Maintenance Organization and Control for Multi-Plant Corporutions 25

is likely doomed to failure or to only partial realization of potential bene-

fits before the first computer program statement is written.
Maintenance management has long recognized that certain manage-
ment techniques must be used to implement any change. Unfortunately,
these techniques are not always applied when the change involves a com-
puter. Communication, participation, involvement, and training all must
be used to ensure that need for the system is generally recognized
throughout the maintenance department and that the system is accepted
by maintenance personnel as a problem solver. One of the more effective
techniques for implementing a computerized system is to build upon ex-
isting, manual systems in order to permit minimal change in the informa-
tion input activity even though major improvements are effected in avail-
able reports and analyses.
A common misconception is that a computer application requires a
large volume of additional routine data. If a good manual system exists
for preventive maintenance scheduling, inventory control, or other func-
tions, the computer system often requires no more routine input informa-
tion. As reports are produced, the volume should be carefully limited to
necessary information. Report formats should be developed with the ulti-
mate user’s participation. Finally, results should be thoroughly com-
municated throughout the maintenance organization.
A plant also should be careful to allocate the resources necessary to
support the system’s implementation effort. Computer applications often
require a one-time data entry-such as equipment specifications or mate-
rial descriptions-which imposes a short-term load on available person-
nel. These tasks may be assigned to existing personnel or contracted to
outside firms. The temptation to use existing personnel on a part-time
basis has often proven counter-productive to final system success.
After programming, implementation, and training it is also essential
that the system be supported. The new maintenance system’s “credibil-
ity” among maintenance personnel is extremely fragile during the first
few months of its existence. Hardware problems, computer priorities and
program “bugs” can be disastrous to system acceptance. Parallel opera-
tion of existing manual procedures with the computer system for a period
of time has been used to prove the computer system and to demonstrate
the improvement in information availability and analysis.
Finally, when implementing a computerized maintenance program, it
is important to progress from one system to the next at a speed that will
not create confusion or misunderstanding. If multi-system maintenance
support is a plant’s goal, then a long-time strategy for system implemen-
tation is necessary to ensure logical growth compatible with needs (and
abilities) of plant personnel. To overcome the “too much, too soon”
problem, one major chemical company has designed a modular system