A large food and beverage manufacturer had excessive downtime that was eroding margins. The company recognized that it had a break-fix maintenance culture, but it didn’t have the experience and resources to determine how to address it. It engaged Integrated Project Management Company, Inc. (IPM) to assess its maintenance practices and identify ways to improve and save costs.
IPM’s consultant observed plant operations and the little historical information available. He assessed maintenance maturity on 10 different dimensions, determined gaps, and recommended improvements.
The company didn’t have formal preventive maintenance and parts management programs, and record-keeping was inconsistent. They often flew in vendor technical support for emergency equipment breakdowns that could have been prevented. Unbudgeted repairs and purchases meant higher costs, and unscheduled downtime led to increased overtime.
IPM created value stream maps and documented process steps. Classifying tasks as value added, necessary non-value added, or non-value added revealed that 8 percent of time was spent on non-value-added tasks (for example, filling out a form that someone else would later key into a spreadsheet).
The consultant engaged site leadership and mechanics to validate findings and identify improvement opportunities. Recommendations included storing cleaning and lubrication supplies, replacement parts, and tools close to the associated equipment, rather than keeping everything in a centralized storage area. Scheduling preventive maintenance on the weekends would decrease downtime—and breakdowns.
IPM recommended implementing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) system for advanced planning techniques (evaluating workload priorities 24 hours prior to shift start, dynamic rescheduling of labor and assets) and execution (manage emergent work, configure and manage data, part cross checks and validations). All told, the project identified about $455,000 in annualized cost savings.
Importantly, working with plant management, IPM delivered a roadmap starting with immediate and impactful actions. Retraining the team on the existing enterprise asset management (EAM) and enforcing discipline would lay a consistent foundation without significant costs. Daily assignments tracked through completion would prevent delays and backlogs. Longer-term steps include investing in an advanced CMMS and hiring a full-time spare parts clerk.
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