Maintenance Management System: A Profit Centre

Abstract

Too much “Maintenance” is a necessary evil. It is considered as a cost centre. It is therefore, the general tendency to avoid maintenance to reduce the cost. This was considered to be fine few years back when the cost of equipment was not so high and the
competition in the market was not stiff, people could afford to maintain any production cost. In the present scenario, market competition is such that companies can only afford production at lowest cost. The cost of production equipment is going up with more
sophistication. The increasing cost of production goes hand in hand with the increase in downtime cost. Therefore all attention is
focused on the equipment availability and reliability and reaping profits out of maintenance is becoming a common trend. It is a
positive paradigm shift in thinking that maintenance is should no longer be considered as a group of people undertaking repairs
rather than it is a group of people who avoid the breakdown of equipment. Maintenance is now being converted to a “Profit Centre”.
Maintenance can generate profit by its own activities. Maintenance is nothing but service and it cannot be free of cost. Maintenance
has to search for its customers & satisfaction of the customers should be the objective. In achieving that goal, support from management is a primary requirement.