Without Maintenance, How Strategic is Your Plan?
Strategic plans are essential for any healthy, forward-thinking organizations. However, strategic plans can sometimes veer into the realm of the lofty and aspirational – focusing more on broad initiatives and goals and less on the “nuts and bolts” of the organization and opportunities to improve efficiency and ensure continued fiscal health.
Strategic plans are essential for any healthy, forward-thinking organizations. However, strategic plans can sometimes veer into the realm of the lofty and aspirational – focusing more on broad initiatives and goals and less on the “nuts and bolts” of the organization and opportunities to improve efficiency and ensure continued fiscal health.
A key “nuts and bolts” area that is often overlooked in strategic plans is maintenance. In this post, we will make the case for proactive maintenance as a vital and impactful part of any company’s strategic plan.
Why maintenance belongs in the plan
Maintenance is a necessary in practically every business. But it is also an important and often overlooked opportunity for cost savings and added efficiency. A company’s “strat plan” is the ideal place to outline an innovative, proactive maintenance strategy, as well as the tools, time and expertise required to operate such a strategy. Proactive maintenance strategies should be designed to positively impact the organization’s operations and bottom line, and a well-crafted strategic plan will demonstrate this.
Maintenance and The Strategic Plan: Making The Case
Below are a few of the key benefits to including proactive maintenance in your company’s strategic plan.
- Preventative measures save time and avoid delays
Preventative maintenance strategies, such as a predictive maintenance model (for more on predictive maintenance, check out our recent post) have the potential to prevent both costly instances of downtime and incidents that may result in injuries to workers. Naturally, equipment downtime and sick and health days for impacted employees represent time and money lost.
- Gain a competitive edge
Implementing maintenance strategies is a surefire way to give your business a competitive edge, and can even determine whether your company continues to grow or slowly declines.
Businesses implementing strategic maintenance often enjoy greater asset reliability, reduce energy consumption/become more efficient, and remain continually up-to-date with the latest technology and innovations. They proactively address equipment issues and ensure optimal operability. Such benefits separate innovative and expanding companies from the status quo.
- Help bolster the build-service economy
Advanced economies such as the United States are increasingly becoming service economies. In the U.S. in particular, the need for built products and skilled workers is continuing to increase as demand outstrips supply. Maintenance exists at the intersection of these two economic factors and can not only produce positive outcomes for companies, it can also provide a “shot in the arm” for this economic sector.
- Create skills and processes for sustainable practices
A proactive maintenance strategy requires skilled personnel and well-defined processes. With this foundation, companies are well-positioned for long-term, sustainable practices focused on cost containment and optimal efficiency.
Time to revisit your approach?
If your strategic plan does not address maintenance, carefully consider the benefits outlined above and ask yourself, “can we afford to take a reactive approach to maintenance?” For most, the answer is likely “no.” Minimizing downtime and maximizing dollars are rarely considered undesirable goals within a business’s set of key objectives. Take another look at your strategic plan to see where maintenance might fit.
Keeping you “in the know”
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