To be able to reach profitability in maintenance, the ability to position mainte- nance activities with respect to company strategic goals is required. This is en- abled by effective identification and utilisation of relevant data and IT tools for strategic maintenance decision-making.
x Applying BETUS allows the company to control the maintenance on a cost-effective and continuous basis.
x The common database approach provides the needed flexibility for maintenance to develop its own support for strategic, tactic and opera- tional decision-making.
x The IT systems requirement determination method is an easy and pow- erful way for companies to identify data and IT needed for reaching cost-effectiveness in maintenance.
x Being able to describe the development of MMIT is the basic for under- standing the utilisation of IT within maintenance today and prepare for a future cost-effective utilisation.
8.2 Discussion
Profitable maintenance has not to be the equivalent with complex and automated maintenance. Instead, the ability to make correct decision depending on current state and future demands is of importance. This is why it is important to be able to define the demands on IT systems within maintenance depending on the situa- tions context. When the demands are recognised, we are able to position the cur- rent use of data and IT in comparison to an ideal use, and by this apply the most appropriate IT system for reaching cost-effective decisions within maintenance. This thesis has studied the utilisation of IT within maintenance from three differ- ent perspectives: scientific research, industrial use and software features.
In Paper VIII scientific literature concerning MMIT was studied, and in the conclusions an attempt to position the agenda of scientific literature with respect to the maintenance IT maturity was made. The author recognised that the first phase (Introduction) has been passed and the second phase (Coordination) was
entered. Whether the third phase (Integration) was fully reached or not was hard to tell using the survey material. If we combine the results from Paper VIII with the findings from the literature review presented in Paper VII there is more sup- port for positioning the scientific literature as being in phase three. Of course there are still plenty of articles written concerning very technical aspects of MMIT, or where IT is supporting the automation of operational maintenance business and the benefits are described in terms of cost reduction and informa- tion control, but there is an awareness of the high level benefits that could be reached by utilising IT within maintenance. We can assume that the agenda of MMIT in scientific literature has entered the third phase.
In two case studies included in Paper VI the use of IT within maintenance in industry was studied. The two cases represents different levels of IT maturity: the paper mill was using IT extensively and could thus be seen as being in phase two or even three, while the printing works mainly relied on manual systems and therefore positioned as belonging to phase one. When studying the utilisation of IT in maintenance, we could expect to find companies in all levels of IT matur- ity. Several authors have reported the lack of appropriate decision support for maintenance management. In Paper II the results from a study of commercial IT systems for maintenance management indicated that the situation was the same in off-the-shelf software available in Sweden. These systems give low support for strategic maintenance decision-making. Furthermore, the study of data con- tent in commercial MMIT systems in Paper V revealed the problems in access- ing relevant data for decision-making. This indicates that off-the-shelf software is supporting mainly organisations belonging to the introduction and coordina- tion phases in the IT maturity model.
This is a problematic situation for those companies wishing to utilise the in- formation technology to full extent, forcing them to either develop home-made solutions or to accept the limitations of available tools. But it also opens for great opportunities: The future development of MMIT could be driven by real de- mands expressed by industry, and not the other way around. Research within MMIT could also be directly applied in practice, by the development of those IT tools that are needed in industry. The author of this thesis will follow the future development of MMIT with great interest.
8.2 Thesis Criticism
The work with this thesis started in 2002. The long period of time that has passed from start to finish could affect the precision in descriptions of concepts and the theory development. Literature reviews have therefore been made continuously during the thesis work to update the author with the newest advancements. The aim with doctoral studies is to prepare the student for future work as researcher, and the thesis is a result of this development process. The quality of the papers in the thesis is due to these circumstances not consistent. Papers I and II have for instance been presented at conferences, but the author does not find them suit- able for journal publication, and has therefore not processed them further. In-
stead, Papers I and II are forming a part of Paper V, which has been accepted for publication. Some ambiguity is also seen in the choice of modelling tools and techniques. The information identification process and information technology requirements process are for instance not modelled in the same way.
Case studies, which have been the main research method applied, have been criticised for being less precise than quantitative studies, which would affect their validity and reliability. Especially drawing general conclusions and creating new theory from a single case study has been pointed out as problematic. In this thesis, the case studies are mainly used for testing, and not creating, theory. Therefore, the author believes that high validity and reliability cold be reached if these are taken into consideration already in the research design. Continuous lit- erature reviews within the topic has been one means reach high validity in the thesis. Other ways used to assure high validity and reliability have been the use of different research methods and data sources, conceptualisation of the phenom- ena before conducting a study, rechecking with study participants and testing of methods and results for validity, continuous discussions and feedback from col- leagues and publishing results on conferences before submitting to journals.
The conceptual modelling in Paper VI is based on the model of DeLone and McLean. In later years, DeLone and McLean changed their original model, DeLone and McLean (2003). The use was divided into intended use and actual use to be able to deal with the process versus causal concerns connected to these terms. Furthermore, system and information quality was extended with service quality and the individual and organisational impacts were collapsed into net benefits. The author of this thesis finds these changes as valid, but has used the original model in the discussion of how to determine requirement specifications of MMIT as it is more appropriate for the scope of the model. Both the individ- ual and organisational level have for instance been used for the requirements identification, as there exist different groups of users, which could have different expectations of the IT system, while the organisation as a whole should have one common goal to reach.
The model of Nolan used in Papers VII and VIII for describing maintenance IT maturity. The question whether this model is the final solution for describing IT maturity was raised during a conference where Paper VII was presented. In this thesis, no other phases were included in the maintenance IT maturity model other than those corresponding to the stages of Nolan, as this is the starting point and a first attempt in defining the concept of maintenance IT maturity. Nolan fo- cus his description on company internal data and IT resources, while today the ability to share information and applications amongst several members in a net- work or cluster, for instance consisting of close partners in the supply chain or of competitors in need of common resources, has become important. This is also the case in maintenance, and the author of the thesis believes that there are sev- eral opportunities of enhancements of the theory. One is to study the factors in- cluded for describing the IT maturity of maintenance in more depth. Another is to reconsider the amount of phases. Examples of further research within this and other topics discussed in this thesis will be given in the following.
8.3 Future Research
This thesis has showed that much is left to be done in the area of maintenance management IT. The author suggests the following for future research:
x The requirement of data for maintenance management is an area of in need of further research. More investigations regarding which data to use for reaching the goals set for maintenance, how to find, collect and proc- ess these data, as well as studies on how to establish relevant databases for decision-making is suggested by the author.
x Further work would be needed in the area of determining and identifying MMIT needs. The author suggests a survey to be conducted including companies from different branches in order to explore how MMIT in general is purchased. Additionally, in-depth case studies of the procure- ment process could be carried out with study objects from different sec- tors in order to capture the branches’ different characteristics. Theoretical frameworks covering general methods for IT procurement and theories about maintenance management needs of data and IT support combined with the findings from the survey and case studies would form the basis for developing a portfolio of process documentation including guidelines, procedures and methods for the procurement of MMIT.
x This thesis, especially Paper VI, could be a basis for the development of easy-to-use tools and methods for determining MMIT needs in mainte- nance organisations and to be able to choose the relatively best solution available off-the-shelf. Especially small and medium sized companies would benefit from such as they are not likely to have resources to put on the procurement process. These methods and tools should be easily ac- cessible, whereas the author suggests a web based solution, for instance as a step-by-step form to fill with the required information.
x More research concerning the factors describing maintenance manage- ment IT maturity is needed in order to fully understand the connection be- tween maintenance and IT use. The ways to utilise MMIT for reaching profitable maintenance could be explored by studying success stories in companies, but also by quantitative surveys. The results from such studies could be used to validate and enhance the maintenance IT maturity model developed in this thesis.
x Studying the utilisation of available IT systems would be of interest, for instance revealing whether the available IT systems are used to full extent or not, or if there exists a gap between current IT support and the true re- quirements of IT within the maintenance organisation. Case studies, as well as branch specific or cross-sectional surveys are applicable for this purpose. The case study method would be suitable for understanding fac- tors which restricts the utilisation of IT systems, especially if these are human related factors. Quantitative surveys would result in better under- standing for the general reasons for poor utilisation of IT systems within maintenance.
9. References
Ahlmann, H., (1998). Maintenance Effectiveness and Economic Models in the Terotechnology Concept. Maintenance management international, Vol. 4, pp. 131-139.
Al-Najjar, B., (1996). Total quality maintenance An approach for continuous reduction in costs of quality products. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 2 No. 3, 4-20.
Al-Najjar, B., (1997). Condition-based maintenance: Selection and improvement of a cost-effective vibration-based policy for rolling element bearings, PhD thesis. Lund University, Department of Industrial Engineering.
Al-Najjar, B., (1998). Improved Effectiveness of Vibration Monitoring of Roll- ing Element Bearings in Paper Mills. Journal of Engineering Tribology, IMechE 1998, Proc Instn Mech Engrs, Vol. 212 No. J, pp. 111-120.
Al-Najjar, B., (1999). Economic criteria to select a cost-effective maintenance policy. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 236-247. Al-Najjar, B., (2000a). Impact of Integrated Vibration-based Maintenance on
Plant-LCC: A Case Study. Third International (Refereed) Conference Quality, Reliability and maintenance-2000, Oxford, England, 30-31 Mars, pp. 105- 110,
Al-Najjar, B., (2000b). Accuracy, effectiveness and improvement of vibration- based maintenance in paper mills: a case study. Journal of Sound and Vibra- tion, Vol. 229 No. 2, pp. 389-410.
Al-Najjar, B., (2002). Total quality maintenance (TQMain) a new concept for continuous enhancing of company's economic competitiveness: case studies. Proceedings of IFRIM Växjö Sweden May 2002, 10 pages.
Al-Najjar, B., (2007). The lack of maintenance and not maintenance which costs: A model to describe and quantify the impact of vibration-based maintenance on company's business, International Journal of Production Economics,Vol. 107 No. 1, 260-273.
Al-Najjar, B. and Alsyouf, I., (2000). Improving effectiveness of manufacturing systems using total quality maintenance. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 267-276.
Al-Najjar, B. and Alsyouf, I., (2003). Selecting the most efficient maintenance approach using fuzzy multiple criteria decision making. International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 84 No. 1, pp. 85-100.
Al-Najjar, B. and Alsyouf, I., (2004). Enhancing a company's profitability and competitiveness using integrated vibration-based maintenance: A case study. European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 157 No. 3, 643-658.
Al-Najjar, B. and Alsyouf, I., Salgado, E., Khoshaba, S. and Faaborg, K., (2001). The economic importance of maintenance planning when using vibration- based maintenance. Växjö University, Department of Terotechnology.
Al-Najjar, B., Hansson, M-O. and Sunnegårdh, P., (2004). Benchmarking of Maintenance Performance: A Case Study in two manufacturers of furniture. IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, Vol. 15, 253-270.
Alsyouf, I., (2004). Cost effective maintenance for competitive advantages, PhD thesis. Växjö university, School of industrial engineering.
Alsyouf, I., (2006). Measuring maintenance performance using a balanced scorecard approach. Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 133-149.
Alsyouf, I., (2007). The role of maintenance in improving companies' productivity and profitability, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 105 No. 1, 70-78.
Anthony, R. N., (1998). Management control systems 9th ed., Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA.
Arbnor, I. and Bjerke, B., (1997). Methodology for Creating Business Knowledge 2d ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Bevilacqua M. and Braglia, M., (2000). The Analytical Hierarchy Process Applied To Maintenance Strategy Selection. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Vol. 70, pp. 71-83.
Beynon-Davies, P., (2002). Information systems, An introduction to informatics in organisations, Palgrave, Basingstoke.
Braglia, M., Carmignani, G., Frosolini, M. and Grassi, A., (2006). AHP-based evaluation of CMMS software. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 585-602.
Brittish standard glossary of terms used in terotechnology, BS 3811:1993 (1993). Browne, G. J. and Ramesh, V., (2002). Improving information requirements
determination: a cognitive perspective. Information and Management, Vol. 39 No. 8, 625-646.
Brynjolfsson, E., (1993). The productivity paradox of information technology. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 67-78.
Burns, R. B., (2000). Introduction to research methods. Sage publications. London.
Byrd, T. A., Cossick, K. L. and Zmud, R. W. (1992). A Synthesis of Research on Requirements Analysis and Knowledge Acquisition Techniques, MIS Quarterly 16, pp. 117-138.
Byrd, T. A., Thrasher, E. H., Lang, T. and Davidson, N. W. (2006). A process- oriented perspective of IS success: Examining the impact of IS on operational cost. Omega, Vol. 34 No. 5, pp. 448-460.
Carnahan, D., Chung, D. delaHostria E. and Hoover, C., (2006). Improved responsiveness of reconfigurable manufacturing systems using a standards- based approach to assess manufacturing capacity. International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 209-223.
Chen, P. P., (1976). The Entity-Relationship model – Towards a unified view of data. Database Systems, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 9-36.
Christopher, M., (1998). Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service, 2d ed. Financial Times Prentice-Hall, UK.
Churchman, C. W., (1968). The systems approach. Dell publishing, New York. Coetzee, J., (1999). A holistic approach to the maintenance "problem". Journal of
Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 276-280.
Dahlbom, B., (1997). The New Informatics, Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 29-48.
Data research DPU ab, [WWW document] URL http://www.dpu.se/listmeny. html. [2004-02-02]
Dedrick, J., Gurbaxani, V. and Kraemer, K. L., (2003). Information Technology and Economic Performance: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence. ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 1-29.
DeLone, W. H. and McLean, E. R., (1992). Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable. Information Systems Research, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 60-96.
DeLone, W. H. and McLean, E. R., (2003). The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol 19 No. 4, pp. 9-31.
Dwight, R., (1999) Searching for real maintenance performance measures. Journal of quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 258-275. Evgeniou, T., (2002). Information Integration and Information Strategies for
Adaptive Enterprises, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 486-494.
Fernandez, O., Labib, A. W., Walmsley R. and Petty, D. J., (2003). A decision support maintenance management system: Development and implementation. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 965-979.
Flensburg, P. and Friis, S. (1999). Mänskligare datasystem: utveckling, användning och principer. Studentlitteratur, Lund.
Föllesdahl, D., Wallöe, L. and Elster, J., (2001). Argumentationsteori, språk och vetenskapsfilosofi. Thales, Stockholm.
Gardner, S. and Ash, C. G., (2003). ICT-enabled organisations: a model for change management. Logistics Information Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 18-25.
Gibson C. and Nolan, R. L., (1974). Managing the Four Stages of EDP Growth. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 52 No. 1, pp. 76-89.
Gits, C.W., (1992). Design of maintenance concepts. International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 217-227.
Goepp, V., Kiefer, F. and Geiskopf, F. (2006). Design of information system architectures using a key-problem framework. Computers in Industry Vol. 57 No. 2), pp. 189-200.
Graziano, A. M. and Raulin, M. L., (2000). Research Methods – A process of inquiry 4th ed. Allynand Bacon, USA.
Hafkamp, P. and Schutters, G., (2001). Designing and implementing a maintenance management system with an expert support system: methodology, implementation, expert IT-system, achieved cost reductions. 16th International Conference and Exhibition on Electricity Distribution 1, pp. 142-147.
Han, T. and Yang, B-S., (2006). Development of an e-maintenance system integrating advanced techniques. Computers in Industry, Vol. 57 No. 6, pp. 569–580.
Hoffer, J., Prescott, M. and McFadden, F. R., (2005). Modern Database Management. Upper Saddle River, Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Holmberg, K., (2001). Competitive Reliability 1996-2000. Technology Programme Report 5/2001. Final Report Edited By Kenneth Holmberg (National Technology Agency, Helsinki).
Holme, I. M. and Solvang, B. K., (2001). Forskningsmetodik – Om kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder. Studentlitteratur, Lund.
IEC, (2003). IEC 62264-1 Enterprise-control system integration Part 1: Models and terminology.
IEC, (2004). IEC 62264-2 Enterprise-control system integration Part 1: Object model attributes.
IEC, (2007). IEC 62264-3 Enterprise-control system integration Part 3: Activity models of manufacturing operations management.