Tom A. Mereckis, Senior Consultant, Datastream Systems Inc., Greenville, North Carolina

The business world is inundated by prescriptions for success that have two things in common. First, they purport to be the fit-all, do-all, fix-all solution for any problem in any organization. Second, they attempt to lull managers into believing that the cure relieves them of their most important responsibility--thinking. The dilemma faced by Aufkie Music Company fits this pattern.

Peggy Banke managed to convince many of Aufkie's managers that outsourcing maintenance services will reduce rising maintenance costs and improve the company's bottom line. Peggy assumes that a maintenance department that is out-of-sight and out-of mind solves maintenance-related problems at Aufkie and improves financial performance. "Outsourcing" is a buzzword backed by top management gurus, so Peggy believes that it must be a can't-miss solution for Aufkie. Think again, Peggy! Meanwhile, Creighton Barrow has his own silver bullet--a computer!

Computerized maintenance management (CMMS)
Creighton believes that an information system solves Aufkie's maintenance-related problems and saves the maintenance department from the fate suffered by both the dodo bird and the dinosaur. Since "information technology" is a catch-phrase backed by top management gurus, Creighton thinks it must be a can't-miss solution for Aufkie. Think again, Creighton!

Really, we shouldn't be so harsh toward Creighton. He's right in one sense--a CMMS can be a pivotal piece of the puzzle where improving maintenance operations is concerned. But, it's only a tool that supports the development of an effective total maintenance system. The system must be the first item on the agenda in any serious maintenance operation improvement effort. The tools--CMMS included--come later. You shouldn't start building a house without a blueprint. Likewise, you shouldn't expect a CMMS to fix your maintenance operation without a good system that is in place and ready to be managed by the CMMS.
Creighton has simply placed the cart before the horse. But to his credit, he at least knows what the horse and cart look like, an identification process with which Peggy and a few others on the management team are still having trouble.

Here's how the music at Aufkie Music might play
Creighton has a difficult challenge on his hands. He knows that he has six months to pull off what seems like a miracle. He must make the maintenance department a real contributor to the company's bottom line.

Even more important and more difficult is convincing management that maintenance is not a necessary evil, but a potential competitive advantage. Right now, maintenance is a cost center. Its performance is gauged by traditional accounting measures like budget variances and expense growth. Management even believes that growth can be spurred upward by saving maintenance costs. They believe that maintenance is a drain on resources--maintenance is just overhead. But Creighton knows that no one ever became a millionaire by saving pennies in a jar.

He believes that improving the productive process--sometimes entailing expenses and capital investment--is the way to generate big money payoffs. Creighton senses that his maintenance operation could help improve the productive process. He's just not sure how.

A fundamental change in thinking
One day, while reading the local newspaper, Creighton noticed an advertisement for a one-week seminar the following week entitled, "Total Maintenance Management: Make Your Maintenance Operation a Contributor!" He read on, and decided that this might be a worthwhile course to attend. It would cover many aspects of the maintenance function that he never thought about before, and some other questions for which he needed answers to right now.

At the same time, he felt the need to work his usual fourteen hour days in order to help his crew fix the inevitable daily tidal wave of emergencies. On the other hand, Creighton knew that he had nothing to lose by gaining an idea about how to change his department. So, the next week, he attended the seminar.