Up Time Magazine - December 2008/January 2009 - (Page 6) upfront The Right Yardstick We do a lot of measuring in maintenance and reliability. Not only do we measure the physical properties of equipment, the environment in which the equipment operates and the processes that equipment provides, we also measure the management of all this equipment and process (KPI’s). In fact, in his Maintenance Management article explaining the need for metrics standardization, author Walter Nijsen points out in that the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals has targeted nearly 100 KPI’s that will eventually be published for companies to use as they see fit. In this maelstrom of measurement, it is quite easy to get caught up in the numbers for which our individual unit is responsible. Or, to paraphrase our feature article author, Dr. Peter Martin, it is easy to become trapped in our own ‘organizational silo’. We concentrate so fully on what our unit is responsible for producing that we can lose sight of the only goal that really matters, the overall performance of our organization. As Dr. Martin points out, it is critical to take a step back from all the measuring that we do, and simply make sure we are using the right yardstick. It is of paramount importance that whatever we measure, we make sure those measurements are pointing us all in the same direction - that everyone in the organization has the same over arching goal. According to Martin, where many organizations fall short is in defining which measurements are used to grade performance. If different units (operations and maintenance, for example) in an organization are measured upon goals that are actually in conflict, that makes it quite difficult to form a cohesive team. It is a fascinating article, and one that I hope will provide an impetus for us to examine the yardsticks we use to measure ourselves. uptime volume 4, issue 32 PUBLISHER Terrence O’Hanlon EDITOR IN CHIEF Jeffrey C Shuler EDITORIAL ADVISORS/ CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ron Eshleman Greg Stockton Ray Thibault Jack Nicholas, Jr. Dr. Howard Penrose James Hall Alan Johnston Jay Lee, PhD John Mitchell Jason Tranter ADVERTISING SALES Bill Partipilo 888-575-1245 x 114 sales@uptimemagazine.com EDITORIAL INFORMATION Please address submissions of case studies, procedures, practical tips and other correspondence to Also, please take a look at the information in this issue about the Reliability Centered Maintenance/Enterprise Asset Management Conference, RCM/EAM2009, in Daytona Beach, FL, which is taking place March 23th-26th. This event will also include M-Train, which focuses on helping you build the most effective maintenance and reliability training program for your company. It is an outstanding opportunity to hone your skills and improve your professional understanding. These days, I know full well that many training and education budgets are very tight and under scrutiny, but this event will be well worth the time and money invested. I hope you enjoy this issue. As always, thank you for reading. We appreciate your support, and hope you find value within these pages. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions that will make Uptime more useful to you, please let us know. Jeff Shuler, Editor In Chief Uptime Magazine PO Box 60075 Ft. Myers, FL 33906 888-575-1245 x 116 jshuler@uptimemagazine.com to subscribe to Uptime, log on SUBSCRIPTIONS www.uptimemagazine.com Uptime Magazine is a founding member of AMP the association for maintenance professionals All the best, Jeff Shuler Editor In Chief jshuler@uptimemagazine.com Uptime® (ISSN 1557-0193) is published monthly by Reliabilityweb.com, PO Box 60075, Ft. Myers, FL 33906, 888-575-1245. In the U.S. Uptime is a registered trademark of Reliabilityweb.com. No part of Uptime may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written consent from Reliabilityweb.com. Uptime is an independently produced publication of Reliabilityweb.com. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Reliabilityweb.com. Copyright© 2008 by Reliabilityweb.com. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Uptime Magazine PO Box 60075, Ft. Myers, FL 33906. 6 december/january 2009 http://www.uptimemagazine.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com http://www.Reliabilityweb.com
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