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Improving maintenance effectiveness by implementing the right performance measures / by Ron Thiry.

Plant maintenance

Performance -- Measurement

Open-book management

Employee empowerment

Organizational effectiveness -- Measurement

Management -- Employee participation

119 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Advisor: Joseph Papp.

Committee members: Dr. Bruce Thompson, Cecil Head.

Background -- Performance measurement concepts -- Balanced Scorecard analysis -- Building the measurement system -- Implementing the maintenance scorecard -- Benefits over traditional maintenance measurements -- Learnings and applications to other organizations -- Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Glossary -- Appendices A) Maintenance trend analysis - 1997 B) Feedback questionnaire maintenance scorecard implementation C) Assessment of measurement criteria .

The project is built upon the proposition that a maintenance organization can achieve greater effectiveness by replacing its traditional cost-based measurement system with one that incorporates financial, customer, internal process and growth/learning perspectives. While the project concentrates on a specific operation, knowledge gained from this application may be applied to other organizations with similarly high levels of capital intensity and operations trying to facilitate increased levels of employee involvement.

Research was conducted in the areas of measurement systems, employee empowerment and maintenance management to substantiate the proposition. Five essential characteristics of an effective measurement system were gleaned form the literature. After comparison with cost-based measures and Open Book Management, the Balance Scorecard was selected as the foundation upon which to build the new measurement system for the Wisconsin Tissue Menasha Product Supply Maintenance Organization.

Since this application is significantly different than the Balanced Scorecard examples presented in the literature, the building process was modified to better fit this situation. To mediate the potential implementation obstacles, the Situational Leadership II change model was used to guide the implementation process.

Early results indicate that maintenance costs have been reduced by approximately $400,000 over the first four months. The maintenance craftspeople have also shown greater interest in becoming involved in group problem solving efforts. Both observations are strong indicators that the maintenance scorecard may be having a positive impact.

The process of building a scorecard for the Wisconsin Tissue Menasha Product Supply Maintenance Organization revealed several valuable learnings that could be applied to other organizations. Measures must be aligned with the desired outcomes but also support the desired work environment in order to sustain a change effort. Also, fine characteristics of an effective measurement system were identified to assess current or potential measures. This project illustrates how the Balanced Scorecard concepts may be applied at a departmental level with the need to wait for higher level scorecards to be implemented. Finally, what is measured and how things are measured have significant psychological impacts upon employees. Human response must be considered whenever measurement system changes are being considered.

Overall, the project has successfully demonstrated that applying the right measurement system can have a positive impact on improving the performance of a maintenance organization. In the process of proving that point, several additional measurement system considerations have been discovered.

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