Scheduling Policies in Maintenance

If the maintenance crew is idle, it is the indication that the plant is working very well with full availability and good efficiency. But this is rare event. However, many times crew may be found idle though the equipment is under breakdown or other maintenance. This may be because of no availability of spares, absence of required technology, right tools not available, improper planning and scheduling, etc. In such situations, maintenance manager will have to answer the following questions.

• What work should be allocated to the maintenance crew in slack periods, such as unavailability of spares, tools or technology, etc.?
• What are the requirements when heavy jobs are to be performed? i.e. forward planning.
• How to act when demand exceeds the capacity?
• What should be the strategy in the case of the emergency?
• What should be the policy decision on overtime or under time?
• Should the work be allocated to an individual or group?
• Is the management of spare parts going on smoothly?

The above forces have their own impacts and exertion of high influence on the scheduling of maintenance jobs. To answer the above questions satisfactorily, it is essential to scan various scheduling policies in practice. A few scheduling policies more suitable to the maintenance department are described here below, which are in general practice in many of the industries.