An exploration of the relationship between maintenance performance and resource productivity

Abstract

As a consequence of their relative magnitude with respect to overall organisational expenditure, potential sources for significant cost savings involve maintenance costs, raw material costs and energy consumption. Previously conducted but inconclusive research indicates that there may be a relationship between maintenance activities and resource productivity. If this is the case, knowledge of such a relationship may unveil opportunities for direct productivity enhancement. Moreover, it may also serve as an aid in making improved measurements of the true value of the maintenance function. This in turn may enable practitioners to recognize when resource reallocation may be required to achieve greater levels of productivity. The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between maintenance activities and resource productivity. It aims in part to assess if opportunities for productivity enhancement exist as a result of such a relationship. It also aims to establish if resource productivity can serve as a representative measure of maintenance performance. This study is based on rigorously proven theoretical propositions which are tested empirically on data procured from a metallurgical plant in South Africa. The conclusion of this study is that the maintenance function enables equipment to process resources productively. Resource productivity may thus have the propensity to serve as an encompassing and cost effective measure of maintenance performance. In terms of its potential in this regard, decreases in resource productivity may offer valuable signals which indicate that corrective action is warranted. In terms of productivity enhancement, this study elucidates the fact that machinery should always be kept in the best operating condition possible. When machinery malfunctions are discovered, it should be repaired in a timely manner to prevent unnecessary wastage from occurring.