13OrganizationOfTheMaintenanceDepartment PT2– Click To Download PDF

ORGANIZATION OF THE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT

(Part 2)
Albert K. Fletcher
CEO/PM Consultant
(Dataman System Consultancy)

When it comes to developing the organization for optimum maintenance, it must be recognized that there are three levels of planning and scheduling. All three are fundamental to successful maintenance performance and, formally or informally, all three must be accomplished.

The three types of planning are:

a) Longest-range plans
The first or longest-range plans are those for the management level. Involved are the long-term plan and the shorter or yearly plan. These are the plans of the Maintenance Manager. They establish the objectives of the Department, match them to the objectives of the Plant, and define the means for accomplishment.

b) Intermediate plan
The intermediate plan, or monthly plan, is the plan of the Department’s intermediate management. These plans reconcile the Plant’s immediate and developing needs with those approved in the long-term plan. In large Plants, they provide for redeployment of resources from area to area. In all Plants, they adjust major projects to periods when projects may best be accomplished, recognizing the non-postponable activities of the Department.

c) Daily schedule and plan
The daily schedule and plan is the actual plan for the accomplishment of work. It relates to the first-line foremen and craftsmen who will perform the work. While no less essential than the other two types, this is the plan that most people associate with the words “planning and scheduling”.

Such planning and scheduling involves the recordkeeping, forms, and control systems to a greater extent than the other two levels, simply because these plans are actual detailed expenditures of materials and manhours. However, the daily plan and schedule cannot be truly effective without first developing the longer-range plans of (a) and (b) earlier stated.

The Organization Chart or Diagram

The organization plan, when developed, is conveniently expressed in the form of an organization chart. Charting is also the means of measuring the soundness of an organization. Any relationship therein which cannot be regularly charted is likely to be illogical.

An organization which cannot be understood by those working under it will probably be ineffective. It is therefore essential to understand what the organization chart represents.

The conventional organization chart does not stipulate how each unit or individual should function. Rather, it concentrates on lines of authority, reporting relationships, and relationships between individuals.

The conventional organization chart must therefore be supplemented by job descriptions or written specifications defining respective functions and responsibilities to avoid:

  • Duplication of effort

  • Friction

  • Working at cross-purposes

  • Gaps

  • Other shortcomings resulting from lack of organizational clarification

Titles are generally insufficient to provide the needed specifications.

In construction, the organization chart consists of a number of little boxes. These boxes indicate functions and usually contain both the name and title (or abbreviated title).

  • Vertical lines indicate the direction of authority, responsibility, and vertical communication

  • Horizontal lines indicate who talks to whom at the same level

This rigid format has relatively little to do with what actually happens. Innovative and creative forces within the organization, particularly directed toward the future, generate an informal organization structure which wields much of the power. That portion of the Maintenance Department concerned with day-to-day work largely follows the organization chart.

If we can develop the functions which a Maintenance Department must perform, and lay down rules with respect to authority and responsibility, the development of an organization and the ability to chart it to meet the established long-range and shorter-range plans becomes possible.

Maintenance is an organization whose primary function is to restore or maintain, rather than to generate a plan, design, or analysis. In this respect, it is much like Production. But Maintenance has had to do its own staff work.

Thus, another concept—the line/staff relationship—must be developed if the Maintenance organization is to be understood, developed, and function to its maximum.

The Line-Staff Relationship

Many of the rules and concepts for organization were developed within the military. When translated to commercial activity, and particularly in the maintenance function of a production Plant, organizational principles of the military undergo important modifications.

These differences are designed to:

  • Improve efficiency

  • Reduce costs

…but at the risk of having to rely on individual initiative.

(End Part 2 – To be continued)

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