Maintenance has a role in quality

Abstract

Maintenance is not usually noticed in the context of quality. Some quality philosophies recognize that production equipment must be maintained in order to manufacture quality products. So‐called quality gurus have not emphasized that maintenance could have a significant role in quality. The studies on maintenance have concentrated on the cost effects. There is no idea what could be the magnitude of maintenance on quality deficiencies in different industries. The study carried out in five Finnish industries revealed that, in the process industries, maintenance is usually among the three most important reasons why there are quality problems. In the heavy industries utilizing continuous processes maintenance seems to have the highest impact on quality.

Citation

Ollila, A. and Malmipuro, M. (1999), "Maintenance has a role in quality", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 17-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544789910246589