A Hard Lesson in Poor Planning
The best laid plans often turn out to be recipes for disaster. I should know.
I wanted to build a blueberry garden for my wife. In my head, I had a plan. I’ve built many projects, so a blueberry garden with bird-proof netting should not be an issue.
I thought it through. I used PVC tubing and built a frame around the raised garden.
I then built the raised garden using leftover pavers. A 10-foot by 6-foot space with four layers of pavers to frame it? Check. A pile of topsoil left over from another project plus 10 bags of topsoil? Check.
I had two designs in my head. The first step was to break the 10-foot section into two 5-foot lengths, ensuring stability. The second was to increase the PVC tubing to 2 inches, so I would not have to bridge. I estimated it would take two to three hours to build.
Unexpected Problems Add Up
Once I started assembling the frame, I discovered one of the 2-inch PVC pipes was the wrong size. Next, a 90-degree elbow was threaded, which I overlooked because someone had thrown it into the wrong bin. I headed back to the store to return the incorrect items.
Then a third issue arose: I had miscounted the number of tubes required to complete the framing. Altogether, I had made four trips to the store for a project that was supposed to take three hours to build.
A three-hour project turned into four store trips and two full days of work.
Once I had the right materials and the frame was built, it was time for the netting. I covered the top of the frame with netting, tied it to the PVC, and began wrapping the netting around the sides using tie wraps.
I was about to start the third side when I realized that I had no way to access the blueberries if I sealed all the sides with tie wraps. I started cutting all the tie wraps.
How could I access the garden through the netting that protects it from birds and other hungry animals? I ordered waterproof clamps to hold the netting so I could access the garden, placed the order, and waited a day for delivery. The clamps arrived, and I finished the project after two days.
Turning Lessons Learned into Better Maintenance Plans
Such scenarios are all too familiar in maintenance and engineering departments. I’ve mentioned these statistics several times, but they bear repeating: The average facility technician spends 24-26 percent of their day walking to and from the job site and another 18 percent of their time looking for parts or tools.
Why Maintenance Needs Practical, Detailed Work Plans
These figures underscore the importance of practical plans for facility maintenance tasks. A quality job plan or work order will define exactly the way to execute a project correctly.
These plans must include the right materials and tools that will be used, as well as accurate time estimates. In my example, I traveled to the hardware store multiple times, and it took two days to complete, versus two to three hours if I had used an effective plan.
The technicians in every organization possess a range of skills and competencies, and it is our objective as managers to leverage this to ensure work is completed safely and to the highest quality.
One means to achieve this is by creating quality job plans or work instructions that provide the needed guidance for technicians to complete the work successfully. Key components of maintenance standard work:
Documented standard procedures. Clearly defined, step-by-step instructions for performing quality work, such as inspections, lubrication, part replacements, and calibrations.
Roles and responsibilities. Who does what, when, and how? I believe in a matrix called RASI – who’s responsible, who’s accountable, who serves as support, and who needs to be kept informed. I prefer a RASI chart or matrix that mirrors the documented processes, so there is no confusion about who is responsible for that task or process. This will remove “That’s not my job!” from technicians’ vocabularies.
Time estimates. The first question a building occupant typically asks is when the task will be completed. Estimating the amount of time required for a work order or task is crucial for scheduling accordingly and, more importantly, for utilizing the maintenance team fully. Done correctly, time estimates will get more accurate over time, and credibility among customers will improve.
Tools and materials. The average parts warehouse is filled with materials that are either never issued or have not been used in over three years. The entire concept of a parts warehouse is centered on risk mitigation: Do we have the right part, in the correct quantity, to the proper specification, at the right time, to avoid the risk of equipment downtime? All needed tools — including specialty tools — should be readily available and in good condition. Remember, the average maintenance tech spends 18 percent of their day looking for the right parts and tools.
Quality execution. Are we working on the equipment or fixing the issue? As the saying goes, we always have time to do it over and over, but never the time to do it right the first time. There is a direct relationship between the quality of the work and standard procedures and tasks. The best-performing organizations have a culture of craftsmanship and a focus on quality.
Documentation and defect elimination. Maintenance is a recurring activity. We are assured that we will perform the same maintenance activity again. It could be next week, next month, or even in 2035, but we are pretty confident that we will undertake the same work again.
This scenario underscores the importance of documentation and the creation of a ‘bad actor’ list for ongoing improvement. The manager’s role is to identify those nagging issues that keep creeping up and taking a bite out of our lunch. Defect elimination should be a cultural norm throughout the organization.
The Payoff of Effective Work Planning
The benefits of implementing adequate standard work instructions extend beyond simply completing a task. They include a range of desirable outcomes for both managers and organizations:
Improved safety. Working in a more stable and proactive environment has been shown to improve safety, reduce near misses, and actually make safety a top priority.
Reduced variability and errors. The best-performing groups level the skill set and competency across the team. When managers achieve this goal, the quality, workmanship, and variability of the maintenance work stabilize.
Shorter downtime. By standardizing tasks and procedures, and identifying the materials and tools required for the work, managers can reduce the time technicians spend on travel and searching, and improve utilization tenfold.
Use of root cause analysis. The role of managers and supervisors is to identify issues that impact facilities and organizations. The never-ending use of formal root cause analysis is a fundamental tool in the continuous improvement process.
Maintenance technicians should never have to plan jobs in their heads and waste time running to the parts warehouse half a dozen times. Managers need to focus on developing high-quality work instructions to streamline the process of maintaining facilities effectively and efficiently, rather than just keeping technicians busy. Quality tops quantity.
