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In his book Managing Factory Maintenance (Industrial Press), Joel Levitt tells the story of a maintenance worker in a plastic extrusion plant in Maryland.  Using the latest predictive maintenance technology, the mechanic discovered a problem with an extruder.

Fixing the problem immediately would cost $500.  After breakdown, the bill would jump to $5,000.  Pleased that his quick thinking would save the company $4,500, he talked to his maintenance manager and the shift manager.  They decided to schedule the repair immediately.

The next day, the maintenance manager walked into a production/maintenance scheduling meeting.  He was greeted by a chilly silence.  Production had missed a just-in-time delivery for a new customer that morning.

“Why was Unit 5 taken off line for an entire shift and a half?” they asked.

The downtime put almost $40 million of new business at risk.  Lack of communication between the maintenance department and production created a costly blunder.  And who took the blame?  You guessed it.  The guys in maintenance.

If you’ve been involved in maintenance repair operations (MRO) for any length of time, you probably have similar stories to tell.  All too often, maintenance people take the heat when something goes wrong yet seldom get credit for doing something right.

It’s high time that someone started sticking up for the people who keep America’s industrial facilities running.  They’re the mechanics, maintenance workers and other plant-level people we call MRO Pros.

Every plant has one.  Most plants probably have several if anyone would take the time to look for them.

At MRO Today magazine, we shine the spotlight on the men and women — the MRO Pros — whose sweat and hard work keep industry cranking.

That’s why, starting this issue, you’ll begin to see more stories in the magazine designed to help MRO Pros do their jobs better and become even more indispensable.

For example, in a new department called Uptime, we’ll offer practical advice about troubleshooting, maintaining and repairing a variety of equipment found in most industrial locations.  We feature advice from experts on such topics as how to repair roller chains, the correct ways to determine why seals fail, boiler and pump maintenance, and electrical system troubleshooting.

We’ll also offer articles aimed at maintenance managers.  You’ll read stories on topics such as how to make the switch to total quality maintenance, hiring and training maintenance workers and getting management’s support when you move away from a reactive maintenance approach toward predictive and preventive management techniques.

As always, we want to hear from you.  Do you have an idea for an article?  Have you discovered an innovative solution to a nagging maintenance problem?  Do you have questions you need answered?  Do you know an MRO Pro that deserves recognition?  Drop us a line.

We want you to think of MRO Today as the place to turn for ideas to help do your job better.

“Only a short-sighted executive would ignore the dire warnings of their finance vice president,” writes Levitt.  “Yet many managers routinely ignore the warnings, knowledge and experience of their maintenance managers.”

We hope to do our part to help change that.  Consider us your advocate for change in the fight to gain the recognition that your maintenance department deserves.

This article appeared in the August/September 1998 issue of MRO Today magazine.  Copyright, 1998.

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