Success for maintenance professionals will require changed thinking and speaking.
“Historically, maintenance people have perceived automation and technology as a negative impact on their future and security,” says Rockwell Automation’s Mike Laszkiewicz. “But with business acumen, they’ll be in a better position to make a financial case to improve their plants’ operations.”
That means “you have to start speaking the profit language,” Laskiewicz says. “If you want to get out of the victim mentality, you have to speak management’s language. You have to convert your technical needs to a business justification.”
Laszkiewicz advises maintenance professionals to “know your opportunities, to know which percentage of your budget allows you to be predictive, preventive and reactive.”
Using more sophisticated tools, those specialists have an opportunity to position themselves as technical experts or consultants with their management, he says. “They must become more proactive and predictive and give up some of their transactional responsibilities,” some of which can be delegated, Laszkiewicz says.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Predictive maintenance triggers healthier profits
