Welcome to the Maintenance Blog!
About Me
My name is Andrew, and I have spent the last 42 years in the industrial maintenance field, with 31 of those years managing industrial maintenance departments. I’m a lifelong learner who also likes to mentor and teach others with a willingness to listen and learn.
I have a natural curiosity about “how things work” and have a strong desire to “make things better.” In 2019, I decided to leave the comfort of a Maintenance Manager and Director of Information Technology position I held for many years for the challenges of a new position at a company that needed much help.
I accepted this new position without a functionally accurate title and position. The purpose on my part was to get to know the equipment, the process, and, most importantly, the people. I wanted to avoid walking in the door with a cookie-cutter approach to maintenance management.
About six months into the job, I had become the go-to guy for the maintenance team, sales, engineering, and management technical requests. Shortly after that, the maintenance team began reporting to me.
The new position is filled with challenges from many directions. Many machines need to be replaced, updated, and better maintained. The import machines are poorly designed and require excessive maintenance and attention. The existing maintenance team comprises several great guys who must gain all the technical skills necessary for the facility. Compounding these things, business nearly doubled in 2021.
This new position has me very hands-on, meaning I am turning wrenches, troubleshooting controls, and interacting with new technologies for the first time in many years.
My goals in this new position are as follows:
- Bring structure and accountability to the maintenance department.
- Properly staff the department with the best talent.
- Change the maintenance department’s culture, including their interaction with machine operators and office staff.
- Provide the team with the best tools from a mental and physical standpoint.
- Implement an effective predictive/preventive maintenance program.
- Develop and implement a spare parts program.
- Standardize quality hardware from reliable brands and suppliers.
- Improve the quality of the capital equipment brought into the facility.
- Reduce equipment downtime and increase productivity with meaningful repairs and upgrades.
About The Maintenance Blog
If you made it this far down the page, you probably wonder, “What the heck does all this have to do with this website?” The answer is simple: I’m excited. This new position is filled with many exciting opportunities, and I noticed there aren’t many personal blogs devoted to industrial maintenance and industrial maintenance management. I’m here to change that.
This blog allows me to write about the trials and tribulations of a maintenance manager. I will write about:
- Maintenance Management
- CMMS Software
- Tools
- Tool Reviews
- Maintenance Management and Industrial Controls related Books
- Interesting Hardware
- New Technologies
- Tip, Tricks, and Tutorials
- and content I’m sure I still need to consider.
If you would like to contribute content, send a message