Managers should perceive themselves as part of the total system and adopt a rational systemic approach to maintenance for an organisation to flourish, a renowned expert in the field said on Tuesday.
“You have to develop a wider view of maintenance. It is not a nut and bolt job. It is an immediate work which cannot wait,” Prof KC Sahoo, former professor of IIT, Kharagpur, told executives at the inauguration of a two-day Management Development Programme on ‘Maintenance engineering and management’ held by the Institute of Business and Computer Studies (IBCS) here, the faculty of management at the SOA University.
Prof Sahoo, who is now the Professor Emeritus at the SOA University, was speaking on ‘Systems approach to maintenance’. Around 40 executives and managers from 26 major corporate participated in the workshop. Prof RP Mohanty, Vice-Chancellor of SOA University, Dr Aditya Parida, Associate Professor at lulea University of Technology, Sweden, and Satya Prakash Patnaik, former MD of Nilachal Ispat Nigam were the other resource persons.
“The direct cost of maintenance is well recorded, but what is missing is the cost of not undertaking maintenance. The consequence of it should be converted to notional loss to the organisation,” Prof Sahoo said. The vital spare parts must be given the utmost importance as unavailability of the same could bring the system to a grinding halt. “It will be sad if your store is full of spare parts but don’t have the vital ones which you need immediately,” he added. “As a leader, a good manager should inspire, motivate and train others to become an achiever,” he said, adding, “If you train people, they’re on their own, but if you don’t, they are on your neck.”