10/02/2012 12:23
mintek.com
Choosing In-House or Outsourced
Maintenance
In-House Maintenance and roofing, general contractors and maintenance ser-
Outsourced Maintenance vice for highly specialized assets.
A
lot is written about performing maintenance Guidelines for Making In-house or
with in-house staff using a computerized Outsourced Maintenance Decisions
maintenance management software (CMMS)
system. This is because their is a significant financial Because it is practically impossible to have the exper-
advantage to using a CMMS solution as well as a tise or resources necessary to maintain every asset
competitive advantage in today’s economy. with in-house maintenance staff, vendor manage-
ment is a crucial part of maintenance operations.
Sometimes the decision is easy and in other situa-
tions maintenance management must evaluate the
cost versus benefits more closely. The following can
be used as rough guidelines for making a decision
to outsource maintenance.
In-House Maintenance Considerations
In general, organizations should try to keep main-
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/choosing-in-house-outsourced-maintenance/
tenance in-house on critical assets when possible.
The ability to have proactive maintenance such as
preventive maintenance or inspections is essential
to asset efficiency and effectiveness.
Five reasons organizations to keep maintenance
On the other hand, not all maintenance can be per- in-house are listed below.
formed by in-house maintenance teams. For some
assets, maintenance must be outsourced either be- • Core business: If the asset is critical to your
cause of a lack of skilled in-house staff or because, core business operations maintenance
a lack of resources to support an employee or be- should be kept in-house.
cause the asset requires specialized equipment for • Control: Maintenance management will
proper care. have more control on in-house maintenance
and is not subject to vendor availability or
For example; it doesn’t make much sense to hire reliability problems.
a full time elevator mechanic if your facility only • Response time: Faster response time to pro-
has 1-2 elevators and requires sporadic care. Other blems is handled through the CMMS versus
examples include; outsourcing carpet/mat cleaning, a telephone call to a vendor. All in-house
work (including unplanned work) is sche-
Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag
Page 1
10/02/2012 12:23
mintek.com
Choosing In-House or Outsourced Maintenance
duled with a CMMS. either be performed in-house or with the
• Standard operating procedures (SOP): This use of specialized vendors.
is especially effective if similar assets are • Ancillary services: This would include,
spread out over multiple locations. A CMMS landscaping, payroll, general contractors,
system enables maintenance management resurfacing, security services, software ven-
to establish SOPs for work management. dors, cleaning services etc.
• Maintenance planning: Assets maintained
in-house can be set up for regular scheduled Vendor and Contract Management
preventive maintenance, inspections and
repairs based upon the historical data col- As previously mentioned, managing vendors,
lected using a CMMS solution. Better main- contracts and documents can all be done with a
tenance planning results in lower capital CMMS system. The key to successful management
budget requirements, lower labor costs and is knowing who your vendors are, what are their
lower energy bills. terms of engagement and what services they offer.
If you are not sure what skill levels you have avai- It is also helpful to have a basic understanding and
lable in your organization, just have click the button how to find a quality vendor. To help you obtain all
at the bottom to download typical checklists used your maintenance needs we have put together a
for inspections and preventive maintenance. If your PowerPoint presentation of frequently used vendor
staff can perform these functions you may not need services, things to consider when hiring them and
to outsource some maintenance. links to associations that can provide you additional
information.
Outsourced Maintenance Considerations
Checklists, CMMS, maintenance management
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/choosing-in-house-outsourced-maintenance/
Outsourced maintenance does not mean a total loss
of control. Tools for vendor, contract and document Did you like Choosing In-House or
management are part of a quality CMMS which is Outsourced Maintenance?
used to schedule vendor work.
Every share you make allows us to write more great
• Non-core business: If asset uptime is non-es- stuff for you:
sential to your organization’s core business
functions outsourcing may be a mainte- • It’s how we prove that it’s worth blogging to
nance option. our bosses. Researching and writing takes
• Cleaning: many assets just need to be clea- serious time.
ned on a periodic basis, specialty cleaners • I happen to get a free lunch for every post
exist for carpets, mats, floors, upholstered with 10 shares... I really like free lunch.
furniture etc. • The whole office gets free lunch for every
• Specialized assets: This would include assets post with 100 shares.
that require maintenance expertise beyond • I also like seeing our stuff on the internet.
current staff abilities. You have to admit it’s really cool.
• Predictive technology: Infrared thermogra-
phy, ultrasound analysis, vibration analysis
and laser shaft alignments for motors can
Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag
Page 2
10/02/2012 12:23
mintek.com
Choosing In-House or Outsourced Maintenance
What enterprise blog topics interest you
the most?
Other Articles Written by stuart smith
Stuart Smith is Mintek’s InBound Marketing Specia-
list. He works hard at creating compelling content
to keep Mintek’s customers and prospects informed
with relevant information.
Most Recent Posts
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/choosing-in-house-outsourced-maintenance/
• Darth Vader Versus Jedi Management Tech-
niques
• Relevant EAM CMMS, Cable, and Lodging
News for 2-3-2012
• Hotel Helpful Hints for Outsourcing Mainte-
nance
Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag
Page 3