IMPLEMENTING FINDINGS FROM THE LOUISIANA MAINTENANCE RESEARCH PROJECT

A MAINTENANCE RESEARCH PROJECT IS BEING CONDUCTED TO ESTABLISH AN OPERATING, MODERN MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS. THE PROJECT STARTED IN SEPTEMBER 1965, AND WILL BE COMPLETED IN JUNE 1969. DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE PROJECT, THE MAIN EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS TO DOCUMENT EXISTING PRACTICES OF THE DEPARTMENT AND TO DEFINE THOSE AREAS WHERE IMPROVEMENT COULD BE MADE. A PILOT REPORTING SYSTEM WAS ESTABLISHED IN ONE DISTRICT FOR A YEAR. FIELD TRIPS WERE MADE TO OBSERVE THE CREWS AT WORK. DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED WIDE DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE FROM MANAGEMENT UNIT TO MANAGEMENT UNIT. THESE VARIATIONS WERE SUMMARIZED IN TERMS OF QUALITY, QUANTITIES OF WORK, AND PRODUCTIVITY. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT BETTER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES WERE NEEDED. THE KEY ELEMENTS INVOLVE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, PLANNING AND BUDGETING AND DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES FOR SUPERINTENDENTS. CONSULTANTS' EXPANDED RESEARCH INVOLVED THE FOLLOWING PHASES: (1) TO DEVELOP AND TEST A MAINTENANCE WORK REPORTING SYSTEM, (2) TO CONDUCT A PERFORMANCE LABORATORY FOR THE RESEARCH AND TESTING OF MAINTENANCE METHODS AND PROCEDURES, (3) TO FORM A STANDARDS PANEL FOR OBSERVING AND EVALUATING OPERATIONS AND FOR DEVELOPING QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY STANDARDS, (4) TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, AND (5) TO DEVELOP AND TEST TRAINING PROCEDURE AND TRAINING MATERIALS APPROPRIATE FOR MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL. THE REPORTING SYSTEM HAS BEEN IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATION FOR A YEAR AND IS WELL ACCEPTED BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL. AN ANNUAL MAINTENANCE WORK PLAN HAS BEEN PREPARED. A ONE GANG CONCEPT WAS DEVELOPED FOR ALL OPERATIONS AND HAS RESULTED IN SAVING OF BETTER MANPOWER UTILIZATION OVER THE SPECIALIZED GANG CONCEPT. VARIOUS MANAGEMENT REPORTS ARE BEING PREPARED. THE REPORTING SYSTEM IS WORKING SATISFACTORILY. PROCEDURES ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR PREPARING THE DISTRICT ANNUAL MAINTENANCE BUDGET ON THE BASIS OF PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr100/100-022.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Crawford, Forrest E
  • Jackson, Melvin
• Conference:
  • Maintenance Management Workshop
  • Location: Columbus Ohio
  • Date: 1968-7-22 to 1968-7-24
• Publication Date: 1968

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: pp 167-205
• Monograph Title: Maintenance Management
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 100
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Budgeting; Data analysis; Data collection; Maintenance; Maintenance management; Maintenance personnel; Maintenance practices; Management; Mathematical analysis; Performance; Reports; Standards; Training; Work measurement; Workforce
• Uncontrolled Terms: Reporting
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Old TRIS Terms: Maintenance administration; Maintenance standards
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Education and Training; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218463
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 10 1994 12:00AM