Maintenance Management in Multiple Plants: Examining Various Factors

This article offers insights into practical considerations regarding implementing maintenance, operations, and safety (MOS) in multiple plants. It addresses challenges faced at the point of usage-on the factory floor. The maintenance manager must look at each plant as a unique entity, while recognizing that together they form a part of a corporation that requires a level of commonality. Maintenance requirements and corporate significance will vary, funding resources are not the same, and people are unique with changing skills and attitudes. The head office manager will use some form of matrix management to meet such demands. This article centers on an installation with a central administrative office (head office) and multiple outlying plants varying in size, staff, and budget, each with specific limitations and demands. The article recognizes that the sole purpose of the electrical system is to support operations of the factory, that management is fully committed to proper MOS practices requiring a level of consistency between outlying plants, and that a level of "fairness" between plants must be addressed.