Reactive Maintenance Organizational Structure

Continual maintenance can allay future problems and costs.

The efficiency of a business or organization can be seen in part through the way they handle problems. However, the method for problem-solving is sometimes complicated by isolated and short-term goals. Practices of reactive maintenance structure speak to these concerns.

Identification

Reactive maintenance refers to a problem-solving structure that directly or indirectly responds to issues as they arise. As the name suggests, your organization "reacts" to specific circumstances in an immediate and targeted fashion. Business practitioners and educators have located considerable problems within this approach.

Issues

You will frequently find reactive maintenance equated with "fire-fighting." In this sense, your business responds to localized problems only to turn around and find another once the original has been extinguished. Reactive approaches thus do not entail preparatory or preemptive action that could have allayed those problematic results or prevent similar ones in the future.

Solution

Some business trainers instead advocate for "pro-active" maintenance. In this sense, there are consistent measures or protocols taken to avert problems and to isolate trends that may result in them. Related protocols could include monitoring machines and their conditions, proper employment of reserve materials, "site auditing" and other efforts used to continue the training and sophistication of employees and their skills.

References

• LCE: Not Enough People
• Productivity: Moving from Reactive to Pro-Active Maintenance