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Planning and Estimating 57

CHAPTER 7

PLANNING ANDESTIMATING

he planning and estimating responsibilities ofthe maintenance department comprise a majorpart of the functional controls of controlledmaintenance management. The controls include

screening requests, planning and estimating the work, re-

viewing the estimate and work plan, scheduling and acti-vating the work order and keeping informed on theprogress and cost of the work.

Planning and estimating of work comprises all of thefollowing:

I. ScreeningThe screening action performed by planning and esti-

mating can save a considerable amount of time, effort andmoney. Requests for estimates and/or work should beanalyzed carefully and if they fail to meet any of the fol-lowing criteria they should be either revised to conform orthey can be deferred and returned to the originator for

more detailed information or justification.

T

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

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A. ScopeThe scope of the work must be understandable andshould be compatible with the type of work that the

maintenance department is authorized to perform.

B. NecessityRequests for work may violate established mainte-nance standards or policies of the plant. These re-quests may be in conflict with current instructions orthe work may be a duplicate of, or in conflict with,

other planned maintenance work.

C. Availability of FundsWhen funds to accomplish the work are not immedi-ately available, processing should be deferred pend-ing receipt of funds. If availability of funds is indeter-minate, processing should be curtailed and the re-

quest canceled.

II. Engineering support

For work that will require engineering drawings,prints, sketches and/or research, no planning and estimat-ing should be performed until the engineering support has

been obtained.

III. Planning

The prepared work plan should specify the work thatis to be accomplished, what is needed to do the work andwhich shop(s) will do the work. This means that completespecifications will be provided, the several operations thatmake up the job and, in some instances, the elements that

make up the operations will be described. The clarity,correctness and completeness of the work plan is very


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important when there is to be accurate estimating, effec-tive material coordination and realistic scheduling andwork accomplishment.

Adequacy of Specifications

A. Adequate specifications are an essential part of everywork order. The test of adequacy is the degree of re-liance that can be placed on the specifications to de-fine a complete bill of materials, obtain the necessarytools, special equipment or personnel, schedule the

work and activate manpower with a minimum of vis-its to the job site by Supervision.

B. MaterialThe selection of materials is based on current policy,maintenance standards, fund limitations and/or otherdata.

C. CompletenessThe planner must be meticulous in his responsibilityfor stating clearly and accurately the detailed scope ofthe work to be accomplished including sketches ordrawings, as appropriate. This is necessary to ensurethat the work will be performed in accordance withthe requestors needs and other governing criteria.

D. Method of AccomplishmentJobs often require several operations and each opera-tion may have several elements. By listing the ele-ments and operations in their proper sequence, thefollowing benefits are derived:

1. Important elements of the job are less likely to beomitted.


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2. Related time values can be used in estimating.

3. Interrelated interests of various crafts for each

work order are shown.

E. Assignment of workThe planner will indicate the appropriate craft foreach operation and element of work listed on thework order and, also, the lead craft responsible foroverall job supervision and coordination with others.

IV. Estimating

One of the most important functions of the mainte-nance department is estimating. An estimate is the in-formed analysis of all known and probable elements of aproposed job and the resulting detailed forecast of man-power materials, costs and related requirements that will

be needed to accomplish the work.

A. PurposeThe principle purposes of estimating are:

1. To provide a basis for approval, disapproval ordeferment of proposed work.

2. To provide a basis for budget forecasting.

3. To provide data for shop planning and schedul-ing.

B. Types of Estimates

There are three basic types of estimates and eachserves a particular need.


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1. Preliminary EstimateIt is probable that in some instances work forwhich estimates have been requested will not be

authorized; therefore, on questionable projects,and to eliminate unnecessary work, only prelimi-nary estimates should be made in the early stagesof these projects. Preliminary estimates are rela-tively simple computations made on an overall

basis using up-to-date unit cost information as aguide.

2. Rough EstimateThis is an approximation of man-hour require-ments only. It is used primarily for standing workorders.

3. Final Estimate

This is the type of estimate in which all workoperations and elements listed are analyzed andconsidered in detail. It should be the most accu-rate forecast that can be made, within a reason-able time, of the costs and man-hour/materialrequirements for a given work order. Final esti-mates should be prepared for all specific work

orders.

C. Estimating CriteriaThe following factors should be considered in prepar-ing estimates.

1. Travel time is the time required for the round tripsbetween the shop and the work site for each maneach day he works on the job. Also, the timespent procuring material for the job.


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2. Work preparation is the time required for prepara-tion of the work site, receiving instructions fromsuperiors and the layout of materials and equip-

ment.

3. Work performance is the time required for the ac-tual performance of the craft work that is re-quired to complete the work order. This requiresan analysis of each phase of the work listed in thework plan.

4. Material requirements. It is the responsibility of theplanner/estimator to specify the types of materi-als that are to be used and to estimate the realisticcost of the materials. A draft maintenance bill ofmaterials should be prepared and screened.

5. Equipment costs must be included when it is ex-pected that specialized equipment will be re-quired to accomplish the work. Charges shouldalso be included for maintenance departmentequipment used to accomplish the work on thework order.

6. Cleanup. This factor includes the normal cleanup

during the performance of the work and uponcompletion of the work order.

7. Contingency. A contingency may be included asan additional factor in an estimate when a strictfinancial limitation has been placed on the job orwhen the funds are other than maintenance and

operations expenditures. Generally a contingencyfactor should not exceed 10%.


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8. Overhead. This factor should be applied in accor-dance with current policy and procedures.

VI. Review of work estimate and plan

The impact of the work order on the shops is of suchimportance that the maintenance supervisor should care-fully examine the completed estimate before approval. Thereview will include the following factors.

A. CompletenessThe estimate is composed of many items such as

specifications, work plan, materials and equipment.The review should assure that none of the items have

been omitted.

B. AccuracyTechnical descriptions, material computations, wordsand figures used throughout the estimate should be

checked for accuracy.

C. ClarityThe content of the estimate should be clear to all per-sonnel who may be concerned with its further pro-cessing. Ambiguous, lengthy or involved statementsshould be rephrased and expressed clearly. Keep it

simple.

D. Conformance with PolicyThe content of the final estimate should be reviewedfor conformance with established policy.

VI. Activating the Work Order

A. Approvals

All necessary approvals for the work must be ob-tained prior to preparation of the work order. This


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should be accomplished in accordance with the estab-lished approval limitations.

B. Issuance of the Work OrderAfter the necessary approvals have been secured, awork order is prepared from the estimate, processedand issued to the shop(s) for accomplishment.

VII. Records

Work request and work order record files should bemaintained in the work reception center. This will providea centralized and readily accessible location for estimate,work request and work order records. Disposition should

be in accordance with established procedures.

PLANNER/ESTIMATOR

One planner/estimator can provide the work plan-ning and estimating for 30-40 craft people. The planner/estimator should be experienced in the work that isplanned and estimated. A large maintenance departmentwill require one or more planner/estimators for each ofthe electrical, mechanical, structural and instrumentation

shops. In a small maintenance department, the plant engi-neer and/or maintenance supervisor can perform theplanner/estimator duties.

SCHEDULER

The scheduler is also the work reception center clerk.The scheduler schedules the authorized work orders to the


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individual shops in accordance with the work order prior-ity and the individual shops workload assuring that theshop is not overloaded with work. The work orders are

delivered to the individual shops prior to the start of thenew work week.

SHOP SCHEDULING

The shop supervisor should maintain a log showing

the work order numbers, priority, scheduled start andcompletion dates. The shop supervisor will schedule thedaily work for the shop and determine the actual startdate of each work order with experienced assurance thatthe work will be completed in accordance with the sched-uled completion date. The supervisor will submit all com-pleted work orders and a report of all uncompleted work

orders with explanations of why they were not completedper schedule and a new completion date to the schedulerat the end of each week.

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