains 10 tactical elements that are executed for achieve its goals.

Making the general strategy useful
The “Uptime” strategy is general in nature

Think of it as a roadmap
You need to determine where you are and where you want to go before you can determine the
route you will take
And there are many possible routes
It applies to plants, factories, mills, fleets, infrastructure, utilities, facilities of all sorts
It’s execution will be different in each of these situations
It’s execution will also be different in each company
Why the differences?

Each business environment is different
` Different companies, even if they are in the same industry, have different physical assets
` Operational methods are different
` Operating environments are different
So “one size fits all” doesn’t work

The “Uptime” strategy must be tailored to work in your business environment

The strategy process

The review
Strategy People Work Materials Basic Care Performance Support Systems Asset Reliability Teamwork Processes
Management Mangement Management
Excellence Complete strategy Fully developed Long term planning Stockouts rare. Full regulatory Fully balanced Full user PM program fully Autonomous teams Processes are
developed with full multi-skilling, cycles and Service level 98% compliance. PM score cards for acceptance and developed using of maintainers and efficient and
participation autonomous teams extensive use of plus. Inventory program features teams. widespread use of RCM. RCFA used operators used effective. No work
including plans in place standard job plans. turns > 2 times. extensive CBM. Improvement management but not needed extensively. arounds in use.
Operators do some results evident in systems. CBM, very often. Mtc Support by Regular reviews
minor PM. performance reliability analysis inputs to design of management and carried out to keep
Equipment trends. and decision new assets. specialists. processes fresh.
condition good. support systems in Consistent Support systems
use. maintenance automate parts of
standards in use. the processes.
Competence Complete strategy Multi-skilling and Scheduling and Inventory turns > 1. Full regulatory Reliability Extensive RCM in use to Area or unit based Processes are
developed by key managed teams of planning well Service level 95% compliance. PM measures in use
management define PM teams of efficient and
personnel with maintainers and established for plus. Stockouts program features and improvement
systems used programs. RCFA maintainers and effective. Some
plans operators most work. less than 5%. some CBM. programs mostly by in use. operators with work arounds may
Compliance high. Operators help with monitored, trends
management. management. be in use. Reviews
PM. Equipment being developed.
Some CBM, Maintenance carried out
condition good. reliability analysis standards applied infrequently.
and decision in each area.
support systems
use.
Understanding Management Some multi-skilling.
Scheduling Inventory turns > Partial regulatory Basic maintenance Management Reliability Maintenance Maintenance
defined strategy & Mostly distributed established, 0.7. Service level compliance. PM performance systems in use. improvement working in area processes
plans maintenance compliance good. 90% plus. program based on measures in use. Some reporting is program in place. teams under reviewed.
teams with Planning for major Inventory analysis fixed interval tasks used. Some CBM RCFA and possibly maintenance Interfacing
conventional work and being performed. with little CBM. support systems in PM Optimization insupervision. processes
supervision shutdowns as work Equipment use. use. Operations untouched. Work
arises. condition fair. separate. arounds in use.
Awareness Documented goals Partly de- Scheduling with Inventory Poor regulatory Financial measures Management Downtime analysis Mix of centralized Processes
but no plans centralized about 50% improvement plans compliance. PM used to analyze systems use is is performed and (shop) labor and documented but
organization based compliance. Plans in place. program under spend patterns. spotty and some individuals not reviewed.
on trades for shutdowns only Measurement of development using Some downtime providing little improvements are assigned to Work arounds in
stores performance traditional methods. records. valuable output. implemented. production areas. use. Inefficiency
started. Equipment Ad hoc systems Conventional evident particularly
condition fair. still in use. CBM supervision. at functional hand
support being offs.
considered.
Innocence No documented Centralized No planning, little Frequent Poor regulatory Only financial Little to no use of Plenty of downtime No teamwork. Processes not
strategy. organization based scheduling and stockouts. Service compliance. measures being management but no analysis of Conventional documented and
Maintenance is on trades poor compliance to level poor. Jobs Minimal or non- watched but no systems. May be causes or attempts supervision. inefficient. Plenty
largely reactive demarcation schedule frequently waiting existent PM analysis of costs using variety of ad to improve. of work arounds.
for parts. program. performed. hoc systems. Plenty of
Equipment complaining.
condition poor.

Example
Innocence Awareness Under- Compet- Excellence

standing ence
Let’s say we observe: Strategy

No documented strategy but everyone knows that we
must keep costs down
The organization is centrally managed and organized by People
trades – little in-house training is done and skills are not
kept up to date with new techniques and technology
Work is being scheduled but not planned Work Mgt
Schedule compliance is less than 50%
Parts are often not available when needed
Work required by safety and environmental regulations MRO
is done faithfully but there are still some minor
accidents and incidents
Financial and basic maintenance measures are in place Basic Care
and watched by management only
A CMMS is in use but there is no reliability analysis and
trades don’t enter job details on work orders that are Systems
being closed
Reliability improvement is being done by trades
deciding what changes to make to equipment design Perform
after problems have occurred
Major problems are solved with small task force (team)
efforts Reliability
Maintenance and MRO processes are documented but
they don’t work smoothly – planners must order
materials themselves and supervisors often don’t use Teams
work orders until after the work is done
How do you score this maintenance department on the scale of

innocence to excellence? Process
How many of your organizations are close to this description?

The result
The scores reveal opportunities

Strategy
100
Processes 80 People
60
40
Teamwork Work Management
20
Asset Reliability Materials Management
Support Systems Basic Care
Performance Management
Satisfaction

Develop the road map

Map the opportunities
MiningCo Opportunity Mapping
HR3 HR8 HR13 PR4 MM6 HR4 HR10 HR11 HR12 HR14 PR5
PR1 PR3 EQ1 EQ2 EQ3

High
MM11 MM17 MM18
MM4 MM5 MM9 MM10 MM14

Value
MM15 MM16 MM20
Benefit
Medium
HR5 HR7 HR9 HR16 PR6 PR7
MM1 MM12 MM13 MM19
HR1 HR2 HR6 HR17 MM2 HR15 PR2 MM3 MM7

Low
MM8
Low Medium High

Legend
HR - Human Resources Degree of Difficulty
MM - Materials Management
PR - Processes
EQ - Equipment Cost
Plan activities
For each of the opportunities you choose to work on

Determine the action steps required
Estimate the time and resources required
Determine the benefits that should be generated and how they will be measured
Assign responsibilities
Check dependencies among the various action items and adjust the plan
Acquire necessary approvals, funding and resources

Implementing a strategy successfully

Execution
Companies that succeed excel at execution of their strategies and plans
They don’t just talk about doing it, they go out and do it
When a plan is put into motion it gets all the support that it requires
Human resources – people to execute elements of the plan
Physical resources – the equipment that is needed
Intellectual resources – the software that is needed
Support resources – the outside help, training, etc. that is needed
Financial resources – the funding to pay for it all
Execution is tracked along with the benefits that are being generated by the plan
The work is being monitored and managed
Progress is measured
Results are measured
If progress or results are “off track” then corrective action is taken

The role of management
Maintenance improvement is not just a maintenance activity

Changing a crucial part of any business is an important corporate activity
It involves operations, engineering, human resources, training, finance, accounting,
information technology, etc.
Senior management must be engaged in the execution of your strategic plan

It cannot be successfully delegated to the maintenance manager alone
It cannot be successfully managed by a committee of maintenance manager peers
Senior management is providing the necessary funding and resources so it has a
legitimate need to see a return on that investment
` Watch progress
` Monitor results
` Expect to see corrective action when something isn’t working as expected
` Intervene where it will help
Demonstrate that you care – nurture the entire process so you get the results you
are paying for

Is it working?
Things can go wrong – expect some errors to be made
Watch for:
Flaws in the implementation plan (these can be common)
` Unidentified activity dependencies
` Under-estimated costs and time frames
` Using the wrong resources for the tasks or missing key players
Flaws in the overall direction (these are less common)

` Strategic direction has changed – markets improved so you can now sell everything you can
make or conversely your markets have gone sour
` Regulatory environment changes
Changes that effect the vision

` New (disruptive) technologies appear
` Company undergoes a change in ownership or expands rapidly
` New management / executives demand changes

Remain flexible
Appreciate that changes can be driven by external events, internal events, errors,
omissions, changes in personnel, disruptive technologies, etc.
Strategies and their implementation plans must remain flexible in order to deal
with these factors
Regular review of the strategy and its implementation will provide early warning of
the need for changes
Don’t remain rigidly bound by a plan that is no longer valid
Expect and accept change – it’s the only constant!

Thank you for listening
Recommended Reading:
Campbell, John & Reyes-Picknell, James: Uptime, Strategies for Excellence in
Maintenance Management, 2006, Productivity Press, NY
Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. & Sull, Donald N.: Strategy as Simple Rules,

Harvard Business Review
Any questions? Please feel free to contact me:

James (Jim) Reyes-Picknell: +1-705-431-6598 or james@consciousasset.com
Web site:
www.consciousasset.com


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Maintenance Strategy

James V Reyes-Picknell, P.Eng.

What differentiates strategy from tactics?

What makes strategy so complicated and challenging?

It doesn’t need to be complex – “simple” goes further

Choosing a strategy – the development process

Implementing a strategy successfully

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

How many have a series of equipment specific strategies?

Using a show of hands, how many of your maintenance departments have a

How many of you are striving for excellence?

How many have a formal maintenance improvement program in place today?

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

How many would describe their operating environment as reactive?

How many describe their operating environment as proactive?

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

In some maintenance management literature, strategy is a lower level plan to achieve

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

Let’s first understand what we mean by “tactics”

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

Revenue & Costs vs. Volume of Sales

In industry there are 2 major ways to make profit:

Business strategy will be driven by one of these two fundamental approaches

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

Stage of Life Cycle

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

Many of our manufacturing processes are highly automated

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

People and our fear!

Strategy is a plan of action intended to achieve a specific goal

 The challenge comes in executing that plan correctly

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

This strategy “document”:

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

It was too bulky for mass distribution, so very few read it

Mission statement contained too much “how to”

Plan details were good but they are very tactical

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

This word confuses

The underlined portion says what Does not belong here.

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

“MiningCo will be recognized as a world class leader in physical asset

Underlined text is a tactical choice

Implies that you will continue to

Use words like “we are” or “is”

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

They are written like an engineering standard

The desired state is really described in the vision

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

A good summary of widely recognized principles

This can be read in any number of text books

This is not specific to the company in its business environment

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

A great deal of detail

Very good tactical plan

Not a strategy in itself – this supports the strategy

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

Lots of tactical detail in the process flows and their tables

This isn’t strategy nor is it a form of tactical plan for implementation

Appendices provide a great deal of background information

James V Reyes-Picknell, President, Conscious Group Inc. “Maintenance Strategy” www.ipamc.org

The example does contain good points that are needed

The challenge comes in executing that plan correctly

It had a simple principle – “return him safely”

Flaws in the overall direction (these are less common)

Changes that effect the vision