The Future of Maintenance Management: Enter the “Digital Native”
A new breed of employees is beginning to enter the workforce, the “digital native” generation. Digital natives, with their inherent proficiency in technology, are transforming maintenance management by streamlining processes and optimizing efficiency through digital tools and platforms. And they’re no longer just joining Silicon Valley startups; they’re coming to a maintenance team near you. Having grown up surrounded by screens and fed by seemingly endless access to information, digital natives have a whole new relationship to technology—and they might just be your new best friends. Older employees can capitalize on the opportunities these younger “resources” present. It’s important to recognize their contributions to the workplace—skills that compliment and expand the maintenance team’s capabilities in a modern organization. What makes these digital natives different? How will they change the way maintenance gets done? And how can you put their skills to use to get better results from your maintenance management program? Comfort Level with Technology Because digital natives have spent their entire lives surrounded by everything from computers and videogames to MP3 players and cell phones, these employees have a greater understanding of technology and its capabilities. Their devices are a key part of their personal lives, and this translates to their professional lives as well. As such, these workers will not only embrace new technology in the workplace, but they will also expect it. While much of the resistance to new technology common in older generations is nonexistent with these team members, it is replaced by expectations that the company will keep its technology up to date in order for these workers to do their jobs. Communication and Collaboration with Digital Natives While older generations may pick up the phone or schedule an in-person meeting, younger workers may prefer virtual problem solving. From texting to videoconferencing to social networking, digital natives are familiar with and prefer other ways to communicate and collaborate. This preference affects everything from daily tasks to performance reviews. For example, younger workers have grown up with constant feedback, and they may need regular communication from their coworkers and bosses. They also might conduct research differently—eschewing the traditional phone book for a quick Google search, for example. Digital Native Scheduling and Multitasking Early technology adoption among younger generations has enabled them to develop skills in multitasking. They are used to surfing the Web while they talk on a cellphone and watch a program on television. This tendency affects their desire for variety in the workplace, and they may not like to stay too long on any one assignment. Younger generations also prefer flexibility in their work schedules. So they may be more open to working outside of the typical 8-5 workday in exchange for time off to pursue leisure activities. This flexibility can work in your favor, if you are willing to be creative in scheduling work during your equipment and assets’ downtime. As a maintenance management leader, you have a unique position to harness the possibilities that digital natives can bring to your organization. By investing in these new employees, you can bring new methods and ideas to your workplace. Leverage the technological experience and expectations of this new generation of workers to improve your team’s processes, efficiency, and motivation. It can be a win-win situation for your organization and your employees. Have questions? Contact us!
The Future of Maintenance Management: Technology Adoption
The adoption of technology in maintenance management is revolutionizing the industry by enhancing operational efficiency, reducing downtime, and improving asset reliability through the use of advanced digital solutions. Despite the fact that maintenance management can be highly technical in nature, maintenance teams are often the last in an organization to get new information technology (IT) systems. Whether it’s better management software, mobile devices, networking improvements, or just better desktop computers, other departments are sure to get them before the maintenance teams do. The maintenance department’s typical workday includes highly technical and specialized tasks related to a broad range of advanced technologies. Until recently, though, information technology wasn’t considered relevant for maintainers. But the truth is information technology is just as important as any other tool in the maintenance team’s toolbox. The same IT systems that make other departments like finance and marketing more effective are also important for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) professionals. Even today, as technology is rapidly integrated elsewhere in organizations, many maintenance departments are just now implementing PCs and related technology, like computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. And often other forces hamper this process, like when the maintenance folks get hand-me-down computers after other departments get new ones. Or when employees are forced to deal with limited, or nonexistent, network and Internet connections. Yet technology is such a powerful advantage for the maintenance team. So what can you do to ensure your company’s maintenance team gets the tools it needs? You can start by consciously eradicating these three myths in your own mind, then educating others in your organization. Three Technology Adoption Myths 1. Maintenance People Aren’t Smart Enough Most maintenance employees are highly technical; the first to be called to fix machines and systems that stump everyone else. So why are they perceived as incapable of using PCs and smartphones? Indeed, there may have been a time when maintenance people, gifted as they were in mechanical operation, didn’t need a computer to help them with their job. But that time has long gone. If your team maintains fleet vehicles, they are working with computers integrated into all aspects of the vehicles—including the engines, transmissions, air bag systems, and fuel systems. On the shop floor, equipment that once was manually controlled is now automated with process control systems. Far from being not smart enough, the maintenance team usually comprises some of the most tech-savvy folks in the operation. 2. Technology is too complicated This myth may have begun within the maintenance team itself. And it’s true that at one point in time, integrating technology was a complicated process. But improved user interfaces have made it faster and easier for maintenance teams to get up and running with computers and other IT systems. For example, gone are the days when you needed high-powered PCs and a complicated internal network to support CMMS software. Today it can be done with a tablet device and a WiFi connection. It’s getting simpler all the time. 3. Computers are for Bean Counters Technology adoption among organizations often filters down from the top. Usually the top includes more than a few “bean counters.” Yet a computer isn’t just for running numbers and analyzing company stock performance. CMMS software can serve as the central hub of your maintenance team, holding a vast amount of real-time data that can tell you what’s really going on out there at any given moment. This information helps your team focus on their workload in a productive way. And when your maintenance team is more productive, your whole organization benefits, including the bean counters. When something breaks, you can be sure maintenance is the first number people will call. So it’s important to make sure your team members aren’t the last on the IT department’s list when it comes to purchasing software, computers, and mobile devices to help them manage their own workflow. Technology adoption in the maintenance management field is growing because the expectations managers have of maintenance personnel are growing too. Today’s maintenance team is expected to plan for preventive maintenance tasks and optimize asset life cycles. Letting go of old myths and advocating for your team’s IT needs leads to good maintenance management and good financial management—two things that benefit your whole organization. Have questions about technology adoption in maintenance? Contact us.
The Future of Maintenance Management
In this maintenance management article series, we talk about the future of proactive maintenance strategies. Globalization and related competitive pressures have resulted in rapid changes across just about every industry, and maintenance employees are feeling those changes in the workplace, both in the facilities environment and on the plant floor. Most professionals in maintenance operations of all sizes have already experienced these industry changes firsthand, while others see them coming quickly down the pipeline. Some organizations have embraced these changes, but others are floundering, in real danger of being left behind. In this series, we’ll identify the 11 most important trends driving changes in proactive maintenance strategies today. Then we’ll show you how to use each trend to create a competitive advantage for your company using computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software and related technologies. These proactive maintenance strategies will help you discover how to save money, improve response times, and keep your assets running longer and more efficiently. Top 11 Trends for the Future of Maintenance Management 1. Technology Adoption Computers, networks, and mobile devices are now in the hands of almost every employee—including the maintenance team. 2. Enter the “Digital Native” Older workers are retiring, and the younger “digital natives” coming onboard have a deeper understanding of technology and its capabilities. 3. Data-Driven Management Managers want the ability to back up decisions with hard data—requiring better tracking and reporting systems. 4. Mobile Technology Mobile technology is expanding rapidly, and the ability to connect from the field is a natural fit for maintenance operations. 5. Software Cost & Implementation Time CMMS software is now more affordable and easier to implement than ever, putting it within virtually every organization’s reach. 6. Cloud Computing Increasing bandwidth and more affordable hosting options mean you don’t need expensive hardware or a highly skilled internal IT team to access great software. 7. Systems Integration CMMS data now links easily with other systems, such as ERP and accounting software, predictive maintenance monitors, building automation systems, and more. 8. Insourcing vs. Outsourcing Analysis Increasingly, companies are saving money by focusing on their core competencies and leaving specialized tasks to outside vendors. CMMS tools can help you analyze which tasks, processes, or functions you should keep in-house and which you should consider outsourcing. 9. Environmental Impact More organizations are seeking LEED and other “green” certifications. They need reliable maintenance and facility data to achieve and maintain them. 10. Regulatory Compliance Regulatory bodies are requiring increasingly complex recordkeeping. Organizations that meet this challenge are saving millions in fines and liability lawsuits. 11. The Internet of Things The IoT is a natural fit with the way maintenance teams operate—collecting data faster and easier than ever before. Best of all, maintenance teams can use that information to proactively perform maintenance and even predict asset failures. To some, these emerging proactive maintenance strategies might seem intimidating. For those who embrace these changes and work to stay ahead of the curve, though, these trends offer a chance to gain competitive advantage. With the help of CMMS software, you can capture critical data for making good decisions to help your organization save time and money. As a best practices “champion” who understands these trends, you can personally become the leader who keeps your organization at the top of its game.
Things Can’t Fall Off the Floor: Simple Lessons for Success in Maintenance and in Life
“Name one thing you’ve learned from a co-worker, boss, or client during your career that you’ll never forget and that you’ve also applied to your daily life.” I saw this challenge posted on a LinkedIn discussion group the other day. It made me think back through my career for what my answer would be. Strangely, what first came to me was a simple lesson I learned from a co-worker at an auto repair shop where I was an entry-level mechanic, fresh out of school. My mentor’s name was Glen, and he left me a “pearl” I’ve held onto for many years, through my professional transition from auto mechanic to Maintenance Maven and software company CEO. Glen was in his late 50s at the time. He’d been working at the same repair shop for over fifteen years. He’d been married for over 40 years, too, and was the “dean” of our group of Ford Registered Technicians. He had a take on just about every topic: “wrenching,” of course, but also on politics, world affairs, and sports. He shared his opinions and life lessons freely with anyone who would listen. As the newbie in the shop, I listened. Of course, some of Glen’s other observations aren’t publishable in this blog, but they were equally as instructive. The lesson that stuck with me the most was, “Things can’t fall off the floor.” I’d borrowed a 3/8” drive impact wrench from him. He later noticed it on my bench, with the air hose still attached. (This was way before all the battery powered wrenches available today.) He was concerned someone would bump the hose, which, in turn, would pull the wrench off the bench and cause it to break from the fall. Obviously, I didn’t have the money to buy him a replacement, or I’d have had my own in the first place. Glen was afraid we’d both be without a 3/8” drive impact wrench if I didn’t right the wrong. When Glen pointed this wisdom out, it seemed so obvious; and I was embarrassed he’d had to call me on it. “Things can’t fall off the floor,” didn’t seem like a lesson that would stick with someone for a lifetime, but it’s turned out to be one that’s stayed with me for 45 years. It’s also one I’ve shared with my sons, and with my students during my time as an auto mechanics instructor. Glen’s lesson resonated with me at the time. The lesson morphed and grew as I became a little older and a little wiser. Here are five additional pearls from his simple guidance I’ve used my entire career: Don’t leave loose ends dangling. Be sure important things have a solid foundation. Don’t borrow what you can’t afford to replace. Listen to experience and learn from it. Stay grounded. It’s safer. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from unexpected sources. We just need to be open to receiving them. What lessons have you learned from an unexpected source? How have they helped you in your work and your life? Answer in the comments to share your “pearls” with others.
The Evolution of Preventive Maintenance (PM)
Array [related-content] How does preventive maintenance work? In the beginning, maintenance technicians decided to do preventive maintenance (PM) on machinery to prevent breakdowns and failures. This was a good thing. They used the calendar, or time intervals, as the scheduling basis for PMs, mainly because it was easiest for everyone to remember. For example, “Change the light bulb the first of every month.” Things were good. However, tasks tended to stack up on the first of the month as volume grew. So schedules needed to be staggered and juggled to match available resources. This was confusing. Along came the chalkboard, and later whiteboards, for scheduling AND tracking future PMs. Life was better. But chalkboards and whiteboards couldn’t report on PM compliance, nor could they adequately track the cost of a PM program. For cost and compliance tracking maintenance managers moved to computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). The scheduling was still calendar–based with a CMMS, but now the maintenance department could schedule, track, and report on compliance and monitor costs. Life was good. As the implementation of more and more PM activities increased, though, so did the cost of maintenance. There was often an inverse correlation between the amount of preventive maintenance perform and total maintenance cost. Pressure came to lengthen time increments between PMs, often from once a month to once every other month. This worried many maintenance people. Life was confusing. More PMs, in this case, did not mean better results. The next evolution up the PM ladder for maintenance departments was usage-based scheduling. For the most part, intervals of time are less relevant than amount of usage to failure prevention. Usage-based PM scheduling typically reduces costs and still provides compliance reporting while scheduling and tracking. Most computer systems could combine time and usage numbers. Life was very good. Unfortunately, both usage-based and time-based methods tended to create artificial—and often ineffective—maintenance intervals. Who can really know if a filter should be changed every 500 hours of fan operation, anyway? Sure, that may be an average interval for an average application. But we all know there are no average shops or average applications. They vary widely across a range of environments. The condition of a filter may still be good after 500 hours, or it may be restricted after 400 hours, needing replacement. Today, maintenance intervals can be scheduled based on asset or part condition. Condition-based PM scheduling triggers PMs just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Implementing condition based maintenance (CBM) allows reporting on compliance, lowers your costs, AND improves reliability. Now life is very, very good.