The importance of a reliable basis for identifying losses

In order to work with continuous improvements and be competitive on the market, it is important that companies identify where their losses are [1]. A suitable way to identify losses is by using measurements [2] and with today’s information technology, it is easier than ever to collect data [3]. The problem is not that companies do not measure performance at all, they measure too much [4]. The study has been made at a producing company who stated that they do not reach their desired amount of availability in the production. There is no information on what their biggest losses are today and there is a lack of a systematic approach to reduce them. There is either any information on how much time that is used on maintenance activities or the distribution between operator maintenance or specialist maintenance. The study’s questions are following: [1] What can be determined and what conclusions can be drawn from existing data from the company’s industrial system and maintenance system? [2] Can a suggestion on a systemized working method be identified for working with availability losses for the case company? Theories about operational reliability, maintenance technology, PDCA and the cornerstone model has been used to answer the study’s questions. Quantitative and qualitative data collections has been used to analyze the results from the company’s industry- and maintenance systems. Qualitative interviews have been made with affected personnel. The cause of the company’s losses in the industry system cannot be identified as the data does not reflect the reality. The reason for that is the lack of standardized way of working when availability losses are registered. In the maintenance system, the structure of how cases are registered is lacking and the sectioning between operator maintenance and specialist maintenance is unclear. The study’s proposed action is to create conditions for the case company to make their data more reliable and how they can reduce their availability losses. This is done by standardizing the work method in the industrial system, introducing a new structure for how the maintenance system is used and structured working methods between operators and maintenance personnel. The entire study results in a model on how to be able to identify losses and how they systematically can be reduced