Strategic maintenance-management in Nigerian industries

A developing society needs to adapt to change and foster creativity. In the pursuit of continual improvement (e.g., reducing fossil-fuel consumption and waste, better service performance, greater availability and improved reliability), implementing wise maintenanceschedules is essential for contemporary organisations. Several studies of a wide range of Nigerian industries indicate that indigenous low availability and low productivity are endemic. The resulting closure of some of these industries has triggered off a realisation of the strategic challenges in maintenance management. In addition, the increasingly-competitive business environment in Nigeria has raised the strategic importance of maintenance functions, especially in organisations with significant investments in physical assets. Five strategic aspects of maintenance management have been identified, namely: maintenance methodology; support processes; organisation and work structuring; comparable culture; and general manage0306-2619/$ see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2005.02.004 Abbreviations: ASP, application service provider; BSC, balanced score card; CBM, condition-based maintenance; CEO, chief executive officer; CMMS, computerised maintenance-management system; ES, enterprise system; FMECA; failure modes, effect and critical analysis; JIT, just-in-time; OEE, overall equipment-effectiveness; RCM, reliability-centred maintenance; SMPM, strategic maintenance performance management; SMT, self-management team; STS, socio-technical systems; TPM, total productive maintenance; TPQM, total planned quality maintenance; and TQM, total quality management. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1235 750 111; fax: +44 1234 751 232. E-mail address: [email protected] (S.O.T. Ogaji). Applied Energy 83 (2006) 211–227 www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy APPLIED ENERGY ment policy. Three factors that permeate these dimensions are wise leadership, excellent communications and an understanding of the human factors involved. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.