Lean Systems That Enhance Maintenance Value

The principles of Lean Manufacturing have demonstrated that optimising entire processes delivers far superior results than simply improving individual tasks. This holistic, end-to-end approach—also known as systems thinking has the potential to enhance how Maintenance performance too.

Lean Maintenance applies systems thinking to maintenance processes to directly impact on customer value and enhance overall efficiency. It also provides a vehicle to deliver a proactive improvement culture and place Maintenance at the centre of Operational Excellence.

Not to be confused with IT systems such as CMMS, Lean Maintenance supports systems of work that directly impact on customer value. The gains from implementing Lean Maintenance depend on the current maintenance approach but below are examples of typical improvement areas under each system. (For a better understanding of how current practices can be enhanced through Lean Maintenance, complete our free online self assessment diagnostic and we will send you a report.)

Systems That Directly Impact Customer Value

Process Control

• Identify and Address Sources of Accelerated Wear: to prioritise refurbishment needs and deal with sources of accelerated wear.

• Set Inspection Standards: to define appearance, wear and dimensional precision requirements that ensure stable operating conditions.

• Predict and Prevent Failures: to identify critical components and track deterioration patterns to stabilise and extend component life.

Work Control

• Establish early warning systems: to make Normal conditions visible at a glance and define actions to take when these are not met.

• Develop trouble shooting algorithms to formalise countermeasures to common problems and gain insights into causal factors at trouble map hot spots.

• Set work standards: to confirm compliance to best practice routines or feedback to refine current method.

Planning

• Set Control Points and Methods: To define effective control strategies, tolerance limits, and monitoring techniques.

• Prioritise Hot Spots: to pinpoint high-risk areas or “hot spots” for immediate attention and feedback on the effectiveness of countermeasures applied.

• Set Team Skill Profile: To assess current workforce capabilities, then develop targeted training and support programs.

Systems That Shape Maintenance Culture and Outlook

An essential part of Lean Maintenance is the focus on workforce engagement with systematic improvement. These are:

Policy Deployment

• Eliminate Contamination: Map and resolve sources of dirt, dust and other contaminants.

• Develop Shared Competencies: Build multi-disciplinary teams with the skills to troubleshoot and prevent recurring issues.

• Define a 12-month improvement roadmap with quarterly checkpoints to measure progress and refine action plans.

Collaboration

• Clarify Roles and Accountabilities: for sustaining basic conditions, reducing accelerated deterioration and improving reliability

• Define Learning Plans: key roles to formalise best practices and standardise methods.

• Reduce learning curves: Identify complex tasks and simplify to speed up competence development and compliance.

Performance Analysis

• Assess Asset Criticality: to define key mechanisms, reliability issues and reduce defects.

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness: to identify hidden losses and improvement potential.

• Monitor Mean Time Between Intervention to track progress towards zero breakdowns and then zero defects.

• Document measurable gains from enhanced reliability due to:

  • Standardised start-up, steady-state, and shutdown procedures.

  • Improved Operability and Reliability.

  • Control of contamination at source.

How we can help

Lean Maintenance is a proven framework to help organisations to enhance Maintenance Value, drive efficiency, reduce costs, and improve reliability—delivering long-term competitive advantage.

Are you ready to transform your maintenance strategy? Contact us to understand more about how Lean Maintenance can work for you.