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Maintenance, Repair & Operations

How to Prioritize Competing Repairs

Nov. 3, 2020

Knowing which repair can wait and which one can't

You’re the maintenance manager. Three lines are down, but you have only one qualified tech to fix them. If you send the tech to one machine, then the other two must wait.

You could prioritize by who screams the loudest or which equipment has been down the longest. A correct response will be based primarily on the profit ranking of the equipment. This is information you should already have from production. It’s your default prioritization factor, but others can override it:

Environment takes precedence over production.
Safety takes precedence over anything else.
One production department may say they must ship X units today; if so, get concurrence from the plant manager.
Aggregate profit protection is a sure thing if taking a lower profit line first. For example, Line A produces $120K/hour and the problem is a 5-min. fix; Line B produces $250K/hr, but the problem is a 3-hr fix. Line A can produce $360K while you are fixing Line B.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.