Lean maintenance practices in the improvement of information management processes: a study in the Facility Management division

Abstract

With the trends arising with Industry 4.0, there is an urgent need to reinvent the operations of industrial systems. The area of Facility Management (FM) is no exception and has been undergoing an evolution with the introduction of new information management tools. This paper comprises a study on the impact of lean maintenance in FM, supported by a project developed at a company dedicated to the supply of residential hot water solutions. The study was conducted in the Department of Infrastructure Management and aimed to reduce the waste of information in the area of Operations & Maintenance. Particularly in the practical component, the Lean Maintenance methodology was used to define processes, identify inefficiencies, and select LM tools for waste reduction. In terms of results, it was suggested that LM tools and the reconfiguration of the process can improve the process considering its level of automation, with an increase of 33%, its real time capability, which increased 5%, its first pass yield of information, which increased 11% and its media disruption, which decreased its value in 21%. Thus, it was demonstrated that there is an opportunity for enhancing the processes by taking advantage of Industry 4.0. Based on the contributions of this project, it was possible to conclude that the Lean Maintenance approach applied to the Infrastructure Management sector can have a positive impact on improving the information flow related to the work order management process, and in the process of defining preventive maintenance strategies, thus reducing information waste.