Diagnosing Maintenance System Problems: Theory and a Case Study

Abstract

Maintenance management is a well‐developed area in literature. Many strategies are available for implementing maintenance programs. However, there is an increasing concern about the function of maintenance and also the measurement of its performance practically. Maintenance performance measurement systems are of concepts developed in this regard. One reason many maintenance policies do not work properly, with regard to an organization's goals and performance measurement systems, is the lack of a systematic view on the maintenance system. In this paper, it is argued that it is important to take a broader view when dealing with maintenance problems in practice. An organizational perspective on maintenance is developed. The main idea behind this perspective is the organizational context of maintenance. This means that in addition to the traditional points for assessment and development of maintenance performance, other aspects need integrated attention as well. In order to develop a systematic viewpoint that comprehensively considers maintenance problem roots as well as leads to an increase in maintenance performance, a framework is developed in this paper. One of the main features of the framework is that it develops a systematic perspective on the design of a maintenance system. Besides, it leads to a comprehensive understanding of maintenance situations and factors that affect the performance of the system. Moreover, this study describes the result of a case study regarding the application of the organizational perspective to a practical maintenance problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.