Evaluation of Maintenance Effectiveness and Human Factors: Case Study of a Research Institute

Maintenance management is an integral part of any organization’s overall commercial process that develops administrative operational value. Thus, the maintenance function is of immense importance to ensure the safety and effective operation of a facility and equipment in compliance with a statutory obligation, to maximize equipment life, and to reduce the risk of failure. However, for maintenance success work planning, the perception of human factors, and the interrelation of workers and groups in any organisation must be understood. This in turn would determine the allocation of maintenance tasks to team members. This research focused on the evaluation of key performance indicators in relation to the maintenance effectiveness of selected equipment, in a research institution. The impact of human factors on the maintenance was also investigated. Key performance indicators such as Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), downtime, repair time, and availability were used to quantitatively evaluate the maintenance effectiveness of the equipment, while the systematic approach to empirical research was used to analyse the effect of human factors on maintenance practices. This study was carried out over a period of 6 months on a 4-tonne hydraulic lift, hydraulic hoist jack lift, tire changing machine, fault diagnostic machine, and computerized alignment gauge. Data collected from the maintenance unit was analysed. A total of 11.92 hours was recorded as the MTTR of the five machines. The machines had a high level of availability and a total downtime of 12.01 hours out of operational time of 2369.8 hours over a period of 6 months. The level of motivation and competence among maintenance personnel was assessed to be very good. This is expected to have contributed largely to the effective maintenance practices of workers in the unit. From this study, it can be deduced that the level of motivation and competence is high among maintenance personnel. In terms of productivity, effectiveness, teamwork, decision-making, execution, safety, and responsiveness, the human factor has been shown to have thrived well. This in turn, stimulated the corresponding increase in the availability of machines over the 6 months- of study.