There's so much talk of maintenance being a cost or an expense item that we tend to focus on cost alone.  That language, the language of cost accountants, is very limiting.  By focusing on costs we are driven to think in terms of reduction.  But what about expansion?

Recently I've been dealing with a couple of clients in manufacturing environments who have started to think in terms of expansion rather than reduction.  They are focusing on the potential capacity that can be unleashed by effective maintenance practises rather than the costs that can be saved.  I've long used slides in my presentations about performance metrics for maintenance and asked listeners what it is they focus on the most.  Is it the inputs (costs), the outputs (uptime, reliability, availability) or the process of maintenance?  Usually I get a blend of results and costs.  When I dig into the use of process metrics I find that people would rather avoid the discussion.  That's because they probably aren't doing it, or at best they are not doing it well.  You actually control the processes - you determine how much of your maintenance work is proactive, how much is reactive, how much is planned and scheduled, how much isn't, etc.  The results you get and the costs you expend to get them are a direct result of what you control.  Deming once said that "your system is perfectly designed to give you the results that you get".  He's right. 

We all create our own reality.  It's an extension of ourselves and what we choose.  Why not focus more on the process?  What fear holds us back from it?

Often, I run into situations where the supervisory and middle management staff create the most resistance to change.  Tradesmen and operators are often happy to support improvement initiatives if it will make their lives better.  But what holds their bosses back?  The short answer is "fear".  But fear of what?  They've probably read the literature and know that improvements mean doing more with less.  Since they usually see their work force as being overloaded already (who hasn't heard the argument that we "lack resources"?) they are afraid that "less" means them.  Rarely will organizations let their best people go.  Often the supervisors are the best people they have - after all, why did they get promoted into the job?  Those fears are unfounded, but they are often not dealt with effectively so resistance builds, blockage occurs and improvement initiatives stall. 

All this comes from our language of reduction - cost cutting!  Now let's look at expansion.

In an expansive environment the business is growing, demand for services is increasing, workloads are climbing, the workforce is growing, supervisory responsibility is expanding.  It's all very positive. 

If we shift our thinking to expansion we get a different sort of business case - one that is far more likely to be supported by all levels of the organization.  One client is currently targeting production increases to grow revenues and reduce the cost per unit of production.  We bring about what we focus on and they are not focused on fear.  When successful they'll need to expand.  The fear of job loss,  redundancy and reduction is there (what if something goes wrong?), but the focus is on expansion not contraction.  If something goes wrong they will deal with it.  They have a mindset of success.

Their business case is based on increased production volumes and increased margins from those increased volumes.  The methods include improvements in what they are doing.  Moving toward proactive approaches and lean methods.  Sure, those will result in lower costs per unit produced.  That alone will increase margins, but the real motivator is the additional capacity to produce more revenue.  That opens them up to new customers.  Increased reliability will result in increased quality levels that also opens them up to new and more demanding customers.  Their product becomes more of a premium product.  No one loses and the fear is much less.  The costs of improvement efforts are compared with the benefits derived.  There's more money in generating revenue and profit margin than in cutting costs so the business case gets even easier to produce.

Consider an expansive view, re-frame your situation in those terms and you might be encouraged rather than discouraged.  Your language and your mindset will influence your behaviour.  In turn that behaviour will influence your results as you create your own reality.