Author: Henri Azibert

In our world of consumerism and modern conveniences, we have become accustomed to reliable and cost effective goods, from food to shelter, from appliances to transportation.  Production of these goods and services, and just about anything in between, require machines.  Having evolved from simple hand tools to complex robots, production aides are relied upon.   The end product of one manufacturer is often a machine for another.  However, no matter where the end product is used, or which machines are used to make it, they all need to be maintained in proper working order.

The question arises as to how to best handle the maintenance.  Is this something that is contracted out, or something that is best handled “in house”?  For consumer goods, it is usually a very simple solution.  It is contracted out.  If the faucet leaks, we call the plumber; if the automobile requires service, we go to the local dealer or repair shop.  There are individuals savvy enough to handle some of the maintenance themselves, and they will typically do it to save money.  In an industrial setting, it is a lot more common to do the maintenance yourself.  Production machines are in constant and heavy use, and calling a contractor to fix a problem is not necessarily practical, nor the best or even a feasible approach.

There has been a trend to focus on core competencies.  The way to make money is to be better than anyone else at what you do.  Thus, a petroleum refinery is focused on producing gasoline, a paper mill on making paper, a power plant on putting out electricity to the grid.  But what of all the equipment used to move water or hydrocarbons around the plant? Is it an essential part of the process or just disposable equipment to be treated as a commodity?  It turns out that it is a bit of both.

Traditionally, maintenance departments kept the equipment running.  It progressed from reactive maintenance where you fix what is broken, to preventive maintenance, where routine maintenance is done to prevent the equipment from breaking down; and now to predictive maintenance, where you fix the machine before, but only before, it is starting to break down.  The proper tools and extensive knowledge are needed to be effective, but will the resources be found in house or need to be contracted out?

The benefit of outsourcing is that you can engage an expert, someone whose core competency is to fix or maintain a specific type of equipment.  There are motor experts, pump experts, seal experts, valve experts, that do nothing but work on pumps, valves or seals.  How could the in-house maintenance staff possibly have all this expertise and the tools required?  Of course, a lot of basic routine tasks are easy to master; but what of the unusual problems?  There definitely are times when it is imperative to bring in outside help to solve particularly difficult problems.  The machines are getting more and more complicated, specialized tools are necessary for disassembly, unique techniques are required for installation, and one small overlooked step can spell disaster.

But bringing in the expert is not always the easiest task either.  How do you determine whether a self-proclaimed expert is actually an expert?  Especially after the procurement department made sure that the lowest cost alternative was chosen.  Does the outside contractor actually understand the very special conditions under which your equipment is running?   A plant will have certain procedures to follow that are specific to the process, with a history of what has worked and, unfortunately, of what has failed miserably.  Will the outside expert know all of this, or even be able to understand it?

And then there are the hidden costs of contracting.  Time must be spent for finding the contractor, a qualified one.  There will be processing a purchase order, a legal contract may be required.  Handling the transaction, scheduling the visit, obtaining the proper documentation can all add up to significant delays.

A good approach is to develop working relationships over time.  It allows the contractor to have an understanding of your equipment, and allows you to have the knowledge that a qualified person will be able to help you.

But there is much to be said to have in-house knowledge of the machinery that is used.  There is the adage that one is never better served than by oneself.  One easy and simple rule to follow is only to do yourself what someone else cannot do well, or do it cheaper than you can.