Published: January 27, 2023  Updated: June 05, 2025

Uncovering and Eradicating Maintenance Waste in Your Operations

The pursuit of heightened productivity and fiscal prudence remains a constant endeavor for any organization. Just as individuals diligently conserve energy at home by switching off lights or closing doors, businesses continuously seek avenues to curtail expenditures. Let's uncover and eradicate maintenance waste in your operations.

Understanding the Nuances of Maintenance Waste

This discussion does not advocate for a radical discarding of essential tools or spare parts. Instead, it highlights specific aspects, procedures, and routines within a department that diminish productivity and inflate costs. Consider this analogous to the subtle drains on personal finances at home. While a printer left on or a night light may consume minimal electricity individually, a comprehensive survey of all active, unused appliances reveals a collective drain. Though the monthly sum might appear negligible, the question remains: could this nominal waste disappear entirely?

In the realm of maintenance, several factors, when considered in isolation, might not appear to squander much money or time. However, their combined effect tells a different story. Inspiration for this perspective on waste elimination stems from an insightful article in Plant Engineering. The subsequent points adapt and expand upon some of the observations presented there.

Key Areas Where Maintenance Waste Accumulates

Unnecessary Travel Time

Maintenance technicians require movement to various locations to complete assignments. This inherent necessity means travel time should always factor into job completion estimates. Careful consideration of travel time also plays a crucial role when assigning a technician to a series of jobs, such as conducting fire extinguisher inspections across multiple buildings. Crafting the most efficient route becomes paramount. Even a slight detour of a couple of miles can result in noticeable productivity losses over time.

Thoughtful routing directly impacts how quickly tasks conclude and resources move to the next vital function. Efficient planning minimizes instances where valuable time is wasted on the road rather than on the task at hand. The objective here is to ensure every moment contributes to the overall operational flow.

Overstocked and Obsolete Inventory

While outright disposal of inventory might not always be the initial course of action, a keen awareness of stock quantities is vital. A common pitfall involves needlessly acquiring more slow-moving items—parts used only once or twice a year, which tie up capital and occupy valuable storage space. Furthermore, obsolete parts, those no longer functional or for equipment no longer present, represent a clear instance of waste. A clear disposal plan, perhaps involving recycling, becomes necessary for such items as they consume precious stockroom real estate. As with slow-moving items, diligently tracking quantities of obsolete parts proves beneficial.

Regularly monitoring part usage for all equipment allows for informed decisions, particularly if an organization decides to discontinue using a specific machine. Such proactive measures prevent the accumulation of unneeded items that merely sit and gather dust, representing lost capital and space.

Discover how streamlined maintenance processes can elevate production. Learn more.

Other Inventory-Related Waste Factors

• Stockouts: Calculating the cost of expedited shipments for urgently needed parts reveals a significant drain. This unplanned expense often arises from inadequate inventory tracking or forecasting.
• Location: Similar to travel time for personnel, the time technicians spend searching for inventory within the stockroom represents lost productivity. A disorganized stockroom directly translates into wasted effort.
• One at a Time: For routine jobs requiring the same inventory repeatedly, gathering individual items each time proves inefficient. Kitting, or bundling all necessary inventory for a specific task, significantly reduces preparation time and ensures all components are present when needed.
• Bill of Materials (BOM): When maintenance workers must guess which inventory is needed for a job, errors occur, and parts are often forgotten. Attaching a comprehensive bill of materials to a work order saves substantial time and prevents rework caused by missing components.
• Missing Inventory: The absence of proper tracking for inventory movement (issues and returns) leads to situations where needed items are not in stock or located on the incorrect shelf. Implementing a strict issue and return policy for parts can eliminate significant waste of time and money.

Effective inventory management goes beyond merely having parts on hand. It includes knowing where they are, understanding their usage patterns, and ensuring their ready availability for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance tasks. A disorganized approach to inventory directly impedes the swift execution of maintenance work and drives up operational costs through inefficiencies and emergency purchases. Establishing clear procedures for inventory handling and storage lays the groundwork for a more efficient maintenance operation. Regular audits of inventory levels and locations help maintain accuracy and prevent the accumulation of unnecessary items. The goal is to have the right part, in the right quantity, at the right time, minimizing delays and expenditures.

Addressing Motion-Related Inefficiencies

Some aspects of motion-related waste align with previously mentioned points, such as travel and search time. However, this category expands to include broader considerations of worker efficiency. Without compromising quality, a critical evaluation of how long jobs take to complete is necessary. Supervisors should investigate the reasons behind jobs taking significantly longer or shorter than reasonably anticipated. Excessive time spent on a job indicates potential inefficiencies, while jobs finished too quickly might suggest a lack of thoroughness or an inaccurate initial time estimate.

Part of achieving greater efficiency stems from the clarity of work orders. Supervisors should include all necessary information to prevent technician delays or confusion. This includes the job type, priority, location, a complete bill of materials, and detailed job descriptions. Incorporating checklists within work orders can prevent missed steps, thereby reducing the need for redoing work or addressing subsequent problems caused by initial oversight. A clear, comprehensive work order is a blueprint for efficient execution, minimizing wasted effort and ensuring tasks are completed correctly the first time.

Eliminating Waiting Periods

Time lost due to waiting, particularly for stockout parts, represents a direct impact on productivity. When a technician arrives at a job site only to discover a crucial part is unavailable, work grinds to a halt. This leads to wasted labor time, delays in equipment repairs, and potentially extended downtime for critical assets. Addressing the root causes of stockouts, often tied to inadequate inventory management and forecasting, becomes a priority in reducing this form of waste. Proactive measures, such as setting appropriate reorder points and establishing reliable supplier relationships, can mitigate these delays. The objective is to ensure that when a technician is ready to perform a task, all necessary materials are immediately available, preventing costly idle periods. This focus on readiness significantly contributes to overall operational fluidity and minimizes disruptions.

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Improving Processing and Scheduling

Effective work order scheduling is another critical area where waste often manifests. Several factors influence achieving maximum efficiency in this domain. These include the job type, its priority, a detailed description, the job's location, and its estimated duration. Furthermore, considering a worker's or team's existing workload and confirming inventory availability before assigning tasks significantly reduces delays and inefficiencies. Assigning a job to a technician nearing the end of a shift, especially if it requires more than a few minutes, can lead to hurried work or incomplete tasks, necessitating additional attention later. Precise scheduling ensures that jobs align with technician availability and inventory status, thereby reducing idle time and preventing tasks from lingering unaddressed. A well-constructed schedule serves as a vital tool for resource allocation and task sequencing, ensuring a smooth flow of maintenance activities. This systematic approach contributes significantly to getting the right work done at the right time, with minimal disruption and maximum output. It avoids situations where technicians are either overwhelmed or underutilized.

Leveraging Reports for Continuous Improvement

Supervisors critically analyze reports encompassing all the previously mentioned areas, identifying opportunities to eliminate waste, with cost being a primary driver. These reports also play an instrumental role in shaping asset management strategies and establishing effective preventive maintenance tasks. They offer insights into inventory and purchasing management, allowing for adjustments that prevent stockouts and overstocking.

Moreover, reports provide crucial data on labor on-time compliance and attainment, indicating how well scheduled tasks are completed within their allotted timeframes. Beyond the numerical data, supervisors conduct meetings with departmental personnel and individuals from other departments, such as production line workers. These discussions provide a forum to explore options for waste elimination and identify areas ripe for improvement. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of continuous enhancement, drawing on the practical experiences of those directly involved in daily operations.

The Role of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)

A computerized maintenance management system represents a central tool for many maintenance departments and businesses, proving valuable in numerous operational aspects. This holds true for waste elimination. A CMMS acts as an organizational hub for various functions, from asset management and its intricate subpoints within inventory management to comprehensive work order management. Routes, quantities, job types, priorities, and essential reports all reside in one accessible location, requiring only a few navigational clicks for retrieval. The availability of a CMMS on a mobile device further reduces time wasted by eliminating the need to return to an office to consult asset records, inventory lists, or work orders. The collective aspiration is to eliminate waste both at home and in the workplace. A concerted effort becomes necessary to recognize and acknowledge a problem and then to devise a viable solution. The subsequent effort involves maintaining and improving upon the newfound waste-reduced situation. Without this ongoing dedication, disorder invariably creeps back in. The reality of people becoming less diligent in their home and work lives is understandable. Yet, maintaining focus and dedication remains the key to keeping waste levels low and sustaining operational efficiency.

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