Article

Design of a Model for the Maintenance

Management Audit
BSc. Sp. MSc. MSc. Emiro Vásquez
Maintenance Advisor/Manager

Published: March 2021

Abstract: Every day the environmental controls that any manufacturing industry must have
become more demanding and it is no secret to anyone that one of the elements that most
influence, not only environmental factors, but also economic and social, is maintenance
management, and therefore, hence the importance of each industry seeking to improve its
maintenance process. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to show the design a model
for the Maintenance Management Audit. This model propose to create a management tool that
allows determining the maintenance management, to develop a measurement instrument to
diagnosis of management, the degree of maturity, defining priorities based on the influence and
dependence of the variables and identifying the areas of potential improvement of the
maintenance organization, allowing the management to take decisions that lead to propose
strategies and an action plan to optimize the performance of the organization and the
achievement of its objectives, guaranteeing operational continuity and efficient use of resources,
leading management towards the best practices of World Class Maintenance. This model is
focused on Deming's Continuous Improvement Philosophy and its application is developed
step by step to an oil refinery and determining in this case that the degree of maturity is in the
innocence stage, that is, that there is no basic maintenance management system for which they
are proposed strategies and an action plan (activities, resources, time and person responsible)
that must be implemented to direct its management to achieve World Class Maintenance.

Keywords: Maintenance management; Audit; Deming; Autonomous maintenance;

Preventive maintenance; Predictive analytical.

1. INTRODUCTION
Any company, in order to know what the risk exposure of the organizations that comprise
it is, should carry out a risk analysis through an internal audit department in order to
establish its annual audit plan related to finances and its operations. This analysis has
shown that one of the organizations that represents the greatest risk for any manufacturing
company is the maintenance management, making its management a critical function for
any corporation.

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Therefore, it is necessary to carefully to analyze maintenance management in a systemic
way to determine the degree of excellence of the organization and the way to manage each
of its departments, identifying the points of improvement to mark guidelines of what a
class management should be global and in turn have a feedback system for monitoring and
continuous improvement.
The adoption of this model offers to continuously to determine the current situation of the
maintenance management to make the pertinent adjustments that allow closing the existing
gaps ensuring its future viability, which implies the continuous learning of the
organization, the follow-up of a philosophy management and active participation of all
staff.
The expected vision of the model is to be a management tool that allows determining the
current situation of maintenance management and identifying areas for potential
improvement, allowing Management to make decisions that lead to optimizing the
performance of the organization and the achievement of its objectives. , guaranteeing
operational continuity and efficient use of resources.
In addition, among the objectives contemplated by the model are, conceptualize the
variables to be studied, design the measurement instrument for the audit, carry out the
diagnosis of the current maintenance management, analyze the gaps and define priorities,
develop strategies, an action plan. to close gaps and define key performance indicators for
the control and monitoring of the action plan.

2. MODEL PHASES
The model complies with the four (4) phases of the Deming Circle or Continuous
Improvement Circle, which are Plan, Do, Check and Act, as shown in the following image:

Plan::
Variables: In this stage the variables to be studied are defined and conceptualized.

Do:
Research + Diagnosis: All activities related to elaborate the measuring instrument and the
diagnosis of the current situation of maintenance management are carried out .

Check:

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Gaps + Priorities: In this stage, the existing gaps between the current situation of
maintenance management and the ideal situation based on a World Class Maintenance
Management are analyzed, determining the degree of maturity and establishing priorities
study..

Act:
Strategies + Action Plan: In this stage, the necessary strategies for closing gaps and the
action plan are drawn up in gantt format specifying the activities to be carried out,
resources, time and person responsible.
Control + Monitoring: The key performance indicators are defined to carry out continuous
monitoring of the implementation of the action plan, based on obtaining benefits such as
compliance in time to achieve the objectives, reassignment of resources and/or by means
of obtaining new resources.

3. MODEL DESIGN

The designed model is shown in the following image. It is reflected that the input of the
model is the current management of the maintenance organization, the core process is the
phases of the model explained above, obtaining as an output a world-class maintenance
management.

Below is the detailed description of each phase of the model:

3.1 Variables
At the global level, there are different authors who have defined different variables for this
type of diagnosis. This work contemplated the analysis of eleven (11) variables resulting
from work experiences in maintenance organizations and encompassed in world-class

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maintenance factors. Even when these 11 variables are framed in the aforementioned,
compliance with these factors would only represent a minimum standard that should be
considered as good practices but that do not represent best practices because it can vary
according to the needs of each organization.
For each of these variables, its basic principles were defined that will allow achieving the
fulfillment of its objectives, thus obtaining thirty five (35) basic principles that will be
analyzed and quantified.
Below are the variables and their basic principles:

VARIABLE # 1: MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

Basic principles:
MISSION AND VISION
POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES
MANAGEMENT REPORT

VARIABLE # 2: ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMIC:

Basic principles:
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
AUTHORITY AND AUTONOMY
INFORMATION SYSTEMS

VARIABLE # 3: AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE:

Basic principles::
AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE PLANNING
PROGRAMMING AND EXECUTION OF AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE
CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE

VARIABLE # 4: DIAGNOSIS AND PREDICTIVE:

Basic principles:
DIAGNOSIS
PLANNING OF THE PREDICTIVE INSPECTION
PROGRAMMING AND EXECUTION OF THE PREDICTIVE INSPECTION

VARIABLE # 5: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE:

Basic principles:
DETERMINATION OF PARAMETERS
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PLANNING
PROGRAMMING AND EXECUTION OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

VARIABLE # 6: MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM

(CMMS):
Basic principles:
MANAGEMENT OF WORK ORDERS
SYSTEM EMPLOYED
GENERATED INFORMATION

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VARIABLE # 7: MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING:
Basic principles:
OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
POLICIES FOR PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING
CONTROL AND EVALUATION

VARIABLE # 8: PERSONAL:
Basic principles:
QUANTIFICATION OF PERSONNEL NEEDS
SELECTION AND TRAINING
MOTIVATION AND INCENTIVES

VARIABLE # 9: MAINTENANCE COSTS:

Basic principles:
MAINTENANCE BUDGET
RECORDS OF MAINTENANCE COSTS
MAINTENANCE COST ANALYSIS
CONTROL AND MONITORING OF MAINTENANCE COSTS

VARIABLE # 10: RESOURCES:

Basic principles:
EQUIPMENT
TOOLS
MATERIALS/SPARE PARTS

VARIABLE # 11: MAINTENANCE ORDERS

Basic principles:
PREPARATION
ADMINISTRATION
CLOSING

3.2 Research + Diagnosis

This stage begins with an investigation, creation of the measurement, diagnosis and / or
study instrument that will allow defining the current situation of the audited organization
in terms of the variables and basic principles defined in the previous stage.
To carry out this diagnosis, a measurement instrument was developed that, among others,
evaluates the aspects to audit maintenance management, which is based on the format of
the COVENIN 2500-93 standard “Manual for evaluating maintenance systems in the
industry ”, Using the demerit system that allows starting from the ideal situation to locate
the current situation of maintenance management.
Defined demerits are those that, by omission or negative incidence, cause the effectiveness
of the basic principles to not be complete, reducing the total score of said principle. The
weighting of these demerits, as well as that of each basic principle, is based on the
experience and knowledge of the author and on the observations made in the visits to
various maintenance organizations, therefore they could be modified for any other audit
process.

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 To complete the qualification of each demerit, an internal analysis was carried out by
conducting interviews and surveys with the management / administrative personnel of
the maintenance management. With this instrument, in addition to being able to graph the
behavior of the management, a percentage value is determined that measures the degree
of maturity of the maintenance management based on the maturity scale defined below :
The maintenance management index is measured according to an estimate of a level within
a scale between 0 and 100, determining the criteria at each level, classifying management
into five stages:
• 91-100%/Excellence: There is a world class maintenance management with the best
operational practices.
• 81-90%/Competition: There is a maintenance management with a trend towards world
class, but there are small gaps to close. It is a very good system with an effective operations
level.
• 71-80%/Understanding: There is a basic maintenance management, above average. Some
of the best world class maintenance practices apply.
• 51-70%/Awareness: There is basic maintenance management, but the best world class
maintenance practices or existing maintenance philosophies are unknown. On average and
with opportunities for improvement.
• 0-50%/Innocence: There is no basic maintenance management. Below average with many
opportunities for improvement.

The measurement instrument developed for this diagnosis is shown below:

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9
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0
1
1
1
2
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3
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4
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5
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The following image shows the result of the maintenance management diagnosis applied
to an oil refinery.

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3.3 Gaps + Priorities

To analyze the data collected in the measurement instrument, the "gap index" is
determined, that is, to show in percentage terms the difference between what is defined as
the ideal situation (81%) and the current situation (result of the evaluation).
In this case study, the result of the diagnosis is 45%, that is, the maintenance management
in a global way is in the innocence stage.
Now we proceed to make a radar or spider diagram applied to the eleven (11) variables, as
shown in the following image, where the discrepancies between the current situation and
the ideal situation (81%) are observed, being in this case the variables autonomous
maintenance, preventive maintenance and maintenance management and control system
are those with the lowest value or the highest gap index.

The gap index of each basic principle is calculated, taking as a reference the ideal situation
(greater than 81%,) that is, the stage of competition. The following table shows the degree
of maturity and the gap index, it is determined with the measuring instrument and they
are ordered according to the score obtained in descending order. It is observed that of the
first seven (7) basic principles with the highest gap index, six (6) basic principles are of the
variables operational maintenance, preventive maintenance and maintenance management
and control system.

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Once this gap index has been determined for the basic principles of each variable, a priority
analysis is carried out using the matrix-based variables prioritization method.
With this method, the variables (basic principles) of the object of study are analyzed as a
system where each element keeps a relationship of interdependence. This method can be
considered a quantitative technique, since it makes use of statistical indices or the rise in
potential of matrices in order to obtain the influence or dependence value of the variables.
That is why it is a very useful technique to be able to establish which are those variables or
basic principles that by their influence affect the entire system and to be able to undertak e,
based on the results obtained, some strategy for their modification, since any action on
them it will modify the others.
Once the basic principles of each variable to be used have been established and defined,
they are distributed, both by rows and columns in the matrix. The variables that occupy
the place of the rows are handled as influencing and when they are in the columns they are
handled as dependents.

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Subsequently, values of zero (0), one (1) and two (2) are assigned to the variables or basic
principles, depending on whether or not it influences the others. The value 0 is set for a null
influence, 1 for a little influence and 2 for a high influence. The reason for making this
assignment of a numerical value is to be able to establish a summation of both rows and
columns. The sum of the numbers by rows tells us how many times each of the variables
impacted the rest. The sum of the numbers per column tells us how many times each
variable is influenced by the rest. The following image shows the respective matrix.

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Once the matrix is built, an influence index is calculated which is obtained from the sum of
the columns of each basic principle, between the total of the sum of influence values and
the influence average is obtained dividing this, by the total of the principles. For the
dependency average, this is obtained from the sum of the rows of each basic principle
among the total of the principles.
Once the above information has been obtained, in order to establish what type of variables
it is, we proceed to relate each of the influence indices with each of the dependency indices
in a cartesian plane. The Y axis is influence and the X axis is dependence; where the limit
between each zone is the maximum and minimum of each index.
A basic principle is considered to have a high influence index when it is higher than average
and a low influence index when its percentage is less than average. The same happens with
the dependency index. Thus, once each of the indices has been graphed as shown in the
following image, the place occupied by each of the variables can be observed, which will
allow us to establish which are those that affect the entire system due to their influence.
The use of this technique allows, that once the basic influential principles have been located
in quadrants I and II, that is to say, power zone and conflict zone respectively, some
strategy can be undertaken for their modification, since any action on them will modify
others.

Each area of influence and dependency is described below:

• Power Zone: In this are the basic principles that have the highest influence and the lowest
dependency. Therefore, they are the most important because they are the ones that most
influence the rest and have less dependence on others. The modifications that occur in them
have repercussions on the entire system, so they are the ones that should receive more
attention to their solution.

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• Conflict Zone: The basic principles of high influence and high dependency are located
in this area. They are important for their influence but they also depend a lot on the rest.
Just as they influence they are influenced and the variations that occur in them will have
repercussions throughout the system. After the basic principles of the power zone, they are
the ones that should receive attention because they act as a link between the power zone
and the rest, because their consequences will be reflected in the basic principles of the
starting zone that are a consequence of previous.
• Exit Zone: These are less important because of their low influence. Due to their high
dependence on the rest, these will be resolved accordingly and should be addressed after
addressing those in the area of power and conflict.
• Isolated Zone: These are the ones that must be addressed at the end, since they are the
ones that have little or no dependence or influence on the rest, which is why they are called
isolated.
The following graph shows that eight (8) basic principles are located in the power zone and
nine (9) in the conflict zone, when evaluating to which variables these seventeen (17) basic
principles belong, it is determined that they are not related. with the variables of
operational maintenance, resources and maintenance orders.

Once both the degree of maturity and the index of influence / dependence of each basic
principle have been obtained, a score will be assigned to each of these as shown in the

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following table to later multiply them, and the basic principles that result with the highest
value, will be those that will be given priority to be analyzed, specifically those located in
the areas of power and conflict zone of the variable weighting matrix and whose degree of
maturity is mainly in the innocence and conscience stage, that is, , the priority will be those
with a score greater than or equal to eighty (80).

SCORE TO BE MATURITY INFLUENCE/DEPENDENCE

ASSIGNED
DEGREE ZONE

10 Innocence Power

8 Awareness Conflict

6 Understanding Exit

3 Competition Isolated

0 Excellence N/A

The results are shown in the following priority table:

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Of the 35 basic principles studied, fifteen (15) exceed eighty (80) points, and they are the
ones that will be analyzed to develop the strategies and action plan, it is noteworthy that
when implementing actions to improve the basic principles located in the area of power
and conflict, will affect the improvement of other basic principles whose degree of maturity
is innocence and are located in the isolated or exit zone.

To be Continued……………..

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