Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase productivity through smart maintenance planning by including productivity as one of the objectives of the maintenance organization. Therefore, the goals of the paper are to investigate existing machine criticality assessment and identify components of the criticality assessment tool to increase productivity. Design/methodology/approach An embedded multiple case study research design was adopted in this paper. Six different cases were chosen from six different production sites operated by three multi-national manufacturing companies. Data collection was carried out in the form of interviews, focus groups and archival records. More than one source of data was collected in each of the cases. The cases included different production layouts such as machining, assembly and foundry, which ensured data variety. Findings The main finding of the paper is a deeper understanding of how manufacturing companies assess machine criticality and plan maintenance activities. The empirical findings showed that there is a lack of trust regarding existing criticality assessment tools. As a result, necessary changes within the maintenance organizations in order to increase productivity were identified. These are technological advancements, i.e. a dynamic and data-driven approach and organizational changes, i.e. approaching with a systems perspective when performing maintenance prioritization. Originality/value Machine criticality assessment studies are rare, especially empirical research. The originality of this paper lies in the empirical research conducted on smart maintenance planning for productivity improvement. In addition, identifying the components for machine criticality assessment is equally important for research and industries to efficient planning of maintenance activities.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to propose and discuss cost of poor maintenance (CoPM), as a concept for managing the improvement of maintenance performance within manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on literature studies and two workshops with representatives from industry and academia. Findings -CoPM is proposed as a new concept for maintenance performance improvement. The concept is derived from established practices in quality costing and hence it should be easily accepted in industry. Practical implications -By using CoPM as a concept for maintenance performance development, manufacturing companies may identify the potential financial impact of the development work. The CoPM concept should provide a good viewpoint for identification of deficiencies in the maintenance performance within a given manufacturing system. Originality/value -By adopting a well-known measure from the research area of quality development, a financial measure for maintenance is proposed in this paper. The measure shows which parts of the maintenance costs are justified and which costs relate to poorly performed maintenance. In this way a more balanced view of the financial contribution of maintenance activities may be achieved, even at board level of the company.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to exemplify and discuss the potential in strategic maintenance development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a three‐year industrial case study, conducted in three different companies within manufacturing industry.FindingsAll three companies have showed substantial improvements in the chosen maintenance related KPIs. Further, the management has increased the insight on maintenance as a contributor to company competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsNone of the companies has used any financial KPI for their strategic maintenance development. It would be of future interest to study the concept Cost of Poor Maintenance as an evaluation tool for strategic maintenance development.Practical implicationsThis study exemplifies the potential of strategic maintenance development in manufacturing industry.Originality/valueThis paper shows the results from three years of formulation, implementation, and evaluation of maintenance strategies.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to assess the readiness of the Swedish manufacturing industry to implement dynamic, data-driven preventive maintenance (PM) by identifying the gap between the state of the art and the state of practice.Design/methodology/approachAn embedded multiple case study was performed in which some of the largest companies in the discrete manufacturing industry, that is, mechanical engineering, were surveyed regarding the design of their PM programmes.FindingsThe studied manufacturing companies make limited use of the existing scientific state of the art when designing their PM programmes. They seem to be aware of the possibilities for improvement, but they also see obstacles to changing their practices according to future requirements.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will benefit both industry professionals and academicians, setting the initial stage for the development of data-driven, diversified and dynamic PM programmes.Originality/ValueFirst and foremost, this study maps the current state and practice in PM planning among some of the larger automotive manufacturing industries in Sweden. This work reveals a gap between the state of the art and the state of practice in the design of PM programmes. Insights regarding this gap show large improvement potentials which may prove important for academics as well as practitioners.

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