The Synergy Between Operations and Maintenance
The Benefits of Collaboration: Operations and Maintenance Working Together in Manufacturing
Having worked in the fast-paced world of manufacturing for over 40 years, we know that success hinges on the seamless collaboration and synergy between various departments within an organisation. One of the most critical partnerships in this industry is the close relationship between operations and maintenance.
Enhancing Performance
The smooth interaction and alignment of the operations and maintenance departments is essential for achieving optimal productivity and efficiency. Some manufacturers have recognised the immense benefits that arise from fostering a strong partnership between the two departments.
Aligning both departments objectives leads to the perfect situation - having Operations celebrating Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) improvements and energy per unit produced reduction achievements. Sharing knowledge - Equipment Operators and Maintenance Engineers learning from each other, working together to develop agreed and shared maintenance schedules. Collaborating on problem-solving and Root Cause Analysis activities, working together to remove causes of failure rather than arguing about who is to blame!
Many of the issues seen in organisations is down to the fact that each department doesn’t fully understand the impact of what they do and how it affects the other. Education and communication can significantly change mindsets via improved understanding.
Richard Fathers training Maintenance Best Practice
Bringing Departments Together
Historically these two departments have often worked independently, with limited collaboration. Even knowing all these benefits are right there for the taking, we still come across clients who have these departments effectively working as silos. We witnessed this just recently when our Managing Consultant, Richard Fathers, held a series of Management Training courses at one of our client sites. This client had embarked on a maintenance improvement program and Management Training formed an integral part of the journey. It gave us the opportunity to bring both operations and maintenance departments together.
The Group Engineering Manager commented, following an aligned board presentation, “The partnership approach in the presenting between operations and engineering yesterday was great - I’ve never seen this before!”
For this company, so far, the benefits they see are:
OEE rates are improving
MTBF is increasing
MTTR is decreasing
Equipment Downtime is decreasing.
Whether you are looking to make improvements within your operations, engineering or maintenance departments, ensuring your staff have the correct skills is key. MCP Management Training provide a range of training programs, either scheduled or held on client site. We can also tailor course material to meet specific client requirements.
