The Impact of Proper Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
I recently spent time with a client who had just introduced planner/schedulers into their maintenance work process with a focus on reducing their overdue backlog. That visit prompted some reflections of my own on the impact of proper planning and scheduling.
Proper planning and scheduling have a significant impact on improving productivity and are often areas to explore for opportunities, either in addition to or in place of the typical tool/wrench time studies. Here are a few thoughts on the impact of planning and scheduling.
Most people overestimate the amount of planned and scheduled work that is performed at their site. People often fail to realize that there can be a significant amount of work that is done either on a standing work order or done without a work order. Additionally, work orders that lack definition should not be considered planned. At a site that believes it has high compliance with planning and scheduling, the actual amount of planned and scheduled work can be as much as 20% less than the perception.
Planning and scheduling improve wrench time. The graph below shows the impact of planning and scheduling on wrench time. Two conditions are illustrated—one for effective planning and scheduling and the other for ineffective planning and scheduling. These curves were determined by comparing planned vs. actuals at multiple sites across the globe. When looking at the effective planning and scheduling curve, wrench time increases sharply at the 30% point, flattens a bit at 50%, increases again at 80% and flattens above 90%. As the amount of planned work improves from 30% to 80%, the wrench time doubles to about 65%. What is surprising is that even with ineffective planning and scheduling, going from 30% to 80% doubles wrench time. Note that different methodologies vary greatly in how they measure wrench time, with the unfortunate result that the same wrench time can be reported as 35% or 85%—a huge variance. What is important is that the same methodology is used to compare before and after results.
The number of work hours needed drops if effective planning and scheduling increases. The next graph shows how work hours for the same amount of maintenance activities go down as planning and scheduling go up. It illustrates a correlation to the improvement in wrench time, but the improved productivity is also due to improved job plans, correct materials, improved feedback, and the ability to optimize your resources. As planning and scheduling increases from 30% to 80%, productivity more than triples while wrench time doubles.
If planning and scheduling increases, costs go down. The final graph shows the impact of planning and scheduling on maintenance cost. A site that plans and schedules 60% of its maintenance activities experiences half the cost of a site that plans and schedules 30%.
So, where should you start when you think about improving productivity at your site? The first question to ask is: How much work do you really plan and schedule? Consider the amount of work that doesn’t flow through the planning and scheduling process. If you aren’t at the upper end (>80%), then you should consider not only how to increase the amount of work that flows through your planning and scheduling process, but also how to increase the effectiveness of your process.
Interested to learn how your site stacks up? Connect with a Becht expert to assess your current planning and scheduling practices and identify opportunities to improve productivity and reduce costs.
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