The Research On The Application Of Project Management In The Field Of Equipment Maintenance

Project management refers to the overall and effective management work done by project manager, using systemic views, theories and tools, with the help from other team members under the resources constrains. The implementation of different projects is becoming the important part in our economic life. So the emphasis on project management has become the only way to success.The maintenance work in any manufacturing enterprise has the similarity with a project. In most foreign enterprises, project management is a commonly used tool in equipment repair and maintenance. To do this, a project manager should first be appointed, and then, the manager has to draw up the detailed overhaul plan, critical path, Gantt, as well as to prepare personnel, tools, equipment, materials and parts. Once the production stops, maintenance work would be immediately carried out with its aim to a quicker, better and saving result. A maintenance manager has to consider how to finish this work on time with expected quality, even though, delay always occurs. So it is important to well schedule the project and better use the time, this is to guarantee the maintenance work be finished timely, resource be allocated properly and work be done efficiently. This kind of management work includes activities definition, work break down structure, activities sorting, duration estimation, schedule, resource allocation and process monitoring.Before drawing up the maintenance project plan, the project manager has to define the scope of maintenance activities. The project should first have a definite goal, the acceptable results in form of documents and work breakdown structures. Some tasks are apparent and visible that has to be done, and some tasks are unpredictable, so, in order to list the entire necessary tasks, we would better refer past experiences and engineers from all respects for help. Then we can expect a workable timetable and a desired time management result. Critical path method (CPM) is a technique that is used to evaluate and manage the performance of a project by using activity network and by finding out the critical path; its aim focus on the best results, the lowest cost and the shortest lifetime. This method is commonly used in such projects as civil constructions, IT and equipment maintenance where there has a definite cost budget and time requirement. CPM simplifies the complicated project by using activities network in which different tasks and their relations are best displayed and considered. After the scientific calculations and adjustments, all activities are well arranged and undertaken. CPM itself does not shorten the lifetime of a project, it provides us with a tool to well prepare and organize all activities. Meanwhile, CPM is also a useful tool for us to control budget in any maintenance fields. Whenever we adjust an activity network, we should consider not only time but also total cost. The improvement in the enterprise, which has implemented the maintenance project management lies in many aspects, for example, it has changed the organization's TPM structure, optimize the boy of maintenance personnel, improve the efficiency of both equipment and staffs. Through the participation, all employees have improved their awareness of responsibility and also their performance level, which is good for building the culture of innovation inside the enterprise. Enterprise has also changed the way doing things in other aspects besides the maintenance process and quality management. The team members are no longer careless, they can clearly define a goal, understand how to control time and cost and work out a practical work plan by using WBS, CPM and PERT etc. This eventually leads to the formation of a team where members support with each other which good for improvement and communications. The plan made ahead has change the reactive way of solving problem; there are fewer disputes over responsibility. So the application of PM in maintenance fields has reduce breakdown risk and improve the ability to guarantee the production.