Maintenance Perception in Swedish SMEs (A local study in Kronoberg County) 

Recognition of maintenance management as a significant factor holds the key to competitiveness in the global market irrespective of the size of the business. Maintenance management practices are primarily found in larger and multinational companies but the purpose of this paper is to investigate the maintenance practices that are used in SMEs of Sweden (Kronoberg County). The study is expected to expose the level of maintenance perception in the Swedish industry via a postal (and web based) questionnaire. The survey covered 74 company chosen from different sectors and produced a response rate of 20.3 percent. The main results achieved from the study show us difference between the maintenance perception and awareness of the maintenance. The respondents are aware of the importance of maintenance, but maintenance is still perceived as a necessary expense. Because according to the results of the survey the percentage of maintenance budget in comparison to the companies’ turnover is on average about 0.97% and it is very low. Again, when we look at the maintenance cost distribution of companies, spare parts and labour costs consist of 73 % of total maintenance cost, despite that they spend very little money for technology and training costs, their percentages in total cost are just 3% and 2%, also they still ignore statistical modelling (historical data) and condition monitoring. Moreover, just 27% of the participants use the maintenance key performance indicators (KPIs), and just 14% of them used basic KPIs which are used for measuring maintenance performance. There is a need to spend and invest more in maintenance especially they should invest more in technology and training to perform them. On the other hand, there is a need for choosing right maintenance strategy and service type, because these points are very important for an effective and economic maintenance management