Lean Maintenance : Zero Maintenance Time

Zero maintenance time—this goal becomes more of a reality when you align the processes and organization of your maintenance in such a way that the value stream is not disrupted and the useful productive time of machines and systems is used more and optimally instead of being affected by maintenance work.

To achieve this the Lean Maintenance System provides effective methods and approaches. In other words, zero maintenance time does not mean stopping maintenance altogether.

In many companies, maintenance is a constant tightrope walk between guaranteeing adequate system availability on the one hand and the economic efficiency of the production systems, which should not be burdened unnecessarily, on the other. This is because in a lot of companies the maintenance strategies and the organization developed historically. There is no precise orientation to the production system and its requirements. This is where the Lean Maintenance System steps in.

In the Lean Maintenance System you will progress through a four-step process, so that at the end you are closer to having a value stream-oriented maintenance organization and your goal of "zero maintenance time:":

1st Step: Prioritize systems
For each sub-system in a production system, assess the effects of a potential breakdown. Three criteria are used for this: the production system, the value stream, and the customers. The type of effect then determines which priority category the system is allocated to. This system classification is used to define recommended actions for the maintenance strategy.

Critical systems with high priority are given most attention. They are examined in detail, so that a component-specific maintenance strategy can be developed and optimized with the “zero maintenance time” concept.

2nd Step: Classify damage categories
To develop a component-specific maintenance strategy the components of a system are broken down into so-called damage categories. Then, an assessment is made of how damage affects the system operation, whether damage can be foreseen, and how often it occurs. On the basis of this assessment the individual components are classified in damage categories, and component-specific maintenance strategies are developed. Damage categories are also associated with recommended actions for maintenance and keeping a stock of spare parts.

3rd Step: Develop a concept
When system-specific maintenance concepts are being developed, a distinction is made between critical and uncritical systems. Depending on the priority classification, a precisely coordinated plan of action is drawn up which takes account of the system priority, the damage category priority, and the fault clearance time.

4th Step: Develop an organization
When the actions and concepts for the systems have been defined, the organization can then be derived. To do this, the activities are structured and the capacities calculated. The individual results for the various systems are used to calculate the number of employees required for central and decentralized maintenance teams and a pool of specialists on a unit level.