How are greed, poor asset management and the 7 deadly sins tied together? The answer is easy to understand. Asset management is care and maintenance of the assets throughout an organization. Assets may include rooftops, HVAC units, generators, common areas or oil well pumps. The care of assets means making sure they are operating correctly with proper maintenance, are at maximum efficiency as well as abiding by safety codes or laws. Greed is when the maintenance of assets is neglected in order to save money.
The result of asset maintenance greed are very short term at best and catastrophic at it worse. The most common example of greed is the decision to defer maintenance such as inspections and preventive maintenance in order to save money.
This decision is always short-sighted because without proper care, assets are more likely to breakdown or need major repairs. In both instances, it will cost more to fix the problem at the point of failure than it would have been to perform minor repairs after discovery through inspection.
Another popular example is the decisions by senior management to cut headcount rather than save money by investing in tools that can positively impact labor costs or operational efficiency issues. Tools such as an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system enable maintenance teams to do more work with the same amount of resources through the automation of the work order process. This will drastically reduce overtime needs as well as reduce asset downtime.
Greed is also responsible for catastrophic problems. The most recent example is of course the Gulf Oil Spill when safety, inspections and maintenance were cast aside in an effort to save millions in operating costs and achieve faster oil production revenues. The catastrophe that ensued is the ultimate example of pay me now or pay me a heck of a lot more later. Sadly, this catastrophe is not only about money as good people lost their lives and the environment has only just begun to feel the impact. It is also not the only maintenance related disasters. The engine falling off of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979 was also attributed to maintenance cutbacks.
Greed, is more often than not, a result of corporate culture at the executive level. It takes a strong executive to see past short-sighted solutions to establish a strong fundamental principle like proper preventive maintenance. Success is a long term solution that will reduce the number of employees in unemployment lines as well as lower the risk level of the company. So the answer to the first question is Greed is one of the 7 Deadly Sins and can be seen in poor and terrible maintenance organizations. One only has to look at the news headlines to read why.
About this Author
Stuart Smith writes about Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS) Solutions for Mintek Mobile Data Solutions. Learn more about EAM/CMMS features that can help your business navigate through tough economic times.
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