Optimising maintenance cost performance with skilled technicians

Abstract

Purpose – High-maintenance cost is the common issue in building industry due to low service quality of maintenance management in Malaysia. Lack of preventive measure is the problem that implicates poor maintenance performance. Scheduled maintenance is suggested to improve the maintenance performance. However, the effectiveness of scheduled maintenance can be greatly influenced by the availability of skilled technicians. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the aspects of skilled technician to be concerned in maintenance management, as well as to establish the relationship between the aspects and maintenance cost performance. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach is adopted and carried out through questionnaire survey. Furthermore, descriptive analysis and correlation analysis are used to analyse the research data. Findings – The literature review identifies three aspects of skilled technician to be concerned in maintenance management. Then, research result demonstrates that the skill and knowledge of technician is significantly correlated to the maintenance cost variance. The skill and knowledge of technician must be considered in maintenance planning and execution. Originality/value – The research recommends the maintenance management to employ skilled technician through thorough hiring process and to encourage the existing maintenance staff for participating the relevant training, workshop, or seminar.