Administrative Efforts as a Strategy Initiative

Administrative efforts are the controlling threads between all other aspects of asset management. As with other areas of this function, maintenance administration and process management are more of a competitive necessity than a competitive advantage. How the maintenance function is administered and the processes put in place will affect not only the effectiveness of the maintenance effort, but also the efficient use of all resources and the capability for continuous improvement.

The administrative area of asset management is an area where much has been written and much is constantly done to help companies to improve in this area. Yet this area is often still the victim of either over-management or under-management; in worse case scenarios, it is absolutely ignored. Often there is a large disconnection between the theory of planning and scheduling and its implementation. Even more often there is a lack of appreciation of why this should be undertaken.

More than most other areas, maintenance administration is intrinsically linked with the production and use of electronic information and computer technologies. As such, it is also an area where there can be, and has been, a lot of innovative thought. It provides the base for every other area of asset management, including continuous improvement initiatives. There are many good sources of information on this issue, so much so that there is almost an information...