The management of equipment based on Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) has been widely applied with great success in several industries such as military, commodity production, civil airliners, nuclear power plant and the petroleum industry since the reprint of RCM-II written by John Moubray in 1997.The application of RCM not only increases the reliability of the equipment and the assets of a company but also promotes the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which includes the excellent ok yield to order and the better productivity of the equipment. As a methodology, RCM differs from the traditional equipment maintenance in the aspect of emphasis of maintaining the ¡§function¡¨ of the equipment instead of the equipment itself. Therefore, the need of equipment maintenance results from the speed and the severity of function loss, which determines the strategy and interval of equipment maintenance. This is the major difference between RCM and time based maintenance (TBM). This article discusses the critical success factors that drive the application of RCM in steel plant. The result reveals that the application of RCM could promote the reliability of equipment, cut the cost of maintenance and increase compatibility of the steel plant. In order to facilitates the implementation of RCM in the steel mill, the basic skills of the management includes the construction of vision¡Bconsensus¡Bthe set up of regulation and the cultivation of innovating culture. so as to build an effective managing teamwork features in strong execution. As for the equipment management both the standardization and the strict deviation of equipment function(6£m) are vital to sustain the excellent equipment reliability. The Integration of Maintenance Management System(IMMS) consists of three components, CMMS(Computerized Maintenance Management System) and RTMS(Real Time Monitoring System) link by RCM. RCM acts as a bridge for the information flow of maintenance management in the IMMS and promotes the effectiveness of maintenance management.

In today’s industry, where manufacturing is fast and efficient, uptime for manufacturing machines plays a key role for companies to stay relevant with their competitors. Although manufacturing equipment today is very advanced and sometimes automated, they may still run into problems and wear out. By maintaining and servicing the equipment well, one can avoid unexpected equipment failure and unnecessary downtime. Keeping track and documenting maintenance can play a crucial role in how efficiently a manufacturer can produce their product. Maintenance management software exists on the market today, but they are large and expensive. As Saab, a manufacturer of highly advanced military technology, does not have a well-established system for managing their maintenance, there is a need for an evaluation and development of a customised option. In this thesis, the maintenance needs for Saab’s operations were analysed, and options for developing maintenance software that fits these needs were investigated. The result was a web application hosted on a Python-based web server, which uses MongoDB as a database to store data in an object-oriented manner, allowing flexibility within the system. The application is not fully developed but provides an overall picture of how a smaller software could serve the same purpose as the larger ones. After evaluating the developed application alongside the existing maintenance software, it is concluded that with further development, the application could serve the same function and be a competitive contender alongside the larger software. However, the safer and more reliable option for Saab would be to instead implement one of the existing software solutions. / I dagens industri, där tillverkning är snabb och effektiv, spelar drifttid för tillverkningsmaskiner en nyckelroll för att företag ska kunna hålla sig relevanta gentemot sina konkurrenter. Trots att tillverkningsutrustning idag är mycket avancerad och ibland automatiserad, kan de fortfarande stöta på problem och slitas ut. Genom att underhålla och serva utrustningen på rätt sätt kan man undvika oväntade maskinhaverier och onödig driftstopp. Att ha kontroll och dokumentera underhåll kan spela en avgörande roll för hur effektivt en tillverkare kan producera sin produkt. Underhållshanteringssystem finns på marknaden idag, men de är stora och dyra. Eftersom Saab, tillverkare av högteknologisk militärteknik, inte har ett väletablerat system för hur de hanterar sitt underhåll, finns det ett behov av en utvärdering och utveckling av ett anpassat alternativ. I denna avhandling analyserades underhållsbehoven för Saabs verksamhet, och alternativ för hur en underhållsprogramvara kunde utvecklas för att passa dessa behov undersöktes. Resultatet blev en webbapplikation som är värd på en Python-baserad webbserver och använder MongoDB som en databas för att lagra data på ett objektorienterat sätt, vilket ger flexibilitet inom systemet. Applikationen är inte fullt utvecklad men ger en övergripande bild av hur en mindre programvara kan tjäna samma syfte som de större. När den utvecklade applikationen utvärderas i förhållande till den befintliga underhållsprogramvaran dras slutsatsen att applikationen, med ytterligare utveckling, skulle kunna fylla samma funktion och vara en konkurrenskraftig utmanare till de större programvarorna. Dock skulle det säkrare och mer pålitliga alternativet för Saab vara att istället implementera en av de befintliga programvarorna.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Physical asset management has been given very little consideration in the commercial property industry in South Africa and abroad. In the production environment, especially where fast moving consumer goods are concerned, slight improvements in production equipment performance can bring about large savings and increased profits. In the commercial property environment however, a physical asset management strategy and all the components which constitute such a system, are not yet very well developed and are usually seen to be an unnecessary financial expenditure. A change of thinking has been confirmed by this study and can be seen in the way in which physical asset management and methodologies have already largely been accepted in the international municipal infrastructure environment, including buildings and structures. A desire to remain competitive and reduce unnecessary losses, together with a new focus on environmental concerns and legislative factors, appears to be the catalyst for such a shift in thinking. Punitive legislation, such as the electrical consumption controls for buildings in South Africa, likely to be introduced soon, will also help to steer commercial property owners and managers towards a more strategic view on how they manage their physical assets. An important component of this research report was to determine whether performance measures are being used to measure the effectiveness of the physical assets and strategy in terms of the commercial property industry. In the context of this study however, very few such measures could be found, besides some financial measures. As a more strategic physical asset management approach is adopted, performance measures for all aspects of facility and asset performance will become necessary and therefore more common place. "When you measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it ... otherwise your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in thought advanced to the stage of science." - Lord Kelvin (1824- 1907). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit wil voorkom asof fisiese batebestuur in Suid Afrika en oorsee min aandag geniet in die kommersiele eiendoms bestuursmark. In die produksie omgewing, veral waar vinnig bewegende gebruiksgoedere betrokke is, kan klein verheteringe in die werking van produksie toerusting daartoe lei dat groot besparings en gevolglik verbeterde winsopbrengs behaal kan word. In die eiendoms bestuursmark is fisiese batebestuur strategie en die gepaardgaande komponente nag nie volledig ontwikkel nie en word dit gewoonlik beskou as 'n onnodige finansiele koste. Daar is egter alreeds 'n verandering in denke, $005 gesien kan word deur die baie fisiese batebestuur made lie wat alreeds aanvaar is deur die internasionale munisipaliteit en infrastruktuur marke, wat geboue en structure insluit. 'n Strewe om voortdurend kompeterend te bly en om onnodige vermorsing uit te sny, tesame met 'n nuwe fokus op omgewingsake asook om aan wetlike vereistes te voldoen, blyk om die katalisator te wees vir hierdie verandering in denkswyse en dit sal gevolglik oak veroorsaak dat kommersieHe eiendomseienaars 'n meer strategiese benadering gaan toe pas in terme van die bestuur van hulle fisiese bates. 'n Belangrike deel van die verslag was om te bepaal watter aanwysers en maatstawwe om die doeltreffendheid van die fisiese bates en strategie in terme van kommersieHe eiendom te meet, gebruik word. In die konteks van hierdie verslag kon daar min bewyse van maatstawwe gevind word, behalwe vir finansiele maatstawwe. As 'n meer strategiese benadering tot fisiese batebestuur aanvaar word, sal aanwysers en maatstawwe vir al die komponente van fasiliteit en fiesiese batebestuur belangrik wees en daarvolgens oak meer algemeen word in die industrie. "When you measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it ... otherwise your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in thought advanced to the stage of science." - Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad den horisontella kommunikationen har för roll inom systemförvaltning, och att undersöka vad en effektiv sådan har för påverkan på förvaltningsarbete. Då systemförvaltning är kostsamt är det viktigt för organisationer att det sker effektivt. Effektiviteten i organisationers arbete påverkas av kommunikationen och för att uppnå en effektiv kommunikation krävs en förståelse för horisontell kommunikation. Men inom styrning av systemförvaltning ligger inte fokus på kommunikation. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Förvaltningsledningar på en organisation vars förvaltningsarbete styrs av förvaltningsmodellen pm3 studerades. Uppsatsens resultat visar på att en horisontell kommunikation utspelar sig inom förvaltningsarbete, det krävs en kommunikation mellan vissa arbetsroller. Den horisontella kommunikationen har också en betydande roll, då den kan hjälpa till att upprätta enhetliga arbetssätt. Resultatet visar dock att den horisontella kommunikationens funktion inte alltid utnyttjas till fullo. När den inte är effektiv kan det bidra till duplicerat arbete, förlorad och utelämnad information, samt att medarbetares kunskap förbises. Allt detta påverkar i slutändan arbetets produktivitet. Uppsatsens resultat visar att desto effektivare den horisontella kommunikationen är inom förvaltningsarbete, desto effektivare blir arbetet. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine what role lateral communication within the work in software maintenance has, and to examine how an effective lateral communication influences the maintenance work. Software maintenance is costly, therefore it is important for organizations that it is efficient. Organization’s efficiency is influenced by their communication. To attain an effective communication there needs to exist an understanding for lateral communication. Within the guiding of software maintenance there is a lack of regard to the importance of communication. The thesis was conducted using qualitative research. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with solution managers at an organization that has their software maintenance guided by the swedish maintenance management model pm3. The result of this study shows that a lateral communication occurs within the work with software maintenance, communication is required between certain roles. Lateral communication also has a significant role since it can help to uniform the work. However, the results show that the potential of lateral communication is not always used to its full extent. When it is not effective it can result in duplicated work, lost and excluded information, and coworkers’ knowledge can be overlooked. In the end the productivity of the work is affected. The study shows that the more effective the lateral communication is within the work in software maintenance, the more effective the work will become.

<p>Electrical production in Sweden today is mainly from nuclear and hydro power. However, there is large increase in renewable energy like wind power and the installed new capacity goals are large. Several electrical production sources are important for the sustainability of the energy system. Maintenance is an approach for keeping a system sustainable. The importance of structured maintenance for reliable electrical production systems triggers the development of qualitative and quantitative maintenance management methods. Examples of these methods are Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) which is a structured qualitative approach that focuses on reliability when planning maintenance, and Reliability Centered Asset Management (RCAM) which is a development of RCM into a quantitative approach with the aim to relate preventive maintenance to total maintenance cost and system reliability.</p><p>This thesis presents models, as applications of RCAM, based on the methods of Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and mathematical optimization, applied to wind and nuclear power plants. Both deterministic and stochastic approaches have been used and the proposed models are based on the <em>Total Cost</em> model, which summarizes costs for maintenance and production loss, and the <em>Aircraft </em>model, which is an opportunistic maintenance optimization model. Opportunistic maintenance is preventive maintenance performed at opportunities. The wind power applications in this study show on different ways to cover costs of condition monitoring systems (CMS) and further on economic benefits of these when uncertainties of times to failure are included in the model. The nuclear power applications show on that the optimization model is dependent on the discount rate and that a high discount rate gives more motivation for opportunistic replacements. When put into a stochastic framework and compared to other maintenance strategies it is shown that an extended opportunistic maintenance optimization model has a good overall performance, and that it, for high values of the constant cost of performing maintenance, is preferable to perform opportunistic maintenance. The proposed models, applied to wind and nuclear power plants, could be extended and adapted to fit other components and systems.</p> / Reliability and cost centered maintenance methods

A gestão da manutenção de uma edificação tem influência direta em seu desempenho, ou seja, em sua duração, seus impactos e seu consumo de recursos como água e energia. O planejamento, a facilidade e demanda de execução dos serviços de manutenção, assim como a transparência para os usuários das necessidades, prazos e procedimentos de manutenção são de fundamental importância para a qualidade e sustentabilidade dos edifícios. O processo de gestão da manutenção de uma edificação tem início ainda nas etapas iniciais de projeto do empreendimento, quando tomadas de decisões que considerem fatores de manutenção fornecem subsídios para elaboração de projetos da manutenção mais eficazes e de menor impacto social, ambiental e econômico, tem continuidade durante a etapa de construção quando se deve primar pela qualidade e continua durante a etapa de operação, uso e manutenção. Particularmente em empreendimentos de habitação de interesse social, a geração de subsídios, a consideração de fatores de manutenção, o planejamento da manutenção, da maneira como operacionalizá-la, são fatores determinantes para conservação de edificações, além de contribuir com a luta contra o déficit habitacional, buscando empreendimentos de melhor qualidade, com maiores graus de manutenibilidade e conseqüentemente tarifas condominiais e consumo de recursos reduzidos. Neste contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo contribuir com o processo de gestão da manutenção, a partir de um levantamento feito através do ponto de vista das empresas administradoras de empreendimentos PAR do estado de São Paulo, abordando o tratamento dispensado à manutenção a partir da fase de uso e operação, identificando requisitos para elaboração de diretrizes que contribuam com a operacionalização da manutenção. / A building maintenance management has direct influence on its performance, ie, its duration, its impacts and its resources consumption as water and energy. The planning, execution ease and demand of maintenance services as well as transparency of needs, deadlines and maintenance procedures for the users are essential to the quality and sustainability of buildings. The process of a building maintenance management begins in the early stages of a building design, when making decisions considering maintenance aspects provides subsides for more effective designs with less social, environmental and economic impacts. This process continues during the construction stage when it is necessary to strive for quality, maintaining this line of reasoning during the operation, use and maintenance phase. Particularly in housing projects, generating subsides, considering maintenance factors, maintenance planning and the means to operate it are determining factors for building maintenance, thus it contributes to combating the housing shortage seeking buildings of better quality, with greater degrees of maintainability and condominium prices and therefore reduced resource consumption. Thus, this research aims to contribute to the maintenance management process, starting from a survey done by the point of view of companies that manage PAR housing projects of the state of São Paulo, addressing the treatment given to the operation, use and maintenance phase, identifying requirements for guidelines developing to contribute to the maintenance operation and management.

The Life Cycle Management System (LMS) aims at supporting decision-makers and engineers in their efforts to achieve a more optimised proactive life cycle design and maintenance management strategy. LMS is an open and integrative system, which has to be adapted and developed in order to meet the needs and requirements of users. This process should be geared to and governed by the clients. The Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) sector includes all varieties of clients and stakeholders, all of them having different qualifications, possibilities and requirements for implementing, or increasing the feature of predictive maintenance management and optimised proactive strategies. The possibilities of adopting predictive maintenance management are dependent on the availability of performance-over-time and service life forecasting models and methods. The relevance of these models and methods depends on the required level of detailing. Furthermore, the use of the models and methods depends on the availability of reliable input data, such as material data and environmental exposure/in-use condition data. The thesis aims at analysing the possibilities of implementing predictivity in different fields of applications and at evaluating relevant tools facilitating management of information associated with predictive maintenance management systems. The thesis includes studies of three different clients and fields of application; Swedish Road Administration – management of bridges, Locum AB – management of hospital buildings, and Gävle Energi AB – management of district heating distribution systems. While the Swedish Road Administration is responsible to ensure an economically efficient, sustainable transport system for the society throughout the country, Locum AB and Gävle Energi AB compete on an "open" market. The Swedish Road Administration have gathered information about their bridges since 1944, for what reason their bridge management system includes a large amount of valuable data for performance-over- time analyses and service life forecasting. Locum AB has recently begun to systematically gather condition data, why the amount of data is limited. However, since the performance of buildings generally is well known, it is assumed that possibilities of implementing predictive maintenance management tools are rather good. Since district heating pipes are buried into the ground, it is difficult to assess the condition. Therefore, data for service life estimation rely mainly on damage reports. Environmental exposure data on macro or meso level can be obtained from meteorological and environmental institutes, thus making it possible to apply available dose-response and damage functions. Environmental exposure data on a micro level are lacking. Guidelines, methods and tools for environmental measuring and modelling on a micro level are therefore strongly needed. Efficient management of information plays an important role in predictive life cycle management systems. The ongoing development and implementation of open Building Information Model (BIM) tools in the AEC/FM sector is a promising progress of making the information management more cost effective and valuable, especially when open BIM solutions being fully integrated into the AEC/FM business. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are tools for efficient handling of spatial positioned information. GIS provide possibilities of processing and presenting, e.g., environmental exposure data and environmental risk factors. / QC 20100716

The road network is extremely valuable. Road Administrationsare expected to invest maintenance funding in a way thatreturns maximum benefit to road users. Cost-benefit analysis isone method to ensure that an adequate return in terms ofbenefits results from committing expenditure. Today,cost-benefit calculations are frequently used as a base fordecision making of investments. The surges for such methods inthe maintenance management sector are increasing. Up to the present, one reason for not analysing costs andbenefits for various maintenance management measures has beenthe lack of knowledge about comfort benefits for road users inquantitative monetary terms. The aim with this thesis is toinvestigate motorists’apprehension of pavementmaintenance management and winter maintenance operations. Thefinal goal is to find out their willingness to pay fordifferent levels of road maintenance management. Those valuescan later be used in cost-benefit calculations and also ineffect models of road maintenance management. Due to the pioneer status of this study, focus groups andin-depth interviews as well as a number of pilot studies havebeen carried out before a main survey with stated choiceexperiments could be designed. These exploratory studies showedthat the interviewees were familiar with the types of roadsurface damage that exist and in many cases mastered the sameterminology as the Road Administration and others. Showingpictures of well-known types of road damage lead to highermonetary valuations of getting better road standard incomparison with just text descriptions. One reason for thatcould be the requisite severness of the damage in order toillustrate a certain road maintenance shortage. The respondentswith the text descriptions could have stated their preferencesfor an, in their own minds, average shortcoming while the groupwith access to photograph of road damage all saw the samesevere damage. Illustrations of different road maintenancestandards make it possible to control the respondentsinterpretation of the maintenance management standard valuatedbut could lead to high monetary estimations. Driving comfort was very important to the interviewees inthe exploratory studies. That was manifested in the pilotstated choice surveys, which resulted in high willingness topay for better pavement management. The main study consisted of two surveys; the first one wasabout pavement maintenance management and was carried out inOctober to November 2000 and the second one took place inFebruary to March 2001 and was about winter maintenanceoperations. Both the pavement and the winter survey includedattitude questions and two stated choice experiments. Theresult showed that the maintenance management status of theroad network was important to car users. For example, the worstpavement damage was roughness; the motorists were willing topay 1.7 SEK (Swedish Crowns) per kilometre to avoid roadsdamaged in their full length. The least harmful damage of thosestudied was cracks; the willingness to pay to avoid that was0.5 SEK per kilometre. For more rapid snow clearance, the carusers were willing to pay 60 to 80 SEK per year for getting theroads cleared from snow one hour earlier than the currentstandard implies. The willingness to pay for driving on bareroads in comparison with snow roads was 0.4 SEK per kilometre.Statistical tests on the models showed that the parametervalueswere well estimated. In the pavement as well as in the winter survey, a clustergroup analysis was performed in order to test the heterogeneityof attitudes and behaviour to road maintenance management. Theanalysis resulted in two separate groups in each survey. Onegroup consisted of drivers who reported to be very influencedby the level of maintenance management regarding chosen speed,joy of driving and so on. The other group reported to be lessinfluenced and had lower acceptance of higher road tax for thepurpose to increase the maintenance management standard.Separate stated choice models revealed that the differences inattitudes could also reflect the respondents’willingnessto pay for higher road maintenance standard. However, thedifferences were only small and the different groups’monetary valuations were not found to be significantlydifferent from each other. The result of this study, better knowledge aboutmotorists’apprehension of maintenance management, theirattitudes to driving comfort and road standard and theirmonetary valuations of different levels of pavement maintenanceand winter maintenance operations, opens up the possibility tomake cost-benefit analysis of various maintenance managementprojects. The impact of the monetary values found in this studyhas been studied in a limited cost-benefit analysis. <b>Keywords:</b>stated choice, stated preference, valuationsof maintenance management, driving comfort, road standardevaluation

<p>The road network is extremely valuable. Road Administrationsare expected to invest maintenance funding in a way thatreturns maximum benefit to road users. Cost-benefit analysis isone method to ensure that an adequate return in terms ofbenefits results from committing expenditure. Today,cost-benefit calculations are frequently used as a base fordecision making of investments. The surges for such methods inthe maintenance management sector are increasing.</p><p>Up to the present, one reason for not analysing costs andbenefits for various maintenance management measures has beenthe lack of knowledge about comfort benefits for road users inquantitative monetary terms. The aim with this thesis is toinvestigate motorists’apprehension of pavementmaintenance management and winter maintenance operations. Thefinal goal is to find out their willingness to pay fordifferent levels of road maintenance management. Those valuescan later be used in cost-benefit calculations and also ineffect models of road maintenance management.</p><p>Due to the pioneer status of this study, focus groups andin-depth interviews as well as a number of pilot studies havebeen carried out before a main survey with stated choiceexperiments could be designed. These exploratory studies showedthat the interviewees were familiar with the types of roadsurface damage that exist and in many cases mastered the sameterminology as the Road Administration and others. Showingpictures of well-known types of road damage lead to highermonetary valuations of getting better road standard incomparison with just text descriptions. One reason for thatcould be the requisite severness of the damage in order toillustrate a certain road maintenance shortage. The respondentswith the text descriptions could have stated their preferencesfor an, in their own minds, average shortcoming while the groupwith access to photograph of road damage all saw the samesevere damage. Illustrations of different road maintenancestandards make it possible to control the respondentsinterpretation of the maintenance management standard valuatedbut could lead to high monetary estimations.</p><p>Driving comfort was very important to the interviewees inthe exploratory studies. That was manifested in the pilotstated choice surveys, which resulted in high willingness topay for better pavement management.</p><p>The main study consisted of two surveys; the first one wasabout pavement maintenance management and was carried out inOctober to November 2000 and the second one took place inFebruary to March 2001 and was about winter maintenanceoperations. Both the pavement and the winter survey includedattitude questions and two stated choice experiments. Theresult showed that the maintenance management status of theroad network was important to car users. For example, the worstpavement damage was roughness; the motorists were willing topay 1.7 SEK (Swedish Crowns) per kilometre to avoid roadsdamaged in their full length. The least harmful damage of thosestudied was cracks; the willingness to pay to avoid that was0.5 SEK per kilometre. For more rapid snow clearance, the carusers were willing to pay 60 to 80 SEK per year for getting theroads cleared from snow one hour earlier than the currentstandard implies. The willingness to pay for driving on bareroads in comparison with snow roads was 0.4 SEK per kilometre.Statistical tests on the models showed that the parametervalueswere well estimated.</p><p>In the pavement as well as in the winter survey, a clustergroup analysis was performed in order to test the heterogeneityof attitudes and behaviour to road maintenance management. Theanalysis resulted in two separate groups in each survey. Onegroup consisted of drivers who reported to be very influencedby the level of maintenance management regarding chosen speed,joy of driving and so on. The other group reported to be lessinfluenced and had lower acceptance of higher road tax for thepurpose to increase the maintenance management standard.Separate stated choice models revealed that the differences inattitudes could also reflect the respondents’willingnessto pay for higher road maintenance standard. However, thedifferences were only small and the different groups’monetary valuations were not found to be significantlydifferent from each other.</p><p>The result of this study, better knowledge aboutmotorists’apprehension of maintenance management, theirattitudes to driving comfort and road standard and theirmonetary valuations of different levels of pavement maintenanceand winter maintenance operations, opens up the possibility tomake cost-benefit analysis of various maintenance managementprojects. The impact of the monetary values found in this studyhas been studied in a limited cost-benefit analysis.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>stated choice, stated preference, valuationsof maintenance management, driving comfort, road standardevaluation</p>

Effective and efficient operations management is the cornerstone of any company's success. Presently, because of cost-cutting pressures, all investors look out for companies' operations before making any investment commitment. The South African Government (through the Department of Public Enterprises), as an owner and investor in Eskom, is looking at optimising operational excellence within state-owned enterprises like Eskom. Eskom is presently experiencing problems with increased electricity consumption which it cannot meet due to the limited plant capacity it presently has. These challenges are forcing Eskom to be more efficient and effective in management of the present plant assets (like Matimba Power Station) it presently operates. Matimba Power Station has consistently shown improvement in the areas of plant, financial and operations performance over the last three years. It is presently the standard bearer for the whole Eskom in terms of plant and operational performance. Asset management (through maintenance and management thereof), especially preventative management with in a power utility like Eskom, is a critical factor because supply (generation of electricity) has to meet demand (consumption of electricity) instantaneously as electricity cannot be saved. The planning, scheduling and execution of maintenance (through a work management process) to ensure success of business operations are very critical. An Eskom document titled Routine Work Management Manual emphasised the criticality of preventative management and included a six-step process of work management within the power generation business. The Japanese success in ensuring that operations costs are limited by implementing total productive maintenance (which includes work management) is suggested in the study as a way to go for operational success at Matimba Power Station. Many of the research studies done at Eskom in regard to maintenance were based on and confined to a sampling population of senior staff members like managers, engineers and supervisors. Experience has shown that progress of implementing change (whether in systems or structures) is slow if there was no proactive involvement of all participants and stakeholders, especially employees at lower levels involved in operations. A work management process, which is one of the pillars of total productive maintenance, was recently implemented at Matimba and is currently experiencing teething problems which are being attended to. Employee involvement in making sure of the success of work management is critical. The study investigates the implementation of work management from the employees' perspective in order to address problems for possible full implementation of total productive maintenance. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.