26 September 2012
12 July 2009
Why Use Consultants?
Its very simple. There is an old saying attributed to a wise man from long ago. I will paraphrase it, "A prophet is not welcome in his own town". Unfortunately this piece of wisdom is true in most businesses today especially when viewed from the lens of the maintenance organization.
Over the years maintenance has taken on a persona that it is not a core business function. Worse yet, it is often viewed as a "cost", necessary evil, and, for some, a place of exile. For those who are unenlightened the maintenance organization is viewed as primarily a service organization whose function in life is to respond to the demands of the production or operations team. With this type of appreciation maintenance might as well be outsourced to a "body shop".
A body shop is a maintenance company that makes there living by providing bodies to a client to perform maintenance. Because their margins are so "tight" they make their money by maximizing the bodies on the shop floor. This type of arrangement is counter and opposed to a companies business strategy to lower operational costs while maximizing production, throughput, and availability.
I digress. So maintenance has been relegated to the basement of the business. In some cases the maintenance organization is so far down the food chain that some managers are sent there for punishment. Now you have set in motion a set of organizational beliefs and stereotypes that maintenance is evil. They are evil because they are a cost. If the business could they would outsource. Fortunately there are a few sages left in the business who know this can't work. For years they have been telling the management team that if they would develop a coherent maintenance strategy the company could lower costs and increase uptime and most likely improve quality and safety. Its fallen on deaf ears.
This is where the consultant provides value. Not just a little but in some case the consultant can act as powerful catalyst for creating change and jump starting the organization in their journey to achieve excellence.
Here is how it works: the consultant by their nature is an outsider. If you hire one who is recognized professionally and has a track record of success he brings in credibility and experience that management does not have in most cases. Because of his background and authority he most likely will get the ear of the managers. In most instances the consultant will want to conduct an assessment of the business and gather some metrics from the processes plus collect some financial figures. In most cases this will be enough to build a business case. In addition interviews with the maintenance team can provide valuable insight into where the opportunities for improvement are at and their impact on the business if improved. This will be essential when describing the current situation and building a business case to sell to management.
Once the consultant has assembled a business case to sell to management the next step is to get him an audience with the senior leaders in the organization. The higher up the better. Maintenance needs to be brought to the table with the rest of the organization. The consultant, if he has done his homework and the figures are fairly accurate plus with the information gleaned from interviews with the maintenance team can usually build a strong case for a maintenance improvement effort. This business case should also describe the size of the prize.
At this point the maintenance manager will probably say "I have been telling them this for years but they haven't listened". My advice to the maintenance manager: accept this as natural and common in many companies. Hitch your wagon up to the consultant and work as a team get your organization on track heading to where you want it to be. You are the prophet not welcomed in his own town. Use "the prophet" from the outside to your advantage.
Over the years maintenance has taken on a persona that it is not a core business function. Worse yet, it is often viewed as a "cost", necessary evil, and, for some, a place of exile. For those who are unenlightened the maintenance organization is viewed as primarily a service organization whose function in life is to respond to the demands of the production or operations team. With this type of appreciation maintenance might as well be outsourced to a "body shop".
A body shop is a maintenance company that makes there living by providing bodies to a client to perform maintenance. Because their margins are so "tight" they make their money by maximizing the bodies on the shop floor. This type of arrangement is counter and opposed to a companies business strategy to lower operational costs while maximizing production, throughput, and availability.
I digress. So maintenance has been relegated to the basement of the business. In some cases the maintenance organization is so far down the food chain that some managers are sent there for punishment. Now you have set in motion a set of organizational beliefs and stereotypes that maintenance is evil. They are evil because they are a cost. If the business could they would outsource. Fortunately there are a few sages left in the business who know this can't work. For years they have been telling the management team that if they would develop a coherent maintenance strategy the company could lower costs and increase uptime and most likely improve quality and safety. Its fallen on deaf ears.
This is where the consultant provides value. Not just a little but in some case the consultant can act as powerful catalyst for creating change and jump starting the organization in their journey to achieve excellence.
Here is how it works: the consultant by their nature is an outsider. If you hire one who is recognized professionally and has a track record of success he brings in credibility and experience that management does not have in most cases. Because of his background and authority he most likely will get the ear of the managers. In most instances the consultant will want to conduct an assessment of the business and gather some metrics from the processes plus collect some financial figures. In most cases this will be enough to build a business case. In addition interviews with the maintenance team can provide valuable insight into where the opportunities for improvement are at and their impact on the business if improved. This will be essential when describing the current situation and building a business case to sell to management.
Once the consultant has assembled a business case to sell to management the next step is to get him an audience with the senior leaders in the organization. The higher up the better. Maintenance needs to be brought to the table with the rest of the organization. The consultant, if he has done his homework and the figures are fairly accurate plus with the information gleaned from interviews with the maintenance team can usually build a strong case for a maintenance improvement effort. This business case should also describe the size of the prize.
At this point the maintenance manager will probably say "I have been telling them this for years but they haven't listened". My advice to the maintenance manager: accept this as natural and common in many companies. Hitch your wagon up to the consultant and work as a team get your organization on track heading to where you want it to be. You are the prophet not welcomed in his own town. Use "the prophet" from the outside to your advantage.
08 June 2009
Living out of a suitcase
I have just finished a 7 week road trip to places far and wide. My trip started in Hong Kong, then to Indonesia for a week. After finishing a maintenance assessment for a client I travelled on to Bangkok for another maintenance assessment for the same client. From Bangkok I went to Khon Kaen where I spent a week. Now this is where the trip turned crazy.
The client got the idea we needed to do some planning so I flew to Bangkok for a cup of coffee and then on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One day of planning and educating, then back to Bangkok. There I met my colleague and continued interviewing the client to conclude the assessment.
After 2 days of interrogations (me not the client)I headed back to Kuala Lumpur for a visit with another client. I gave a brilliant sales presentation that more than likely fell on deaf ears (my best work sometimes falls to the wayside). Much interest but I am not holding my breath. Run to failure prevails.
After leaving KL I headed on to Muscat Oman. Purpose was to visit client and local agent and sort out schedule for the next year. The outcome of this 6 day visit was sorting out the schedule for my consultants, a short visit with the client, and touch bases with another prospect in Muscat. Next stop: Dubai.
Travelling to Dubai reminds me of the opening visual of the city of Caprica in the television show, Battlestar Galactica. Its unbelievable simply said. Anyway each time I visit I feel like I am in another world. Unfortunately the city quite simply has no soul. There is nothing that you can call the city center. Everything is scattered about but irregardless there are a few hot spots.
I did a 5 day course in Dubai called Maintenance Planning, Scheduling, and Coordination. The course went well and I am sure I impacted a few students. perhaps something will come out of it. Who knows.
I spent a total of 10 days in Dubai then I flew to Doha in Qatar. 2 weeks in Doha working at the largest gas plant in the world. I conducted a one week "hands-on" course on maintenance work preparation and scheduling. The class was a success much more than I imagined. SAP was the CMMS (ERP which I am not an expert but with gentle prodding and questioning I was able to assist the students in building a schedule in SAP.
I finished up feeling extremely satisfied with my efforts. This particular engagement almost didn't happen. I almost backed out at the last minute because I was under the impression they wanted SAP training to go with the maintenance training. Fortunately I was wrong and the training went on as scheduled.
I left Doha on May 29th and headed back to the US which culminated my around the world trip. This was my third "around the world" business trip. Sounds fun but it was brutal. 8 cities and 8 hotels in 7 weeks. To top it off once I arrived in NC I had a cup of coffee and then flew on to California for a week. I am glad to be back home now:)
The client got the idea we needed to do some planning so I flew to Bangkok for a cup of coffee and then on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One day of planning and educating, then back to Bangkok. There I met my colleague and continued interviewing the client to conclude the assessment.
After 2 days of interrogations (me not the client)I headed back to Kuala Lumpur for a visit with another client. I gave a brilliant sales presentation that more than likely fell on deaf ears (my best work sometimes falls to the wayside). Much interest but I am not holding my breath. Run to failure prevails.
After leaving KL I headed on to Muscat Oman. Purpose was to visit client and local agent and sort out schedule for the next year. The outcome of this 6 day visit was sorting out the schedule for my consultants, a short visit with the client, and touch bases with another prospect in Muscat. Next stop: Dubai.
Travelling to Dubai reminds me of the opening visual of the city of Caprica in the television show, Battlestar Galactica. Its unbelievable simply said. Anyway each time I visit I feel like I am in another world. Unfortunately the city quite simply has no soul. There is nothing that you can call the city center. Everything is scattered about but irregardless there are a few hot spots.
I did a 5 day course in Dubai called Maintenance Planning, Scheduling, and Coordination. The course went well and I am sure I impacted a few students. perhaps something will come out of it. Who knows.
I spent a total of 10 days in Dubai then I flew to Doha in Qatar. 2 weeks in Doha working at the largest gas plant in the world. I conducted a one week "hands-on" course on maintenance work preparation and scheduling. The class was a success much more than I imagined. SAP was the CMMS (ERP which I am not an expert but with gentle prodding and questioning I was able to assist the students in building a schedule in SAP.
I finished up feeling extremely satisfied with my efforts. This particular engagement almost didn't happen. I almost backed out at the last minute because I was under the impression they wanted SAP training to go with the maintenance training. Fortunately I was wrong and the training went on as scheduled.
I left Doha on May 29th and headed back to the US which culminated my around the world trip. This was my third "around the world" business trip. Sounds fun but it was brutal. 8 cities and 8 hotels in 7 weeks. To top it off once I arrived in NC I had a cup of coffee and then flew on to California for a week. I am glad to be back home now:)
08 May 2009
Cost Cutting as a Maintenance and Reliability Strategy
Cost cutting is the antithesis to improvement. I am constantly amazed that everyone I speak to realizes the inherent problems with adopting a cost cutting strategy in the midst of an economic downturn. Nevertheless that is the exact course many companies take when faced with dwindling profits, disappearing margins, and increasing expenses. Unfortunately this is how value is destroyed. In my research of companies who have adopted cost cutting as business strategy I have never found one that achieved high performance in the long run. In fact no company has ever cost cut their way to "world class" performance. Studies have shown that those companies who adopted a "process or continuous improvement" approach were the ones most likely to achieve best in class performance after the economic storms subside. It would be interesting if someone has a personal story about companies adopting cost cutting as a technique for business improvement.
05 May 2009
The Maintenance Consultant as a Preacher
Most of the time I am preaching to the choir. Occasionally I do manage to get audience with the guys who control the purse strings. Thats when the sermon is most effective. Managers at that level understand one language: Money. The sermon must be short, simple, and describe the size of the prize. No easy task when you only have 45 minutes. Anyone know other secrets?
27 June 2007
First post in 3 years
Finally I have the time to write something. This has been a busy year. I have travelled quite a bit and today I am in Abu Dhabi teaching maintenance planning and scheduling. In January I was in Azerbaijan, then on to Aberdeen where I stayed for a few weeks. Then I went back to the states for a cup of coffee and then on to Jakarta where I stayed at the Ritz Carlton. Now that was nice. Not to often does the client put you up in a place like that. I think it was 6 star. Well worth it. After that gig I was back in the saddle to Aberdeen for a few more weeks. I got the call to head back to the US to go to New Orleans. Did some training for the big Pecton and then went back to Aberdeen. While in Aberdeen I made a couple of offshore trips to do maintenance assessments. That finally brings me to where i am today - Abu Dhabi. Interesting city but to hot for me. Guess I could get use to it since I was raised in the desert of California USA. Day after tomorrow I head back to the US for a break. I have a couple of books to finish reading and write an article for a magazine. Hope I have it done before the next time I post:) See ya...
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