plant engineering 2013 maintenance study plant engineering 2013 maintenance study plant engineering,...

Maintenance Study

February 2014

Introduction and methodologyObjectivePlant Engineering performed this research to better understand maintenance practices and strategies currently in place in North American manufacturing facilities and the effects of maintenance on productivity and profitability.

SampleThe sample was selected from recipients of Plant Engineering for whom email addresses were available.

MethodSubscribers were sent an email asking them to participate in this study. The email included a URL linked to the questionnaire.

Data collected: Jan. 2, 2014, through Jan. 16, 2014. Respondents were asked if they are responsible for maintenance of all or part of their

facilities. Those responding positively were asked about maintenance strategies, outsourcing maintenance, training, technologies, and unscheduled downtime.

Number of respondents: 317o Margin of error: +/- 5.5% at a 95% confidence level

Incentive: Survey participants were offered the opportunity to enter a drawing for a $150 VISA gift card.

Respondent profile

Job title and industry experienceHalf of respondents indicated their job title as an engineer, while 26% are in a management position. Sixty-two percent have 20 or more years of industry experience.

Q: Which of the following best describes your job title? (n=316)Q: For approximately how long have your worked in a plant or engineering-related position? (n=317)

Engineer50%

Manager22%

Foreman7%

General manager

4%

Super-intendent

3%

Vice president

1%

Other13%

Job titleLess than

5, 8%5 to

9, 11%

10 to 19, 20%

20 to 29, 29%

30 to 39, 27%

40 or more, 6%

Experience(Years)

Company size and locationSixty-nine percent of respondents have less than 500 employees at their respective locations, and 30% of respondents are based in the North Central region of the United States.

Q: Approximately how many people work at your location? (n=316)Q: In what region of the country are you based? (n=317)

Less than 100, 29%

100 to 249, 20%

250 to 499, 20%

500 to 999, 13%1,000 or more, 18

%

No. of employees

East North

Central22%

Middle Atlantic

14%Based outside the U.S.

13%

South Atlantic

12%West North

Central8%

West South

Central8%

East South

Central7%

Pacific7%

New England

5%

Mountain4%

Location

Business or product manufacturedThe top three industries represented are by respondents are food, beverage, or tobacco (11%); chemicals or pharmaceuticals (11%); and wood, paper, printing, or related products (9%).

Q: What is the primary business or product manufactured at your location? (n=317)

11%

11%

9%

7%

7%

7%

6%

5%

5%

3%

Food, beverage, tobacco

Chemicals,pharmaceuticals

Wood, paper, printing

Plastics, rubber

Transportation

Primary metals, non-metallic mineral products

Fabricated metals

Oil, gas, petroleum refining

Utilities

Aircraft, aerospace,defense

3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

1%

4%

8%

Industrial, commercial,agricultural machinery

Plant, facilities maintenance

Computers, electronics

Distribution centers, warehousing

Textiles, apparel, leather

Government, military

Electrical equipment, appliances

Hospitals, health care

Miscellaneous

Other

Facility maintenance

Time spent on maintenance each weekFifty-nine percent of respondents indicated that their plants spend 20 hours or more each week on scheduled maintenance, while 20% spend less than 10 hours per week.

Q: Approximately how many hours per week does your plant spend on scheduled maintenance? (n=317)

Less than 10 hours, 20%

10 to 19 hours, 22%

20 to 29 hours, 17%

30 hours or more, 42%

Systems shutdown scheduleTwenty-eight percent of respondents indicated that their plants shutdown specialized production machinery only once each year for scheduled maintenance, while 25% say their material handling equipment is shutdown every other month.

Q: How often are the following areas of your plant shutdown for scheduled maintenance? (n=317)

16%18%

13%

28%

24%

28%

15% 14%

9%

20%22%

18%

11%14%

11% 11%14% 15%

19%

25%

16%18%

23%20%

Conveyor and production line

systems

Material Handling equipment

Packaging systems Specialized production machinery

Standard machinery used in

production

Less automated systems

Yearly Twice a year Quarterly Every other month

Attention to systems maintenanceHalf of respondents said that their internal electrical distribution systems receive “some” maintenance support, while rotating equipment receives “a lot” (45%) or “a great deal” (20%).

Q: On a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 means "none at all" and 4 means "a great deal," rank the following areas of your plant based on the amount of maintenance support they receive: (n=311)

4%7%

11% 12%

3%

45%50%

40%36%

31%

38%

29%

36%32%

45%

13% 15% 13%

20% 20%

Fluid power systems Internal electrical distribution systems

Material handling equipment

Plant automation systems

Rotating equipment

None at all Some (little) A lot A great deal

Outsourcing maintenanceAlmost three-quarters of respondents indicated that less than 25% of their maintenance operations are outsourced, and the top reasons for outsourcing are the lack of skills among current staff (47%) and the impractical amount of skills necessary (46%).

Q: How much of your plant's maintenance operation is outsourced? (n=317)Q: What factors led to the outsourcing of maintenance operation at your plant? (n=281)

47%

46%

35%

26%

10%

13%

Lack of skills among current staff

Too many specialized skills required to be practical

Insufficient budget to hire/retain skilled

individuals

Skilled individuals simply not available

Union considerations

Other

Reasons for outsourcing

0%, 11%

1% to 25%, 63%

26% to 50%, 16%51% to

75%, 5%76% to

100%, 4%

Outsourced maintenance

Maintenance trainingMore than half of respondents’ maintenance personnel receive training in basic electrical and mechanical skills; motor, gearboxes, and bearings; lubrication; and predictive maintenance.

Q: What kind of training does your maintenance personnel receive? (n=317)

81%

79%

54%

53%

52%

50%

Basic electrical skills

Basic mechanical skills

Motors, gearboxes,bearings

Lubrication

Predictive maintenance

Basic plumbing/pipe fitting

42%

42%

40%

36%

29%

13%

Process operations

Welding and fabricating

Fluid power systems

Blueprint reading

Machine stop technology

Other

Maintenance technologiesNearly two-thirds of respondents’ facilities use a computerized maintenance management system to monitor or manage maintenance, while only 33% use a standard automated maintenance schedule.

Q: What technologies are used to monitor or manage maintenance within your plant? (n=317)

65%

47%

36%

33%

20%

17%

4%

Computerized maintenance management system

In-house created spreadsheets, schedules

Clipboards, paper records of maintenance rounds

Automated maintenance schedule

General computerized calendar

Enterprise asset management

Other

Plans to decrease downtime

Preventive maintenance 31%

Equipment upgrades 20%

Better/more training 14%

Better/more monitoring 8%

Unscheduled downtimeAging equipment (45%) and operator errors (21%) are the leading causes of unscheduled downtime, according to respondents. Thirty-one percent of respondents mentioned implementing better preventive maintenance in order to decrease future unscheduled downtime.

Q: What is the leading cause of unscheduled downtime in your plant? (n=317)Q: How do you plan to decrease unscheduled downtime in your plant? (n=278)

Aging equipment

45%

Operator error21%

Lack of time to perform maint-enance

16%

Lack of maint-enance

12% Other6%

Causes

Attitude towards maintenanceMore than half of respondents see maintenance as a cost center, but 41% see it as a profit center because they are improving production within their plants.

Q: Which of the following statements best describes your attitude toward maintenance? (n=317)

41% 39%

13% 7%It's a profit center where we can deliver

greater capacity to our plant.

It's a cost center, and we need to carefully control costs.

It's a necessary evil.

It's a cost center, but we need to spend in order to keep equipment running.

Challenges for improving maintenanceThe key challenges respondents indicated for improving maintenance in their facilities are the lack of resources or staff (53%), the lack of understanding of new maintenance options and technologies (40%), and the lack of available funding (37%).

Q: What are the key challenges for improving maintenance at your facility? (n=317)

53%

40%

37%

35%

31%

Lack of resources or staff

Lack of understanding of new maintenance

options, technologies

Lack of available funding

Lack of training

Outdated technology

28%

22%

7%

2%

5%

Lack of support from management

Poor scheduling, rarely followed through

Safety issues

Security issues

Other

Maintenance strategies

Maintenance strategiesMost respondents indicated that their facilities use a planned maintenance strategy, while over half follow reactive maintenance, and 49% use predictive maintenance.

Q: Which of the following maintenance strategies are used in your plant? (n=316)

87%

57%

49%

35%

23%

2%

Planned maintenance

Reactive maintenance

Predictive maintenance (PdM)

Condition-based maintenance

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)

Other

Advantages of maintenance strategies (Part 1 of 2)

PdM (76%) and planned maintenance (72%) both excel at decreasing downtime, while RCM and planned maintenance are cost effective overall, according to more than half of respondents.

Q: What are the advantages to the maintenance strategy/strategies in place at your plant? (n=283)

51%57%

72%

41%

52%

6%

27%

15%

7%

20%

48%55%

76%

47%40%

51% 52%

61%

48%

35%

53%58%

64%

38%32%

Better productquality

Cost effective overall Decreases downtime Energy savings Flexibility

Planned maintenance Reactive maintenance Predictive maintenance (PdM)

Condition-based maintenance Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)

Reactive maintenance was rated very low, except when evaluating initial cost. Compared to the other four maintenance strategies, this is reactive maintenance’s best advantage, according to 51% of respondents.


Advantages of maintenance strategies (Part 2 of 2)

63%

55%

34%

43%

64%

7%

18%

51%

24%

3%

53%

64%

17%

56%

70%

55% 58%

13%

52%

61%

44%

54%

15%

51%57%

Improved safety Increased component life

Low initial cost Minimize overhaul frequency

Reduced probability of failure

Planned maintenance Reactive maintenance Predictive maintenance (PdM)

Condition-based maintenance Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)

Advantages of planned maintenanceThe top advantages of a planned maintenance strategy, according to respondents are decreased downtime (72%), reduced probability of failure (64%), and improved safety (63%).


72%

64% 63%57% 55%

52% 51%

43% 41%

34%

Decreases downtime


Improved safety

Cost effective overall

Increased component

life

Flexibility Better productquality

Minimize overhaul

frequency

Energy savings

Low initial cost

Advantages of reactive maintenanceDespite having a low initial cost, only 27% of respondents said that reactive maintenance is cost effective overall, and very few said it actually improves safety (7%) and product quality (6%).


51%

27%24%

20% 18%15%

7% 7% 6%3%

Low initial cost


Minimize overhaul

frequency

Flexibility Increased component

life

Decreases downtime

Energy savings

Improved safety



Advantages of predictive maintenanceDecreased downtime (76%) and reduced probability of failure (70%) are the top two advantages of predictive maintenance, according to respondents.


76%70%

64%

56% 55% 53%48% 47%

40%

17%

Decreases downtime


Increased component

life

Minimize overhaul

frequency


Improved safety


Energy savings

Flexibility Low initial cost

Advantages of condition-based maintenanceA major advantage to condition-based maintenance over the other strategies mentioned is energy savings, according to 48% of respondents.


61% 61%58%

55%52% 52% 51%

48%

35%

13%

Decreases downtime


Increased component

life

Improved safety


Minimize overhaul

frequency


Energy savings


Advantages of reliability-centered maintenanceRespondents cited reliability-centered maintenance as the most cost effective overall, compared to the other maintenance strategies mentioned.


64%58% 57%

54% 53% 51%

44%

38%32%

15%

Decreases downtime



Increased component

life


Minimize overhaul

frequency

Improved safety

Energy savings


plant engineering 2013 maintenance study plant engineering 2013 maintenance study plant engineering,...

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