Cross training policies in a maintenance field service organization

As the trend towards more after sales service progresses through the industrial equipment industry, equipment manufacturers are offering comprehensive service contracts in which they take full responsibility for the functioning of their customers’ machines. These contracts increase the importance of capacity decisions in maintenance field operations. We evaluate the possibility to deploy technicians dedicated to preventive maintenance instead of fully cross trained technicians based on a real case in the compressed air industry. Our contribution consists of identifying the factors that influence the optimal cross training policy while taking into account the effect of the capacity decisions on the maintenance demand.status: publishe