Application of the ”Maintenance Loop” for land-based manufacturing

Abstract

The maintenance function is an important part of any organization that possesses tangible assets. Whether it is machinery, buildings, equipment, or others, maintenance of these assets are vital to enable them to deliver as intended. In this thesis the focus is on maintenance of industrial production machinery and equipment. The literature on the topic of industrial maintenance is extensive, and there are lots of different frameworks and strategies proposed to enhance the performance of the maintenance function. In this thesis the model of the Maintenance Loop, developed by the Norwegian Oil Directorate in the late 90s, are used to assess the performance of the maintenance function at Benteler Automotive Farsund. The model divide the maintenance function into 11 elements. For these 11 elements, the current status, problems and challenges, and finally, improvement potentials and future goals were identified. The results show that a thorough review of the maintenance function like the one performed in this thesis will reveal much information and several minor improvement potentials not visible by the naked eye. From the results of this thesis it can also be seen clearly how important it is to have a properly functioning Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) at hand, and how important good communication is to be able to work efficiently.